Tagle to serve as spiritual director in US bishops' assembly

Sun.Star
June 7, 2016

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2016/06/07/tagle-serve-spiritual-director-us-bishops-assembly-478101

MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will serve as the spiritual director of the 2016 Special Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to be held this month in the United States.

In a statement, the Archdiocesan Office of Communications said that Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the USCCB, invited the head of the Archdiocese of Manila to be part of the Special Assembly, which will be held on June 13-17 at the Diocese of Orange in the state of California.

According to Bishop John Barres of Allentown, chairman of the USCCB Special Assembly Planning Committee, “the spiritual director serves as the central figure of the assembly, delivering daily reflections and homilies on a theme central to the episcopal ministry.”

“All usual public business otherwise associated with plenary assemblies is dispensed with so that the members may engage in a dedicated time of spiritual retreat, prayerful reflection and fraternal support,” he said.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. The American bishops gather in special assembly every third year in June.

The overall theme of the special assembly is “The Bishops as Missionary Leader for the Human Family.”

Barres said the theme “gives us the opportunity not only to distill some of the richness of the Synods on the Family and the World Meeting of Families but also to address Pope Francis’ emphasis on our role in ministering to the poor, the wounded and those in crisis.”

In inviting the Filipino Cardinal, the US bishops cited his “wide-range of pastoral experiences, your gift for joyful communication and your courage as a Bishop leading the Church in the Philippines.”