UNITED STATES
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
November 15, 2016
BALTIMORE—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted on a new MRS chairman and approved several items, including, establishing a permanent Subcommittee on the Church in Africa and extending the Retirement Fund for Religious Appeal, during their annual Fall General Assembly in Baltimore, November 15.
In November 2015, Archbishop Gomez was elected to chair the USCCB Committee on Migration for a term beginning this week. Since his election as USCCB vice-president prevents him from assuming leadership of the committee, the bishops elected a new chairman. Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, was elected chairman of the Committee on Migration in a 109-91 vote over Archbishop John C. Wester.
The bishops voted 155 in favor, 8 against and 1 abstaining, to approve a 10-year extension of the Retirement Fund for Religious Appeal. This annual collection was initiated to address the profound deficit in retirement funding among religious congregations in the United States. The National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) coordinates the collection and distributes the proceeds to religious communities in need.
The bishops also approved establishing a permanent Subcommittee on the Church in Africa. The proposal received a vote of 164-26-12. The USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Church in Africa works as part of the Committee on National Collections. It administers the voluntary Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa and allocates the revenue received as grants to African episcopal conferences and their regional associations in Africa for programs that support the growth of the Church, especially in the areas of leadership training, church administration, evangelization, communications, justice and peace.
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