When the U.S. bishops gather in person as a body for the first time since 2019 at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront Nov. 15-17, one of the most anticipated topics is a document regarding the Eucharist.
During the first discussion on the topic in mid-June, some of the bishops were divided about the need for such a document, amid information circulated that the intent of the document was to help bishops deny Communion to certain politicians. However, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., chairman of the bishops’ doctrine committee, said at the time that the proposed draft was developed in light of the decline in the belief among Catholics in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, as well as the long absences from regular Mass attendance, which may have led to people to place less significance on the Eucharist in their lives.
A few days before the November meeting, Archbishop William E. Lori told the Catholic Review that while the document – “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church” – has a fairly complicated history, he thinks its goals are clear and straightforward: “To offer a resource and support to the Eucharistic Revival Project of the bishops.”
That project, slated to run from 2021 to 2024, “will focus on the Eucharist as a principal place of encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and really at the heart of the church’s life,” Archbishop Lori said.
The archbishop, who served as a consultant to the committee working on the document, launched a Year of the Eucharist in the Archdiocese of Baltimore that began in June and runs until the feast of Corpus Christi in June 2022. “We’re a little ahead of the game with the Year of the Eucharist,” he said, noting that it is one of several such pastoral efforts taking place in dioceses around the country “to strengthen belief in the Eucharist and encourage people to return to church. Those efforts are reflected in the document that will be proposed.”
Archbishop Lori dispelled the notion that the document would be political or address the situation of politicians. “The document is not at all about making any rules for anyone. It’s a pastoral document that reiterates certain aspects of the church’s teaching on the Eucharist that are important for the times in which we live,” he said.
“My hope is that ultimately the discussion will focus on our needs as bishops, priests and deacons and all those in pastoral ministry to unite in proclaiming the beautiful truth that is the Eucharist and inviting people to live that truth – to experience it – and to come to encounter the person of Jesus Christ in the assembly of the church.”
The bishops will celebrate Mass Nov. 15 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as they have done often. The basilica, America’s first cathedral, was the site of seven provincial councils and three plenary councils in which significant decisions were made regarding the practice of Catholicism in the United States.
Archbishop Lori will preach the homily at that Mass. “First of all, I’ll certainly indicate how good it is that we are together” finally, after holding the conference’s last three meetings virtually. “But in welcoming them to the basilica, I’ll be welcoming them to the home of American synodality,” which he will address with applications for today in the homily.
“It’s wonderful that American conciliarism is alive and well with the presence of the American bishops in the basilica in 2021,” he said.
The church in the U.S. and around the world is engaged in a listening phase in preparation for the World Synod on Synodality, called for by Pope Francis, around the theme, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” Diocesan phases of the synod are in progress through August 2022.
At the end of the USCCB meeting, Archbishop Lori will take up the duties as chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, of which he said the biggest priority is “always pastoral,” aimed at convincing as many people as possible – practicing and non-practicing Catholics and others of good will – “to open their minds and hearts to the truth about the humanity of the unborn, the humanity of the frail elderly and the chronically ill and the dying and indeed their human dignity and to encourage them to do everything they can to build a culture of life and love, a civilization of life and of love.”
As an example, he cited Walking with Moms in Need, a program that the bishops launched in 2020 to provide parish-based resources and support to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. It and other programs like it are one of the tangible ways, but not the only way, that the church and its members encourage expectant mothers to bring their babies to term, and to care for the mother, the child and the wider family after the child is born, he said.
“Those kinds of efforts don’t have an institutional feel, but a personal feel,” Archbishop Lori said. “That’s what the church can encourage, that’s what the church can provide in a way that is truly beautiful because it comes out of a spirit of faith, hope and love.”
Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org.
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