The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted Nov. 13 in Baltimore to approve a new “mission directive” for 2025-28, a new way that the conference is presenting its strategic vision for the next four years.
The theme of the prior 2021-24 USCCB strategic plan was “Created Anew by the Body and Blood of Christ: Source of Our Healing and Hope,” and was the result of listening sessions with bishops, the National Advisory Council and USCCB staff, who had been asked to reflect on the church’s challenges and opportunities during those years.
For 2025-28, the new directive is more of a mission statement than a theme, and was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 225-7, with two abstentions. The mission directive, which was shepherded by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chair of the conference’s Committee on Priorities and Plans, is as follows:
“Responding even more deeply to the call of Christ to proclaim the Gospel and form Missionary Disciples, the Committees and Staff of the USCCB, submitting to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will prioritize the work of the Conference to help equip bishops, clergy, religious, and the laity in evangelizing those who are religiously unaffiliated or disaffiliated from the Church, with special focus on young adults and the youth.”
The purpose of the directive, said Archbishop Coakley, is to guide the work of USCCB committees and staff rather than replace the work of each committee.
General support was offered from the floor during a brief discussion Nov. 12, with a request from Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, N.Y., to add a reference to Jesus Christ, which was subsequently added during an amendment process, and a request from Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, just-retired archbishop of Boston, to stress within the directive safeguarding, the role and concerns of women, and the fight against racism and bigotry.
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