WASHINGTON - Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace welcomed the announcement of the International Religious Freedom Summit to be held July 13-15 in Washington.

“According to a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 83 percent of the world’s approximately 7 billion people now live in countries with high government or social hostilities involving religion. Every culture, nation, religious or political system must strive to better protect religious freedom, a vital human right,” said Bishop Malloy.

WASHINGTON—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather virtually for the 2021 Spring General Assembly on June 16-18. Earlier this year, the bishop-members of the USCCB voted to approve the convocation of this year’s June meeting in a virtual format in light of the challenges posed to meeting in person with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The assembly will begin with an address by the papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. The plenary will also hear from Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles as he addresses the assembly as USCCB president.

WASHINGTON – As the EU-U.S. Summit in Brussels approaches this month, the heads of the episcopal conferences for the European Union and the United States have issued a joint declaration affirming their shared commitment to the promotion of global peace, justice, and human development.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, archbishop of Luxembourg, and president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE), and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) articulated the shared values and principles that have been the foundation of the relations between the European Union and the United States and offered prayers for the participants be “guided by wisdom and mutual trust to lay the basis for a renewed transatlantic partnership for greater peace, justice and sustainable human development across our continents and in the world.”