Migration, AI and health care directives on US bishops' fall meeting agenda

(OSV News) -- At their upcoming annual fall meeting, the nation's Catholic bishops have a full agenda of both temporal and spiritual matters -- including votes for key leadership roles as well as discussions on migration, health care directives, artificial intelligence, Eucharistic devotion and liturgical texts.

On Oct. 22, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced details regarding its 2025 fall plenary assembly, which will take place in Baltimore Nov. 10-13.

Public portions of the assembly will be livestreamed on Nov. 11 and 12 at usccb.org/meetings. Private executive and fraternal dialogue sessions, informational breakouts, prayer and daily liturgies will round out the schedule.

Opening the plenary will be Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who will complete his three-year term as USCCB president upon the assembly's conclusion. Cardinal Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the U.S., will also address the gathering.

The USCCB will vote for a new president and vice president, who will commence their three-year terms Nov. 13, along with chairmen for six USCCB committees. They typically first serve one year as chairman-elect and will begin their three-year terms following next year's fall plenary.

While the agenda has not yet been fully finalized and remains subject to change, the USCCB said in its press release that the public session will feature "discussion and response to the evolving situation impacting migrants and refugees."

Artificial intelligence -- an issue prioritized by Pope Leo XIV -- will also be treated at the assembly, with a public session presentation set to take place on "the ethical implications of AI, its growing impact on society, and the opportunities and challenges it presents to the life of the Church," said the USCCB.

The bishops will also discuss and vote on a revised text of the "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services," which guides Catholic health care facilities in the U.S.

Now in its sixth edition, the document -- developed in consultation with medical professionals and theologians, and regularly reviewed by the USCCB -- articulates ethical standards for health care in light of church teaching, and provides authoritative guidance on moral issues encountered by Catholic health care.

Other items to be considered by the bishops during the public sessions include a vote on the USCCB's 2026 budget, and a vote to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 12, 2026, as the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Following a report from the National Eucharistic Revival initiative -- a three-year effort to rekindle devotion to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist -- the bishops will vote on scheduling the next National Eucharistic Congress during the summer of 2029.

Two action items regarding liturgical texts from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship will be discussed and voted upon.

The bishops will also receive updates from the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catechism on the Catechetical Accompaniment Process, and from both The Catholic University of America and the Pontifical Mission Societies USA.