OSV News
ORLANDO, Florida — The second day of public sessions at the U.S. bishops’ spring plenary culminated with the much anticipated consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during a late afternoon Mass June 11 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe.
After concluding their public session agenda, the bishops left the Omni Resort at ChampionsGate for a half-hour drive up Interstate 4 to the spiritual refuge that is the shrine.
The Mass was a momentous one as it served to formally consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the French Visitation sister who experienced visions of Jesus revealing his Sacred Heart — were also present at the Mass, on loan from the Knights of Columbus for the consecration.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, incensed the altar after processing in from the thick humidity and cloudy skies of a typical Orlando afternoon outside the shrine.
“Clothe us, Lord God, with the virtues of the heart of your son, and set us aflame with his love,” he prayed in opening the Mass.
The Sacred Heart reconciles divisions and transforms hardened hearts, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore said in his homily. He described consecration as an act of faith and acknowledgment of the need for God’s mercy, wisdom and guidance, and also an act of hope.
“To consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart is ultimately to accept Christ’s invitation to remain in His love and to allow that love to shape every aspect of our lives, public and private,” Archbishop Lori said. “It is a declaration that the future does not belong merely to political movements, economic forces, or human plans. The future belongs to God.”
Taking care of business
Like the previous day, the June 11 public session began with prayer, followed by Archbishop Coakley congratulating two prelates on the anniversaries of their priestly ordinations:
Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the Italian-born apostolic nuncio to the U.S., who was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milan on June 11, 1983.
Retired Bishop James A. Tamayo, first bishop of Laredo, Texas (2000-2026), who was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, on June 11, 1976.
Archbishop Coakley also noted the day marked the 75th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, who is “soon to be Blessed Fulton Sheen.” Appointed an auxiliary bishop for New York, he was ordained a bishop in Rome on June 11, 1951. Archbishop Sheen will be beatified Sept. 24 at a Mass in St. Louis.
In their first votes of the day, the bishops approved portions of two texts: a new edition of the Lectionary for Mass, which provides the Scripture readings and psalm for each day’s liturgy; and the 2025 Roman Missal-Liturgy of the Hours Supplement.
The bishops then approved several updates to their landmark document on protection policies for children and minors, seeking to define key terms while balancing care for victim-survivors with accused clergy’s right to a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.
The revisions, preliminarily introduced June 10 during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando, passed by a two-thirds vote June 11 after a period of debate.
The changes will keep the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” focused “exclusively” on clergy abuse of minors, with a new document being developed to address abuse involving vulnerable adults, said Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, in presenting the proposed revisions June 10.
Next, Bishop Oscar Cantu of San Jose, California, chairman of the bishops’ Subcommittee on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, addressed his fellow bishops about preparations for the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance to St. Juan Diego in five years. U.S. dioceses will be participating in the Novena Intercontinental Guadalupana (Intercontinental Guadalupan Novena).
Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee gave a presentation to the bishops on the Catholic Prison Ministry Coalition, urging his brother bishops to deepen their commitment to prison ministry.
And Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt of Hartford, Connecticut, speaking on behalf of a USCCB task force on the ongoing implementation of synodality in the life of the church, provided the bishops with an update on recent consultations on synodality with members of the episcopacy.