U.S. Bishops Set Fall Agenda on AI, Migration, Renewal
November's Baltimore meeting follows a new papal encyclical and focuses on technology, migrant care, liturgical texts, and sainthood causes.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will meet in Baltimore from November 16 to 19. Public sessions on November 17 and 18 will be livestreamed for the faithful.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley and Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, will open the meetings. Over four days the bishops will address artificial intelligence, migration, and signs of renewal in the life of the Church, and will cast votes on finance, liturgy, and causes for sainthood.
Artificial Intelligence After Magnifica Humanitas
Bishops will hear an update from a new task force on artificial intelligence chaired by Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose. The task force includes Cardinal Blase J. Cupich and lay consultants Charles Camosy, Meghan Sullivan, and Kim Daniels.
Formed in response to Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the group brings episcopal and lay expertise to questions that increasingly shape work, education, and the moral formation of the young. The Baltimore update will mark the first public accounting of its work before the full body of bishops, who bear responsibility for teaching the faith amid rapid technological change.
Migration, Guadalupe, and Returning Souls
The Committee on Migration will brief the bishops a year after their pastoral message opposing indiscriminate mass deportations. The Church's concern for the stranger, rooted in the Gospel and the constant teaching of the Magisterium, remains a live pastoral duty for dioceses across the country.
The Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church will report on the Intercontinental Guadalupan Novena, a prayer initiative linking the faithful throughout the Americas under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
A panel will discuss increased conversions and young people's renewed interest in religion. Such interest is a grace the bishops are called to receive with care—through sound catechesis, worthy liturgy, and patient accompaniment of those who seek Christ.
Votes on Budget, Lectionary, and Sainthood
Several formal votes are expected. The bishops will consider finance guidelines and the conference's 2027 budget. They will take up a new edition of the Lectionary, so that the Word of God proclaimed at Mass may be received in a faithful, unified text. They are also expected to establish a Day of Prayer for Racial Justice.
The assembly will further consider the sainthood causes of Maria Middleton and Thomas Steven Vander Woude. Advancing the causes would open a deeper examination of two American lives offered to the faithful as possible models of holiness.