Catholic Bishops of Canada's Assembly Highlights the Synod, Jubilee, Opposition to Euthanasia, and Walking with Indigenous
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT – Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops – 2024 Plenary AssemblyMonday, September 23 2024
Brother Bishops, distinguished guests and members of the CCCB staff,
I am pleased to present to the members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops the President’s Report which summarizes the activities and achievements of the Conference since we last met in the 2023 Plenary at Kingsbridge in Toronto.
This year, we join with our brother Cardinal Archbishop Gerald Lacroix here in Quebec City to mark the historic 350th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Quebec. We also gather on the eve of the second session of the Bishop’s Synod on Synodality in Rome and in anticipation of the Jubilee Year of Hope in 2025.
Summary starts at 0:33 on the Video Below:
In looking back on the work of the Conference over this past year, “we stand before the Holy Spirit conscious of our weakness… and we ask that He come to us, remain with us and enlighten hearts” so that we may acknowledge with deep gratitude the initiatives that have been undertaken and which reflect the collaborative work of the bishops with some of the organizations here present, and with the CCCB staff.
Synod on Synodality
This year, the CCCB coordinated a step of further reflection and received input from dioceses on the 3 sections of the Synthesis Report. Further information on local initiatives that promote a synodal church were sent to the Synod Office. The 3 priests from Canada, who attended the International Meeting in Rome entitled “Parish Priests for the Synod”, offered a summary report of their experience to the bishops. In August 2024, with the collaboration of the CCCB, they facilitated a Canadian National Online Gathering of Priests of more than 80 priests from 40 dioceses. A written summary of this encounter was forwarded to the Synod Office. At this Plenary, we will continue our engagement of the Synod process through a keynote address from Cardinal Grech followed by our own discussion of how synodality is currently being lived in our local Churches. The Team Canada delegates going to Rome this October will be joined by Bishop Alain Faubert in place of Bishop Raymond Poisson. He will be missed in a number of ways, especially his gift of discernment of which the restaurants to dine at in Rome.
Jubilee Year 2025
For the last two years, the Ad-hoc Committee for the Preparation for the Jubilee and the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis have been preparing for the Jubilee Year 2025. In November 2023, a webinar series on The Four Constitutions of Vatican II was offered. This year, which is dedicated to prayer, a webinar entitled A Great Symphony of Prayer was developed to reflect on the meaning of the ‘Our Father’ with a second series planned for this October. At this Plenary, we will receive both a presentation on our National Shrines and an update on the ongoing preparations for this Jubilee Year of Hope.
Family and Life – Euthanasia and Palliative Care
The Vatican’s pastoral initiatives for the World Day of the Sick and for Grandparents and the Elderly were promoted within the Canadian context through pastoral toolkits and concrete initiatives of solidarity. The National Family and Life Week celebrated in May centered on the theme “Love Hopes all Things”. Through the Family Life Office dioceses received social media messaging, prayer intentions, homily aids and daily activities to focus and promote the importance of family life. They offered opportunities for on-line networking, the sharing of resources and the quarterly newsletter All things New
This year, in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Life, the CCCB hosted a highly successful international symposium on palliative care entitled Towards a Narrative of Hope: An International Interfaith Symposium on Palliative Care The 110 participants representing healthcare practitioners, ethicists, pastoral care agents and communication specialists received from Pope Francis a message of encouragement to build a culture of social responsibility, education and advocacy for the expansion of palliative care. A working group was established to build a strong advocacy network and a strategic framework for future action to promote greater access to palliative care. The Permanent Council of the Conference also issued a Statement on the Non-permissibility of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide within Canadian Health Organizations with a Catholic Identity and mission to promote human life at all stages.
Walking with our Indigenous Peoples
To mark the second anniversary of the penitential pilgrimage of Pope Francis to Canada, the CCCB issued a Letter to the People of God that outlined how we have been responding to the Holy Father’s call to justice, healing and reconciliation. It highlighted financial contributions to the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) and the projects which have been funded from across Canada. The important work with local Indigenous communities to access diocesan records, and the education and ongoing dialogue to build relationships was noted. The Ad hoc Committee for the Coordination of Indigenous Initiatives continues to oversee several ongoing projects of research and planning as the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council (CCIC) was formed this year under a new structure, membership and mandate going forward. The CCCB will continue to participate with the Bishop’s Conferences of Australia, New Zealand and the United States in an international conference for Catholic Indigenous dialogue on common concerns. Work is also underway in hosting an international academic symposium on issues related to the “Doctrine of Discovery” in Edmonton this coming year. The Conference issued a statement on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
In looking back on the work of the Conference over this past year, “we stand before the Holy Spirit conscious of our weakness… and we ask that He come to us, remain with us and enlighten hearts” so that we may acknowledge with deep gratitude the initiatives that have been undertaken and which reflect the collaborative work of the bishops with some of the organizations here present, and with the CCCB staff.
Synod on Synodality
This year, the CCCB coordinated a step of further reflection and received input from dioceses on the 3 sections of the Synthesis Report. Further information on local initiatives that promote a synodal church were sent to the Synod Office. The 3 priests from Canada, who attended the International Meeting in Rome entitled “Parish Priests for the Synod”, offered a summary report of their experience to the bishops. In August 2024, with the collaboration of the CCCB, they facilitated a Canadian National Online Gathering of Priests of more than 80 priests from 40 dioceses. A written summary of this encounter was forwarded to the Synod Office. At this Plenary, we will continue our engagement of the Synod process through a keynote address from Cardinal Grech followed by our own discussion of how synodality is currently being lived in our local Churches. The Team Canada delegates going to Rome this October will be joined by Bishop Alain Faubert in place of Bishop Raymond Poisson. He will be missed in a number of ways, especially his gift of discernment of which the restaurants to dine at in Rome.
Jubilee Year 2025
For the last two years, the Ad-hoc Committee for the Preparation for the Jubilee and the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis have been preparing for the Jubilee Year 2025. In November 2023, a webinar series on The Four Constitutions of Vatican II was offered. This year, which is dedicated to prayer, a webinar entitled A Great Symphony of Prayer was developed to reflect on the meaning of the ‘Our Father’ with a second series planned for this October. At this Plenary, we will receive both a presentation on our National Shrines and an update on the ongoing preparations for this Jubilee Year of Hope.
Family and Life – Euthanasia and Palliative Care
The Vatican’s pastoral initiatives for the World Day of the Sick and for Grandparents and the Elderly were promoted within the Canadian context through pastoral toolkits and concrete initiatives of solidarity. The National Family and Life Week celebrated in May centered on the theme “Love Hopes all Things”. Through the Family Life Office dioceses received social media messaging, prayer intentions, homily aids and daily activities to focus and promote the importance of family life. They offered opportunities for on-line networking, the sharing of resources and the quarterly newsletter All things New
This year, in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Life, the CCCB hosted a highly successful international symposium on palliative care entitled Towards a Narrative of Hope: An International Interfaith Symposium on Palliative Care The 110 participants representing healthcare practitioners, ethicists, pastoral care agents and communication specialists received from Pope Francis a message of encouragement to build a culture of social responsibility, education and advocacy for the expansion of palliative care. A working group was established to build a strong advocacy network and a strategic framework for future action to promote greater access to palliative care. The Permanent Council of the Conference also issued a Statement on the Non-permissibility of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide within Canadian Health Organizations with a Catholic Identity and mission to promote human life at all stages.
Walking with our Indigenous Peoples
To mark the second anniversary of the penitential pilgrimage of Pope Francis to Canada, the CCCB issued a Letter to the People of God that outlined how we have been responding to the Holy Father’s call to justice, healing and reconciliation. It highlighted financial contributions to the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) and the projects which have been funded from across Canada. The important work with local Indigenous communities to access diocesan records, and the education and ongoing dialogue to build relationships was noted. The Ad hoc Committee for the Coordination of Indigenous Initiatives continues to oversee several ongoing projects of research and planning as the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council (CCIC) was formed this year under a new structure, membership and mandate going forward. The CCCB will continue to participate with the Bishop’s Conferences of Australia, New Zealand and the United States in an international conference for Catholic Indigenous dialogue on common concerns. Work is also underway in hosting an international academic symposium on issues related to the “Doctrine of Discovery” in Edmonton this coming year. The Conference issued a statement on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Evangelization, Catechesis, Dialogue and Publications
The Office of Evangelization and Catechesis offered two Video Series, A Journey through Advent and A Journey through Lent which provided spiritual guidance, a reflection on the Sunday readings that were aimed at deepening the faith of those who participated and to prepare meaningfully for the Christmas and Easter seasons.
The Doctrine Commission produced a resource for pastors on the Evangelization of Young People in Canada Today: Praedica Verbum that focused on how the “initial proclamation of the Gospel” could engage young people more meaningfully, in both creative and effective ways.
The Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace published a Pastoral Letter on the use of social media entitled Let Your Speech Always be Gracious. While acknowledging the benefits of social media, it also examined the challenges and dangers that exist in its use through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.
This year, the CCCB hosted its Triennial Forum on Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogues, bringing together Catholics who serve the CCCB in its various dialogues, as well as in the Canadian Council of Churches. For the first time ever, diocesan and eparchial ecumenical officers were also invited to this event. Participants discussed a draft proposal for a national ecumenical and interfaith strategy, which envisions the co-ordination of local initiatives with those taking place at the Regional and National levels. The goal is to renew Catholic engagement in ecumenical and interfaith relations in a manner favouring both synodality and subsidiarity, while responding constructively to the array of social, moral and spiritual issues currently facing our country.
As a sign of solidarity with our brothers and sisters living in regions marked by war and other humanitarian crises, the CCCB issued a statement following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the ensuing conflict in the Holy Land; it also responded to the Canadian Council of Churches’ invitation to sign on to a Pastoral Letter marking the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. Financial donations from the Conference directed to care for the needy in both contexts have also been forthcoming. For Passover 2024, I, along with Archbishop Donald Bolen and Bishop John Boissonneau, issued a greeting to the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, assuring it of Catholic concern at the alarming resurgence of antisemitism in Canada.
CCCB Organizational Review
At our Plenary this year, we will be receiving recommendations that are the result of a 2-year process of research, review, consultation and discernment guided by the Permanent Council to see where and how we might improve the governance, administration and functioning of the Conference. The steps of listening to the bishops and the CCCB staff has been in modeling the synodal method. It is now the time for us to decide and to begin on a multi-year path of implementation. I do wish to acknowledge the leadership of Bishop Goudreault, the Executive Committee and the members of the Permanent Council for the commitment that we have given to guide this project forward.
In conclusion, we now stand before the Holy Spirit as we begin this historic Plenary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Canada in Quebec City, may we temper justice with love, so that all our decisions at this Plenary may be pleasing to God and earn the reward promised to good and faithful servants.
23 September 2024
The Office of Evangelization and Catechesis offered two Video Series, A Journey through Advent and A Journey through Lent which provided spiritual guidance, a reflection on the Sunday readings that were aimed at deepening the faith of those who participated and to prepare meaningfully for the Christmas and Easter seasons.
The Doctrine Commission produced a resource for pastors on the Evangelization of Young People in Canada Today: Praedica Verbum that focused on how the “initial proclamation of the Gospel” could engage young people more meaningfully, in both creative and effective ways.
The Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace published a Pastoral Letter on the use of social media entitled Let Your Speech Always be Gracious. While acknowledging the benefits of social media, it also examined the challenges and dangers that exist in its use through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.
This year, the CCCB hosted its Triennial Forum on Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogues, bringing together Catholics who serve the CCCB in its various dialogues, as well as in the Canadian Council of Churches. For the first time ever, diocesan and eparchial ecumenical officers were also invited to this event. Participants discussed a draft proposal for a national ecumenical and interfaith strategy, which envisions the co-ordination of local initiatives with those taking place at the Regional and National levels. The goal is to renew Catholic engagement in ecumenical and interfaith relations in a manner favouring both synodality and subsidiarity, while responding constructively to the array of social, moral and spiritual issues currently facing our country.
As a sign of solidarity with our brothers and sisters living in regions marked by war and other humanitarian crises, the CCCB issued a statement following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the ensuing conflict in the Holy Land; it also responded to the Canadian Council of Churches’ invitation to sign on to a Pastoral Letter marking the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. Financial donations from the Conference directed to care for the needy in both contexts have also been forthcoming. For Passover 2024, I, along with Archbishop Donald Bolen and Bishop John Boissonneau, issued a greeting to the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, assuring it of Catholic concern at the alarming resurgence of antisemitism in Canada.
CCCB Organizational Review
At our Plenary this year, we will be receiving recommendations that are the result of a 2-year process of research, review, consultation and discernment guided by the Permanent Council to see where and how we might improve the governance, administration and functioning of the Conference. The steps of listening to the bishops and the CCCB staff has been in modeling the synodal method. It is now the time for us to decide and to begin on a multi-year path of implementation. I do wish to acknowledge the leadership of Bishop Goudreault, the Executive Committee and the members of the Permanent Council for the commitment that we have given to guide this project forward.
In conclusion, we now stand before the Holy Spirit as we begin this historic Plenary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Canada in Quebec City, may we temper justice with love, so that all our decisions at this Plenary may be pleasing to God and earn the reward promised to good and faithful servants.
23 September 2024
+William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
CCCB ReleaseBishop of Calgary
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
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