During the 2015 Plenary Meeting of the Canadian Bishops in Cornwall, Ontario, the Bishops of Canada and invited guests viewed this special video produced by Salt and Light Television to commemorate the closing of the Second Vatican Council 50 years ago, and to highlight the contribution of the Canadian Church to the Council. Produced by Salt and Light Catholic Television Network and Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., the video features the remaining Canadian “Fathers” of Vatican II as well as contributions by Cardinals Gérald Cyprien Lacroix (Quebec) and Thomas Collins (Toronto) as well as Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher (Gatineau), outgoing President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

(CCCB – Ottawa)… On the second day of its meeting, the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) elected the Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., Bishop of Hamilton, as its next President, and the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, as its next Vice President. The incoming Executive also includes two Co-Treasurers: from the French Sector, for a first term, the Most Reverend Luc Cyr, Archbishop of Sherbrooke, and from the English Sector, for his second term, the Most Reverend Anthony Mancini, Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth. The Bishops welcomed His Eminence Metropolitan Yurij, Ukrainian Orthodox Archbishop of Winnipeg and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, who brought ecumenical greetings and shared his reflections on Orthodox – Catholic relations as well as on the situation in Ukraine.

Bishop Crosby will succeed the Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau, who ends his term as President at the end of the 2015 Plenary Assembly. Born in Marathon, Ontario, Bishop Crosby was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 as a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He served as CCCB General Secretary from 1996 to 1997, before being appointed Bishop of the then Diocese of Labrador City-Schefferville in 1998. In 2007, he was named Bishop of the newly established Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador, and became Bishop of Hamilton in 2010. Bishop Crosby has been CCCB Vice President since 2013.

The newly elected Vice President was born in Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, on June 12, 1944. After studying theology at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal, he was ordained to the priesthood on May 31, 1969. He joined the Priests of Saint-Sulpice (Sulpicians), and was later elected Superior of the Canadian Province of the Priests of Saint-Sulpice in 1994, a position he held until his nomination as Auxiliary Bishop of Montréal in 2006. He was named Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil on October 28, 2010. He has served two terms on the Executive as the French Sector Co-Treasurer, beginning in 2011.

Synod of Bishop on the Family

At the beginning of the day’s session, CCCB President Archbishop Durocher informed the Plenary Assembly that Vatican Information Service had earlier today reported that Pope Francis has appointed His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Québec and Primate of the Church in Canada, as a member of the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will be held this October in Rome on the theme “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World”. Cardinal Lacroix will join the four other Canadian Bishops who will also be members of the Synod but elected by the CCCB. The Pope also named Dr. Moira McQueen, Executive Director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, Toronto, as a Synod auditor. In addition, the Holy See announced that Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., CEO of Salt + Light Catholic Media Foundation, will be the press secretary for English-speaking media during the Synod. The four CCCB delegates to the Synod are Archbishop Durocher; His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto; the Most Reverend Noël Simard, Bishop of Valleyfield; and the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton.

50th Anniversary of the Closing of the Second Vatican Council

With the collaboration of Salt+Light TV, the Bishops watched a video of reflections by five retired Bishops on the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. The Most Reverend Remi De Roo, Bishop Emeritus of Victoria, the Most Reverend James Hayes, Archbishop Emeritus of Halifax, the Most Reverend Jacques Landriault, Bishop Emeritus of Timmins, the Most Reverend Laurent Noël, Bishop Emeritus of Trois-Rivières, and the Most Reverend John O’Mara, Bishop Emeritus of St. Catharines, sharedtheir experiences at Vatican II either as Fathers of the Council or as advisors. The video included reflections on the Council by the President of the Conference Archbishop Durocher Cardinal Collins and Cardinal Lacroix, from their perspectives as Bishops 50 years after the Council. The video will be posted on the Salt + Light website, as well as on the CCCB YouTube account.

Also during the morning, the Bishops watched slide presentations on the blessings and challenges of the Church in Northern Canada. The presentations were by the Most Reverend Mark Hagemoen, Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, and the Most Reverend Anthony Krotki, O.M.I., Bishop of Churchill-Hudson Bay.

The second day of the Plenary as well included the French Sector meeting and the presentations of reports by the Conference’s National Commissions, and its Standing Committee for Development and Peace, as well as the Canadian Appeal Tribunal. The Most Reverend Richard Grecco, Bishop of Charlottetown, was re-appointed as Moderator of the Tribunal for another two-year term. In addition, there were the annual activities reports by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP), the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council, and the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF).

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The annual Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) began today and will continue until 18 September 2015 at the Nav Canada Centre, Cornwall, Ontario. The meeting is chaired by the Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau and CCCB President, who will complete his term as the current President at the end of this Plenary. On this first day of the meeting, the Bishops received the President’s annual report and reflected on the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia, as well as on the Calls to Action issued earlier this year by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. They also heard a progress report on the work of the Ad hoc Committee on the Protection of Minors.

In an informal address, CCCB President Archbishop Durocher outlined a number of the Conference’s activities over the past year and explained the main elements in planning the 2015 meeting of the Plenary Assembly. He spoke of the importance of the President’s participation in the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family in 2014 and in two international meetings on combatting human trafficking. In addition, Archbishop Durocher noted the importance of the annual visit of the CCCB Presidency to the Holy See and of CCCB participation in the annual meeting of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land.

Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

The CCCB Commission for Doctrine presented a reflection on the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia. The quest speaker was Dr. Catherine Ferrier, a specialist in geriatrics at the Montreal General Hospital, faculty member of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University, and board member of Living with Dignity. Dr. Ferrier noted that her involvement in the question follows from her 30 years of experience as a physician and in palliative care. In her presentation, she discussed what would be the social consequences of legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Following the announcement of the decision by the Supreme Court of Canada earlier this year, the CCCB had publicly expressed its disappointment by means of a public statement from its President. In his February 6 statement, Archbishop Durocher reiterated the invitation by the Bishops of Canada to “Canadians, especially Catholics, to do all they can to bring comfort and support for all those who are dying and for their loved ones, so that no one, because of loneliness, vulnerability, loss of autonomy, or fear of pain and suffering, feels they have no choice but to commit suicide.” The CCCB statement also confirmed that the Bishops “will continue to promote palliative and home care, and to encourage all the faithful to work for the betterment of the elderly, the disabled, the ill, and those who are socially isolated.” The Bishops of Canada, together with the Pope and other Bishops around the world, have continued to point out that euthanasia and assisted suicide constitute murder, are gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person, and can never be considered as part of palliative care.

Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Our Assembly today begins its annual five-day meeting in Cornwall, Ontario, on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, along which so many of our country’s missionaries and first Bishops travelled over past centuries. Its natural beauty brings to mind the major themes from your widely acclaimed Encyclical Laudato Si’: “dialogue with all people about our common home” (3); “concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace” (10); and bringing “the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral human development” (13).

Dear brother Bishops and special guests,

Welcome to the 2015 Plenary Assembly! It gives me personal pleasure to welcome you (back!) to Cornwall, Ontario, where the CCCB held its Plenary sessions from 1999 to 2011. I trust the renovated facilities and the pleasant, open grounds next to the beautiful Saint Lawrence River will be conducive to fraternal life and a fruitful meeting.

We will have the occasion to follow the Saint. Lawrence down to Montreal this week where we will gather at Saint Joseph’s Oratory with consecrated men and women and lay members of the Church to mark the Year of Consecrated Life. There, we will offer a Mass of Thanksgiving and entrust to God the future shape of this essential charism for the Church in Canada.

Another moment of celebration during our Plenary will give us occasion to mark the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council, and in particular the publication of Nostra Aetate, its Declaration on relations with non-Christian religions. The CCCB recently issued a text specifically on dialogue with Muslims. During this Plenary, we will also take time to reflect on our dialogue with Jews, our “older brothers” in the faith, and also with Hindus.

Gaudium et Spes was also published 50 years ago, and its chapter on family life continues to echo across the years, particularly as we engage further with the creative process of the double meeting of the Synod of Bishops called by Pope Francis. As our delegates prepare to travel to Rome in October, we will take time to listen to their proposed interventions and reflect with them on our hopes for this most important event in our Church’s life.

Looking not down but across the Saint Lawrence, we see the Island of Akwesasne, where a thriving Mohawk community lives. This proximity underscores the importance of the time we will consecrate to the recent conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the publication of its Calls to Action. Though the CCCB was not involved in running residential schools, we recognize this moment as a true kairos in which the future relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the rest of Canada needs to be rearticulated and founded anew. We will take time to reflect together on the impact of this Commission and on the ways we, as a Conference, can help implement its Calls to Action.

Traditional native spirituality emphasizes respect for Creation. Pope Francis’ own concern for creation has taken shape in his remarkable encyclical, Laudato Si’. Though the limited time we have together will not allow us to explore his letter, I know we all take to heart this new development of the Church’s social doctrine as we learn to understand the interplay between physical and human ecology. This is a papal document which calls for ongoing study and implementation, a challenge for the CCCB in the years to come.

We will have time, however, to focus on another of our Pope’s continuing concerns: to create safe environments in the Church and to improve our response when problems are brought to our attention. We share the Pope’s concern: this explains our decision to review the seminal document From Pain to Hope, published by the CCCB already 23 years ago. We will receive an interim report from the ad hoc committee to which this task was entrusted and share our insights as we gather our best practices into a guide for all our diocesan Churches.

If this latter development is for us a cause of hope, the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down the articles in the Criminal Code that prohibited active euthanasia and assisted suicide is for us a deep cause of worry and concern. The millennial wisdom of the Church compels us to see in this decision a radical shift that can inflect our society in a direction that disparages old age, disease and disability. We will take time to seek together how best to respond to the challenges this decision raises not only for Christians but for all Canadian citizens.

Finally, among the many reports concerning the inner life of our Conference and its many Commissions, committees and working groups, we will be invited to endorse a change in the way we collectively finance the CCCB, a change that is meant to foster a greater sense of justice and partnership for all the members of our Conference.

We have a busy week ahead of us. All the more reason to invoke the blessings of God, Father, Son and Spirit, as we undertake to respond together to the mission of bringing the Joy of the Gospel to our marvelous, frustrating, hurting, hopeful world.

+Paul-André Durocher
Archbishop of Gatineau
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will hold its annual Plenary Assembly 14-18 September 2015, at the Nav Canada Centre, Cornwall, Ontario, in the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. Salt + Light Television, the Canadian Catholic television network, will broadcast events live online and on television with selected repeats throughout the day (times indicated below are Eastern Daylight Saving Time). This broadcast schedule is subject to change.

Monday, September 14

• 9:00 am Mass
• 10:30 am
  • Opening Prayer
  • Message to the Holy Father
  • CCCB President’s Report by Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau
•  5:15 pm Media briefing in French for the first day with Bishop Lionel Gendron, P.S.S, CCCB Co-Treasurer
• 5:30 pm Media briefing in English for the first day with Bishop Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., CCCB Vice President
• 7:00 pm Perspectives

Tuesday, September 15

• 7:30 am Morning Prayer and Mass
• 5:15 pm Media briefing in French for the second day with Bishop Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., CCCB Co-Treasurer
• 5:30 pm Media briefing in English for the second day with Bishop Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., CCCB Vice President
• 7:00 pm Perspectives

Wednesday, September 16

• 7:00 am Celebration of the Divine Liturgy (Byzantine Rite- Ukrainian usage)
• 5:15 pm Media briefing in French for the third day with Bishop Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., CCCB Co-Treasurer
• 5:30 pm Media briefing in English for the third day with Bishop Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., CCCB Vice President
• 7:00 pm Perspectives

Thursday, September 17

• 10:30 am Celebration of the Eucharist at Saint Joseph’s Oratory, Montreal, for the Year of Consecrated Life
• 4:15 pm Episcopal Commission for Christian Unity, Religious Relations with the Jews, and Interfaith Dialogue – Pastoral animation to mark the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate (Panel members: The Most Rev. J. Michael Miller, C.S.B., Archbishop of Vancouver and panel Chair; Dr. Tinu Ruparell, Associate Professor and Department Head of Classics and Religion, University of Calgary, as well as Hindu Co-Chair of the Catholic / Hindu dialogue; Mr. Hanny Hassan, C.M., P. Eng., Co-Chair of the National Christian Muslim Liaison Committee; Rabbi Reuven Bulka, C.M., Congregation Machzikei Hadas, Ottawa; The Most Rev. Claude Champagne, O.M.I., Bishop of Edmundston and Chairman of the CCCB Commission for Christian Unity, Religious Relations with the Jews, and Interfaith Dialogue)
• 5:30 pm Media briefing in French for the fourth day with Bishop Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., CCCB Co-Treasurer
• 5:45 pm Media briefing in English for the fourth day with Bishop Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., CCCB Vice President
• 7:00 pm Perspectives

Friday, September 18

• 7:30 am Morning Prayer and Mass
• 11:50 am Closing Prayer of the Plenary Assembly
• 1:00 pm Media briefing for the fifth and final day of the Plenary with outgoing the CCCB President Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, and the newly elected CCCB President

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will hold its annual Plenary Assembly, 14-18 September 2015, at the Nav Canada Centre, Cornwall, Ontario, in the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. The meeting will be chaired by the Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau and CCCB President, who will finish his term as the current President at the end of this Plenary. Part of the 2015 Plenary agenda is dedicated to the election of a new President and other members of the Executive Committee and Permanent Council who will serve for the next two years. On the eve of the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, together with the second Synod of Bishops on the family, the theme of the family will be a key part of the discussions of the Plenary Assembly. Moreover, the Bishops will gather at Saint Joseph Oratory, Montreal, for a special Mass open to the public to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. The Mass will be held on September 17 at 10:30 am.

Among other topics that will be discussed are the current debate in Canada on the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia, as well as the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Episcopal Commission for Doctrine and the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace will respectively lead workshops on these two issues. The Episcopal Commission for Christian Unity, Religious with the Jews, and Interfaith Dialogue will moderate a panel to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relations of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate (issued in 1965). This September the Commission will publish a text to mark this anniversary as part of its ongoing series A Church in Dialogue.

The Bishops will also have the opportunity to listen to reflections marking the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. The Most Reverend Remi De Roo, Bishop Emeritus of Victoria, the Most Reverend James Hayes, Archbishop Emeritus of Halifax, the Most Reverend Jacques Landriault, Bishop Emeritus of Timmins, and the Most Reverend John O’Mara, Bishop Emeritus of St. Catharines will all share on video the experiences at the Council either as Fathers of the Council or as advisors. The President of the Conference Archbishop Durocher, His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, as well as His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Québec and Primate of the Church in Canada, will also share their reflections from the perspective of Bishops 50 years after the Council.

In addition to reviewing pastoral initiatives and receiving annual reports from the Conference’s national and sectoral Commissions as well as its Standing Committees, the 2015 Plenary Assembly will include reflections and discussions on the working document for the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will be held this October in Rome on the theme “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World”.

Thanks to the collaboration of the Catholic television channel Salt + Light TV, once again this year the annual report by the CCCB President and the daily liturgical celebrations will be broadcast live online and on television. In addition, there will again be daily press briefings, in English and in French, also broadcast on Salt + Light TV. The broadcast schedule for the Plenary will be posted on the CCCB website during the coming weeks. As in previous years, approximately 20 invited observers and guests from a number of national Catholic organizations and other Churches, together with accredited representatives from the media, will be present for the first day and a half of the Plenary, 14 -15 September.

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The Catholic Bishops of Canada since this past September 15 met in Plenary Assembly at the Hotel Mont-Sainte-Anne in Beaupré, east of Quebec City, in the Archdiocese of Québec. On the last day of its annual meeting, the Plenary Assembly welcomed the Most Reverend Guire Poulard, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Archbishop Poulard is currently visiting Canada as part of the 2014 fall education and action campaign of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. In his remarks to the Plenary, he spoke about Development and Peace projects in Haiti following the massive earthquake there in 2010, and his concerns about food shortages and hunger. The theme of this fall’s Development and Peace campaign is So much love: Small family farmers feed the world.

The Plenary Assembly during its last session ratified the nominations of the Chairmen for the National and Sectoral Commissions of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) for the next three years. The new Chairmen of the National Commissions are: Christian Unity, Religious Relations with the Jews, and Interfaith Dialogue, the Most Reverend Claude Champagne, O.M.I., Bishop of Edmundston; Doctrine, the Most Reverend Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal; Justice and Peace, the Most Reverend Donald Bolen, Bishop of Saskatoon. Those appointed Chairmen of the Sector Commissions are: English Sector Catechesis, the Most Reverend Albert LeGatt, Archbishop of St-Boniface; English Sector Liturgy and the Sacraments, the Most Reverend Gerard Pettipas, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan; French Sector Liturgy and the Sacraments, the Most Reverend Yvon-Joseph Moreau, O.C.S.O., Bishop of Ste-Anne-de-la Pocatière. As well, the Bishops approved the 2013 CCCB financial statements and its 2015 budget.

The concluding session of the Plenary ended with a brief report by Archbishop Pettipas who is chairing a small ad hoc group of Bishops on possible follow-up by dioceses in Canada to the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Coverage of the Plenary by Salt + Light TV

For the fourth time in the history of the CCCB, the Canadian Catholic television network Salt + Light broadcast a number of the events of the Plenary Assembly, both on the Internet and by television. This video footage remains available on the websites of the CCCB, at www.cccb.ca, and also on the Salt + Light TV website, www.saltandlighttv.org.

The texts published by the 2014 Plenary Assembly, including the President’s letter to the Holy Father as well as the daily news releases, are available on the Conference’s website.

(CCCB – Ottawa)… On the fourth day of the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the Bishops reflected on the challenges facing consecrated life today and on co-responsibility with the laity in the light of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The day also included the annual meeting of the CCCB French Sector, while a number of Bishops of the English Sector participated in a media formation workshop with Salt + Light TV. The daily Eucharistic celebration was held at the national Shrine of Saint Anne de Beaupré. The Bishops had the opportunity to tour the Shrine dedicated to the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It receives thousands of pilgrims and visitors each year, among whom there is an important presence from the Aboriginal communities from across Canada and the United States.

The day also included briefings for the Plenary on the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine. The Most Reverend Yousif Habash, Eparchial Bishop of Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Diocese in the United States and Canada, spoke on the extreme difficulties in the Middle East. The Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, O.S.B.M., Metropolitan for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, spoke about the crisis in the Ukraine. The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of Canada have just returned from the Ukraine where they participated in a Synod of the Bishops.

Challenges Facing Consecrated Life Today

In the afternoon, the Most Reverend John Corriveau, O.F.M. Cap., Bishop of Nelson, B.C., led a panel discussion on the challenges facing consecrated life today. Father George Smith, C.S.B., General Superior of the Basilian Fathers and Vice President of the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC), was invited to present an overview of the current situation of religious life in Canada. In 2013, there were over 17,000 religious men and women in Canada. Fifty percent were over 80 years old and only one percent under 40.

The Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and CCCB Co-Treasurer, presented the main ideas of an address by Sister Gaétane Guillemette, N.D.P.S., who had been scheduled to address the Bishops but was unable to be at the meeting of the CCCB Plenary Assembly. In the conclusion of her text, Sister Guillemette said that one of the challenges facing religious communities is to develop new ways of collaboration so as to be witnesses of the presence of Christ. Sister Guillemettte, a member of the CRC Theological Commission, has written a number of papers on the future of religious life.

On November 29, 2014, the Holy See will inaugurate the Year for Consecrated Life to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Perfectae Caritatis, the Second Vatican Council Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, promulgated on October 28, 1965. To celebrate this special year, the CCCB has invited the CRC to establish a joint committee that will recommend possible ways to to celebrate the Year for Consecrated Life in Canada.

Co-Responsibility with the Laity in the Light of Evangelii Gaudium

In the second half of the afternoon, the Episcopal Commission for Doctrine was invited to lead a session on co-responsibility with the laity in the light of Evangelii Gaudium. His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Québec and Primate of the Church in Canada, the Most Reverend Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal, and the Most Reverend Richard Gagnon, Archbishop of Winnipeg, joined the Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, C.S.B., Archbishop of Vancouver and Chairman of the Commission, in reflecting on this question.

Daily Briefings on the 2014 Plenary Assembly

For a third year, daily briefings on the Plenary were broadcasted in English and French on the Internet with the collaboration of Salt + Light TV. At the end of each day, Monday to Thursday, the CCCB Vice President, the Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., Bishop of Hamilton, and CCCB Co-Treasurer the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, reviewed the day’s major topics and events. Tomorrow, the daily briefing will feature the CCCB President, the Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau, and Bishop Crosby.

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The third day of the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) opened with Mass in the Maronite Rite. The principal celebrant was the Most Reverend Paul-Marwan Tabet, Eparchial Bishop of Maronite Catholics in Canada.

Later in the morning, the Bishops received reports from the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP), and the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council. In addition, they received the 2013 financial statements and began their review of the 2015 budgetary provisions. In the afternoon, the meeting of the Bishops of the English Sector was held, while an opportunity for media training was offered to the French Sector Bishops with the collaboration of Salt + Light TV.

In his report, the Chairman of COLF, the Most Reverend Noël Simard, Bishop of Valleyfield, announced that COLF, with the support of the CCCB, will shortly launch a National Campaign for Palliative and Home Care, and against Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. COLF will offer resources which will be available at no cost on a new Website to be dedicated exclusively to the national campaign. The resources will include a video, a prayer card for life, and suggested prayers of the faithful. The CCCB’s support of the campaign is related to its National Pastoral Initiative for Life and Family, launched in 2011. The CCCB webpage for the Pastoral Initiative already includes a special section with resources and links to other websites on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The Most Reverend John Boissonneau, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto, presented the annual report of the CCCB Standing Committee on Development and Peace, as well as the activities report by CCODP. The Development and Peace activities report detailed its response to the emergency situation in Syria, as well as describing the solidarity visits over the past year to Ethiopia and most recently to the Philippines. Bishop Boissonneau pointed out that the Plenary Assembly later this week will receive a Bishop from Haiti who will speak about hunger and food shortage, the theme for the 2014 CCODP fall education and action campaign. The Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau and CCCB President, thanked the members of the Standing Committee for their excellent work in accompanying CCODP, and in assisting in communications and collaboration between the Conference and Development and Peace.

Cause for the Beatification of the Venerable Marie-Élisabeth Turgeon

At the beginning of the day, the Most Reverend Pierre-André Fournier, Archbishop of Rimouski and President of the Assembly of Québec Catholic Bishops (AECQ), shared the joy of his archdiocese at learning that earlier this morning Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the Decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the Venerable Marie-Élisabeth Turgeon. Mother Marie-Élisabeth was a Canadian woman religious (1840-1881) who founded the Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Soeurs de Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire). The promulgation had been approved by the Holy Father following an audience with His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Amato, S.D.B., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.