CCCB Delegation in Rome for the Conference’s Annual Visit

Monday, November 30 2015

(CCCB-Ottawa)… A delegation from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is currently in Rome, November 30 to December 12, 2015, for the annual meetings with a number of dicasteries of the Holy See. The Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., Bishop of Hamilton and CCCB President, is leading the delegation, which includes the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and CCCB Vice President, and Msgr. Frank Leo, Jr., C.S.S., CCCB General Secretary. This is the first time that Msgr. Leo participates in the Conference’s annual visit since becoming General Secretary on November 1st. During their visit, the CCCB delegates will also be received by Pope Francis in a private audience on December 3. The delegation likewise plans to attend the official beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy as Pope Francis opens the Holy Door in Saint Peter’s Basilica on December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. They will also participate in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist presided by the Holy Father in the Basilica on December 12, when Pope Francis will entrust the American continent to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.

This year, the visit of the CCCB Presidency comes shortly after the conclusion of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, and as well as just before the closing of the Year of Consecrated Life on February 2. The 2015 visit will be an opportunity for the CCCB Presidency to share with the Holy Father and his collaborators about the work of the Bishops of Canada in the areas of social justice, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, consecrated life, catechesis and evangelization, as well as on current ethical and moral discussions on key life issues, particularly euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Canadian delegation will also convey to Pope Francis the deep appreciation of Canadian Catholics for the Beatification on April 26, 2015 in Rimouski of Blessed Élisabeth Turgeon, founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

While in Rome, the CCCB delegation will meet with 17 dicasteries of the Holy See. These will include the Secretariat of State, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for Clergy, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of the Health Care Workers, the Pontifical Council for the Family, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and the Pontifical Academy for Life.