CCCB Delegation on Annual Visit to the Holy See

Thursday, October 26 2000

(Ottawa – CCCB) Most Rev. Gerald Wiesner, OMI, Bishop of Prince George and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), will lead a delegation to the Vatican this week for the CCCB’s annual meeting with various Roman dicasteries.

CCCB Vice-President Most Rev. Jacques Berthelet, CSV, of Saint Jean-Longueuil and General Secretary Msgr. Peter Schonenbach, PH will accompany Bishop Wiesner on the trip. They will meet with the heads of such Curial offices as the Secretariat of State, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

The delegation will also be joined this year by members of the Episcopal Committee for World Youth Day 2002 for a meeting with Cardinal James Stafford of the Pontifical Council for the Laity that coordinates World Youth Day celebrations. The committee members include its chairman Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Meagher of Toronto, Bishop François Lapierre, PMÉ, of Saint Hyacinthe, Archbishop Thomas Collins of Edmonton and Bishop James Wingle of Yarmouth. Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic of Toronto and WYD 2002 National director Rev. Thomas Rosica, CSB, will also attend.

The visit to the dicasteries will begin on October 26 and end on November 3. These meetings permit open exchanges on a regular basis between the Canadian episcopal conference and the Roman Curia regarding common projects, preoccupations and challenges for the Catholic Church both in Canada and around the world.