The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began their Fall meeting in Baltimore yesterday. As reported by CNS and the New York Times, outgoing USCCB president Cardinal Timothy Dolan in his address to fellow-bishops called for a new emphasis on combating persecution of Christians in countries such as Syria, Egypt, India and Nigeria. He said that we are living in what must be recognized as a new age of martyrs. He claimed that as many as 1 million Christians have been killed for their faith so far in the 21st century, and said that it is a priority to urge political leaders to make the protection of "at-risk Christians a foreign policy priority."
The bishops elected their current vice-president, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, as the new president of the Conference, and elected Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston as vice president. (Press release.) (AP report.) They also approved the drafting of a formal statement on pornography.
