BALTIMORE - The announcement of dates and locations for Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit next year highlighted the U.S. bishops' Nov. 12-15 fall general meeting in Baltimore. The April 15-20 trip will include visits to New York and Washington and an address at the United Nations.

CNS PHOTOS/NANCY WIECHEC

Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenville reads a newspaper prior to the start of the U.S. bishops' fall meeting in Baltimore.

The same day, with the approval of the body of bishops, a new statement on Iraq was issued in the name of the bishops' outgoing president, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., (see page 12).

On Nov. 14, the last public day of the four-day meeting, the bishops approved the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility From the Catholic Bishops of the United States.

The document rejects politics based on "powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype" and calls instead for "a different kind of political engagement." That engagement must be "shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good and the protection of the weak and vulnerable," it said.

The bishops also approved several liturgical agenda items Nov. 14: a document on liturgical music, 183-22, with three abstentions; an English-language version of a document on weekday celebrations of the Liturgy of the Word, 190-18, and a Spanish-language version, 188-16, with five abstentions; and revised readings during Lent, 199-6, with five abstentions.

The music document, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, had originally been proposed as a document that would have required Vatican approval and would have been binding on bishops in their dioceses. But Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., outgoing chairman of the bishops' Committee on the Liturgy, said the committee decided to recommend the document only as a guideline for bishops, not as "normative law."

In Stewardship and Teenagers: The Challenge of Being a Disciple, approved in a 198-6 vote Nov. 14, the bishops spelled out in simple language what young people can and should do to share their "time, talent and treasure. They also approved a Spanish-language brochure, 202-5; it is not a translation but was written originally in Spanish. Both are to be circulated as brochures.

The bishops also OK'd a curriculum framework for developing catechetical materials for high school students, 117-97, with one abstention.

With a 212-3 vote, they approved a 21-page set of guidelines on catechetical instruction on chaste living for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This document had been worked on since 2003 in response to catechetical publishers who had been seeking guidance on this topic.

Its introduction states that these guidelines should not only help publishers, but parents, catechists and teachers "in their respective roles in this crucial and delicate task."

On Nov. 12 the bishops were briefed by the staff of the New York-based John Jay College of Criminal Justice on an ongoing study of the "causes and context" of clerical sexual abuse (see page 12).

Cardinal George won the presidency on the first ballot with 188 votes, or 85 percent. He is completing his three-year term as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeds Bishop Skylstad, whose three-year term came to an end at the close of the meeting. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., was elected vice president.

Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago acknowledges the applause after being elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Earlier that day, they took the final steps to formalize the new USCCB structure and approved a $147.7 million budget for 2008 and a 16 percent reduction in the diocesan assessment to fund the USCCB.

By a 221-7 vote Nov. 13, the bishops approved legislation specifying when a bishop must get the consent of his diocesan finance council and college of consultors before making certain financial transactions or commitments. It now goes to the Vatican for its approval.

Norms approved by the bishops in 2002 set those thresholds at $500,000 for dioceses with fewer than 500,000 Catholics and $1 million for dioceses with 500,000 or more Catholics.

The bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Diocesan Audits recommended annual reporting by every parish as well as exercising caution about the tradition of presuming church employees view their work as ministry and do not need oversight. Such a "trusting environment" can be exploited by a dishonest worker, the committee's report said.

In his last official address as USCCB president Nov. 12, Bishop Skylstad urged a leadership style that does not measure success "moment to moment" but instead follows the example of Jesus and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

"We cannot shrink from our calling to be shepherds, to be leaders," he said. "As Christ made it His mission to show us His Father, to teach us to seek the will of His Father, we cannot in fidelity to Him renounce or weaken our proclamation of the truth." - CNS