United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is an official organization of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States. A canonical entity governing the church, and a public policy arm that jointly exercise certain pastoral functions on behalf of the Christian faithful. The purpose of the Conference is to promote the greater good which the Church offers humankind and applies to the episcopal conferences which are established all over the world for the same purpose. The bishops themselves constitute the membership of the Conference, which is incorporated, and are served by a staff of over 350 lay people, priests, deacons, and religious located in Washington, D.C. Its purposes under civil law are: "To unify, coordinate, encourage, promote and carry on Catholic activities in the United States; to organize and conduct religious, charitable and social welfare work at home and abroad; to aid in education; to care for immigrants; and generally to enter into and promote by education, publication and direction the objects of its being."

The groups history can be traced back to 1917 when the bishops of the U.S. formed the National Catholic War Council (NCWC) to enable U.S. Catholics to contribute funds and commit personnel to provide spiritual care and recreation services to servicemen during World War I. Formally in 1966, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) were established. In 2001, the NCCB and the USCC were combined to form the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Currently, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York is their President.

## External links[edit]

* United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website