USCCB concludes spring plenary assembly in Orlando, approves liturgical updates and revisions to child protection charter

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) concluded its spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, after days of meetings that included votes on liturgical texts, updates to the bishops’ child protection charter, and a national consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

According to a USCCB recap, the bishops approved elements of a new edition of the Lectionary for Mass, voting 184-1 with no abstentions. They also voted 187-0 with no abstentions to approve the 2025 Roman Missal-Liturgy of the Hours Supplement. 

The Lectionary contains the Scripture readings proclaimed at Mass, while the supplement adds liturgical texts connected to the Roman Missal and the Liturgy of the Hours. Both measures required approval by two-thirds of the bishops and now require confirmation from the Vatican.

The bishops also approved several updates to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the 2002 framework commonly known as the Dallas Charter, in a 179-22 vote with six abstentions. The charter guides how U.S. dioceses handle allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. 

According to the USCCB, the revisions address areas “in need of improvement or further development,” while preserving the charter’s core purpose to protect children and respond to abuse allegations with transparency and accountability. 

Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, laid out the changes during the assembly. 

According to the bishop, the revised text adds a glossary, which was added after “repeated requests from dioceses” for more consistent definitions. The updated charter also explicitly recognizes an accused cleric’s right to the presumption of innocence while an allegation is being investigated, language Bishop Knestout said is drawn from Book VI of the Code of Canon Law. 

It also identifies mandatory reporters, more clearly defining who within the Church has a responsibility to report suspected abuse through Church channels. The changes add protections for information covered by the seal of Confession and allow electronic letters of suitability, which confirm that a priest or deacon is in good standing before he can minister outside his own diocese or religious community.

The revisions are meant to incorporate developments from the revised Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, Pope Francis’ motu proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi, and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Vademecum. Pope Francis issued Vos Estis Lux Mundi in 2019, one year after the charter’s most recent revision, to establish global procedures for handling clergy sexual abuse allegations. A 2023 update added specific language on “vulnerable adults.” 

Bishop Knestout said that the Dallas Charter will remain focused exclusively on children because bishops are developing a separate document to address abuse involving vulnerable adults.

During the assembly, the bishops also affirmed by voice vote the advancement of two causes for beatification and canonization at the diocesan level: Servant of God John Rick Miller, a layman and evangelist, and Monsignor Joseph Francis Buh, a missionary priest who served in Minnesota.

The bishops also discussed Catholic higher education and the 25th anniversary of the implementation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae in the U.S., preparations for World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, synod implementation, feedback on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” Catholic prison ministry, and a 2031 international pastoral initiative tied to the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

As Zeale News reported, the bishops marked the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary with a Mass consecrating the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando.