United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Vote to Write a Document on the
Meaning of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church
Statement of Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops
June 21, 2021
“Last week, my brother bishops and I voted overwhelmingly to issue a teaching document on the
beauty and power of the Eucharist. The doctrine committee of the bishops’ conference will now
begin drafting this document and, in the months ahead, the bishops will continue our prayer and
discernment through a series of regional meetings and consultations. In November, the bishops
will gather to discuss the document draft.
“The Eucharist is the heart of the Church and the heart of our lives as Catholics. In the Holy
Eucharist, Jesus Christ himself draws near to each one of us personally and gathers us together as
one family of God and one Body of Christ.
“As bishops, our desire is to deepen our people’s awareness of this great mystery of faith, and to
awaken their amazement at this divine gift, in which we have communion with the living God.
That is our pastoral purpose in writing this document.
“I invite everyone in the Church to pray for the bishops as we continue our dialogues and
reflections. I pray that this will be a time for all of us in the Church to reflect on our own faith
and readiness to receive our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.”
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