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In the wake of Pope Francis’ passing, many
LGBTQ+ Catholics wondered whether the momentum of synodal dialogue
would continue. I can say with confidence: It has not stopped. If
anything, it is evolving—and becoming a more permanent part of the life
of the church.
From March 26 to 28, 2026, I had the
opportunity to participate in a unique and deeply moving gathering: a
bishops’ meeting on LGBTQ issues. Convened by New Ways Ministry at the
Siena Retreat Center in Wisconsin, the meeting was held under the
Chatham House Rule to protect participants’ privacy and foster a safe
space where people could speak openly and honestly. (According to the
Chatham House Rule, participants at a meeting or event are allowed to
share information they learn there but not people’s identities.) The
gathering was marked by listening, humility, and a shared desire to
discern how best to serve LGBTQ+ Catholics, who are an integral part of
the body of Christ.
An
Adidas advertisement featuring Lionel Messi for the FIFA World Cup 2026
is displayed at the E-Central Los Angeles hotel May 28, 2026. Credit: OSV News photo/Kirby Lee-Imagn Images via Reuters
Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, a 44-year-old
diocesan priest in Peoria, Ill., is the rare cleric who is also an elite
athlete. Before he was a defender of the faith, Father Hilgenbrinck was
a defender for Clemson University and later the New England Revolution.
He played only four games of Major League Soccer, all during the 2008
season, before he followed his calling to attend Mount St. Mary’s
Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.
Pope
Leo XIV arrives at the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Tenerife,
Canary Islands, Spain, to celebrate Mass June 12, 2026, on the day he
meets with migrants and humanitarian organizations, as part of a
seven-day apostolic journey to Spain, which included visits to Madrid,
Barcelona and the Canary Islands. Credit: OSV News photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters
Pope Leo XIV concluded his weeklong visit
to Spain in high-powered mode, with fire in his soul, on the Canary
Island of Tenerife where on June 12 he issued a mighty denunciation of
those who traffic or exploit migrants, shouting, “Stop! Repent!”
He did so in the Plaza de Cristo de La
Laguna in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a small city in the northern part
of the island of Tenerife. “From this square,” he said, “I wish to
address a clear message to those who take advantage of people’s
desperation, to those who organize death routes, traffic in human
beings, withhold documents, exploit workers, threaten women, deceive
families and turn the suffering of others into a business. Stop!
Repent!”
After considerable debate, the U.S. Catholic bishops voted June 11 to update their “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” including adding language that emphasizes “the right of an accused to the presumption of innocence.”
During the second day of the bishops’ spring plenary in Orlando, a
handful of bishops sought to delay a vote on updating the 2002 document
on clergy sexual abuse allegations and prevention.
Archbishop
Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, gives his presidential address June 10, 2026, opening
the annual spring meeting of the USCCB in Orlando, Fla. Credit: OSV News photo/Bob Roller
ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) — The Church must “put out into the deep” and “create hope in Christ,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The archbishop shared his thoughts in his
opening address at the USCCB’s annual spring plenary assembly, taking
place June 10-12 in Orlando.
The public sessions of the meeting, June 10 and 11, were being livestreamed through the USCCB’s website at usccb.org.
Archbishop Coakley opened the public sessions with his first address as USCCB president, having been elected during the conference’s annual fall meeting in November 2025.
Lighthearted quote from Blessed John Paul I
He began his remarks with a lighthearted
quote of a comment Blessed John Paul I reportedly made to the cardinals
upon his papal election: “May God forgive you for what you have done.”
Also speaking to the bishops was Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, who was appointed as
papal nuncio to the U.S. in March, having previously served as the Holy
See’s permanent observer to the United Nations. Archbishop Caccia
succeeded Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who turned 80 in January and had served in the post since 2016.
The meeting will see expected votes on several action items on the USCCB’s agenda, which was publicly released June 8.
Among those items are revisions to the USCCB’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,”
adopted in 2002 and updated at regular intervals over the ensuing
years; episcopal consultations for the canonization causes of Slovenian
missionary priest Msgr. Joseph Francis Buh and lay American John Rick
Miller; and proposed adjustments to portions of several liturgical
texts. Presentations on several initiatives, such as Catholic prison
ministry and World Youth Day 2027, were also scheduled.
Impact of bishops’ fall immigration message
In his address, Archbishop Coakley said he was “especially pleased to recognize the impact” of the USCCB’s special message on migration,
which was released during the conference’s November 2025 plenary
assembly under Archbishop Coakley’s predecessor as USCCB president,
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese of the Military
Services.
The statement, overwhelmingly approved by
the U.S. bishops, came amid the Trump administration’s hardline
crackdown on immigration, which has seen sweeping mass detentions and
deportations.
The USCCB message “demonstrated our united
concern as pastors for the dignity of every person, especially our
migrant brothers and sisters,” said Archbishop Coakley.
He noted that “the concern, the grief over
how people are being treated, expressed in our message, remains as
relevant now,” adding, “We continue to advocate for “meaningful reform
of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures.”
Unity of bishops and Pope Leo XIV
Archbishop Coakley said he was “grateful”
for the unity of the U.S. bishops with each other and with Pope Leo XIV,
whom he quoted frequently in his comments.
The archbishop said that during the past six months of his tenure as USCCB president, he had returned “many times” to Luke 5:4, the Scripture verse that he chose for his episcopal motto: “Duc in altum.”
“It is the verse from the Gospel according
to St. Luke where the Lord says to Peter, ‘Put out into the deep and
lower your nets for a catch,’” he explained.
Baltimore
Archbishop William E. Lori and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio,
chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-life
Activities, attend the first public session June 10, 2026, of the
annual spring meeting of the USCCB in Orlando, Fla. Credit: OSV News
photo/Bob Roller
The words are not only a source of comfort but “a command and a challenge,” said Archbishop Coakley.
Both the Church and its bishops are
“commanded to put out into the deep water, to move beyond our comfort
zones and the safe places where we can maintain our illusions of safety
and control.”
He added, “Obeying this command is perhaps more necessary at this moment than ever.”
Today’s constant challenges
Archbishop Coakley pointed to current
challenges such as “constant flux … forced migration, polarization,
disruptions, climatic, and economic upheavals, artificial intelligence,
and wars,” as well as the struggles of those who “are wondering what it
even means to be a human person.”
To restore hope, he said, “the truth of Christ must be proclaimed all the more confidently.”
Peace, “which is the heart of the truth of Christ, always brings hope,” said Archbishop Coakley.
Threats to that hope include attacks on
human dignity, especially against “the unborn … the elderly … the sick
and suffering,” he said.
He also cited “the violence of war and
injustice,” as well as “the scourge of racism,” “abuse, disdain and
contempt — especially towards the poor, the stranger, the condemned and
the outcast.”
Preaching that ‘life is a gift from God’
Restoring hope “necessitates preaching”
that “life is a gift from God,” said Archbishop Coakley. “Every life has
value and dignity, and we cannot forfeit that dignity, even when it is
besmirched by sin and wickedness. It comes from God.”
That truth “will renew hope in the hardest of hearts,” he said.
Bishop
Gregory L. Parkes of St. Petersburg, Fla., attends a June 10, 2026,
session of the annual spring meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops in Orlando, Fla. Credit: OSV News photo/Bob Roller
Another threat is polarization “within our
country, and even within our Church,” said the archbishop, who
described such division as “a scandal that can only be overcome through
encounter, through the cultivation of interpersonal relationships and
conversations between those who may disagree.”
“We must never give up on those who are different or see things differently,” he said.
Archbishop Coakley said that the “record
numbers” entering the Church this year and prior were both “a great sign
of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit” and “a further example of how we
need to put out into the deep.”
‘The disaffiliated and the unaffiliated’
The bishops’ current mission directive,
“to reach out to the disaffiliated and the unaffiliated, remains a major
task in helping to restore hope,” he said.
Looking ahead to the U.S. bishops’ June 11
consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Archbishop
Coakley said he was “reminded how deep, unfathomable, and profound is
the love that lives in that heart, and how it embraces the entire
world.”
“It excludes no one,” he said. “Can there
be a greater message of hope? Can a greater gift of hope be offered? It
is the love flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus that feeds our hope.”
U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stand guard at the Delaney
Hall detention center while demonstrators gathered outside in Newark,
New Jersey, May 29, 2026 (OSV News photo/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters).
During
morning rush hour in Chicago last week, ICE agents crashed into a
bystander’s car while trying to detain a Venezuelan migrant. After
tackling the screaming, shirtless man to the ground and handcuffing him,
agents tased him, according
to a local reporter and other witnesses on the scene. Then they used
the taser and pepper spray to threaten bystanders who had gathered and
started blowing whistles. In the chaos, an agent dropped a loaded
magazine in the street.
