Following verbal sparring between Cardinal Christophe Pierre (the apostolic nuncio) and Archbishop Timothy Broglio (the USCCB president) over the state of the Church in the US, the bishops elected committee chairmen and affirmed that abortion is “preeminent” among political issues.
The bishops voted to support the beatification cause of Father Isaac Thomas and to support the English bishops’ petition to the Pope to name St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the Church. The bishops also took votes on planning, a budget, and liturgical items related to the translation of the Liturgy of the Hours and texts related to religious life, such as the blessing of an abbot.
Apart from the votes on the committee chairmen, the bishops voted to pass most agenda items with near unanimity.