WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404). The bill, which first passed the U.S. House of Representatives in July, will codify the nationwide redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples in federal statute for the first time. The bill will also heighten the threats to religious liberty that have persisted after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision of 2015. Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, issued the following statement in response:

“We are gravely disappointed that the misnamed Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate and continue to call for its rejection.

WASHINGTON – The Holy See has recently expressed “surprise and regret” over the installation of an auxiliary bishop in China in a diocese not currently recognized by the Holy See. Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace offered his support of the ongoing work of the Holy See, and the Holy Father’s commitment to dialogue.

Bishop Malloy’s statement follows:

WASHINGTON - In 1965, Pope Paul VI issued the Vatican Council’s declaration about other world religions, Nostra Aetate (“In our time”), marking a key milestone in the relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism. As the 60th anniversary of this prophetic document approaches, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs has issued a statement urging all believers in Christ once again to decry all “hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.” (Nostra Aetate, 4).

The full Committee’s statement follows: