Eucharistic Revival in the United States: Time of Grace and Encounter with Jesus.Indigenous peoples and the doctrine of the ChurchOn June 12-14, the Spring Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was held in Louisville, Kentucky.USCCB). During the meeting, the prelates discussed important issues for the North American church, including the Synod on Synodality, the Eucharistic Revival and the National Eucharistic Congress (to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 17-21). The bishops also approved a document for indigenous pastoral ministry and voted to advance the cause for the beatification and canonization of Sister Adele Brise.
Referring to the Eucharistic Revival initiative, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, spoke of the relationship that must exist between Eucharistic devotion and service. He also added that the wounds of the Church should not be hidden, but should be tended to in order to be healed by Christ.
"We are aware of the most evident wounds in the Church: the scandal of abuse, the plague of indifference to the poor, faith immersed in a secularized culture, polarization and division-even among those of us who are committed to Christ and his Church. These wounds and sufferings are not simply abstract ideas," he said. In that sense, Bishop Pierre pointed out that the Eucharist is the source of healing for these wounds, as it constitutes a powerful medicine.
Indigenous Ministry
At this meeting, the North American bishops also approved a pastoral framework for indigenous ministry entitled "Keeping Christ's Sacred Promise," which aims to "promote reconciliation and healing, celebrating God's love for indigenous peoples and fostering unity in faith and love of Christ."
The theme of healing and reconciliation is the opening chapter. The bishops acknowledge the traumas experienced by the native peoples not only with the arrival of the explorers and the dispossession of their lands, but also with the system of boarding schools for children, which was implemented by the U.S. government in the 19th century and under which indigenous people were forcibly removed from their families to enter these institutions.
This system lasted 150 years and of the nearly 500 boarding schools, 87 were run by the Catholic Church. "Many Native peoples never fully recovered from these tragedies, which often resulted in homes torn apart by addiction, domestic abuse, abandonment and neglect. The church recognizes that it played a role in such traumas experienced by Native children," the document notes, adding that "the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, serve as the primary remedy for healing the wounds of the past." There are currently more than 340 parishes that minister to Native American ministry.
Adele Brise
During this session, the bishops also approved the advancement of the cause of beatification and canonization at the diocesan level of Adele Brise, born in January 1831 in Belgium but who emigrated with her family to Champion, Wisconsin in 1855 where she lived until her death in 1896.
In 1859 Adele reported having apparitions of a woman dressed in white whom she identified as Mary, Queen of Heaven and who told her: "Gather the children of this country and teach them what they must know for salvation: the catechism, how to cross themselves with the sign of the cross and how to approach the sacraments. That is what I want you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you". This was the beginning of Adele's mission and she would soon gather a group of lay women to embrace religious life and dedicate themselves to teaching. These Marian apparitions received the approval of the Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in 2010 and the site of the apparitions was designated in 2015 as the National Basilica of Our Lady of Champion.
