Bishops’ November meeting to focus on AI, immigration, evangelization

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will livestream the public portion of its November meeting, where bishops will discuss artificial intelligence, immigration, and evangelization, while voting on liturgical texts, canonization causes, and conference leadership positions.

The 2026 Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore is set for Nov. 16–19, with public portions on Nov. 17–18.

The gathering, which has been livestreamed for the past 15 years, also will include addresses by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, USCCB president, and by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, papal nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Oscar Cantù of the Diocese of San José, California, will address the bishops on AI. He chairs the Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, which the USCCB created this year to advance the Church’s priorities on AI, as laid out in Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

An address by Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, who chairs the Committee on Migration, will provide an update one year after U.S. bishops adopted a special message that opposes “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”

Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, New York, who chairs the Committee for Cultural Diversity in the Church, will address the bishops on the Guadalupan Novena. The bishops are also expected to vote on an annual observance of a Day of Prayer for Racial Justice.

The bishops also plan to discuss evidence of increased conversions and a reported resurgence of religious interest among young adults in a panel presentation on new life in the Church.

Catholics can also expect votes on whether the bishops support investigating the canonization causes for Maria Middleton and Thomas Steven Vander Woude, two Americans whose causes are being investigated by their dioceses.

There will also be a vote on a new edition of the Lectionary for Mass and Book of the Gospels.

The bishops will vote on whether to approve the USCCB budget. There will also be a vote to approve a review and update of the pastoral plan for the Secretariat on Pro-Life Activities. The bishops also will vote on updates to the USCCB’s Diocesan Financial Reporting Guidelines and Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines.

With terms expiring for certain leadership positions, the USCCB will also elect replacements.

The bishops will elect a new secretary, choosing between Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, and Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio.

They will also vote on who will chair the committees on Catholic Education, Communications, Cultural Diversity in the Church, Doctrine, National Collections, and Pro-Life Activities.

Each bishop selected will serve as bishop-elect for one year and will then take over the role in the fall of 2027 and serve three-year terms.