A group of more than 60 bishops has written to Archbishop Jose Gomez this month, pressing for the U.S. bishops’ conference leadership to suspend discussion of the subject of Eucharistic coherence ahead of the USCCB’s June meeting, despite a recent letter from the Vatican’s doctrinal office counseling the bishops to continue discussing the matter. Discussion on the topic was scheduled in March through the ordinary USCCB procedure for setting meeting agendas.

The letter was signed by several U.S. cardinals, including Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston. New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan was originally a signatory to the letter, but he withdrew his name from the text after it was sent.

It urged that committee work in process on “Eucharistic coherence” be stopped, and that a planned discussion on the subject be removed from the schedule of the bishops’ June meeting — delayed until an in-person meeting of the bishops takes place.

“Having now received the May 7, 2021 letter from His Eminence Luis Cardinal Ladaria, SJ, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, we respectfully urge that all Conference wide discussion and committee work on the topic of Eucharistic worthiness and other issues raised by the Holy See be postponed until the full body of bishops is able to meet in person,” said a text of the letter circulated among bishops for signature, and obtained by The Pillar from multiple sources.

Ladaria’s May 7 letter urged that “dialogue…take place among the bishops so that they could agree as a Conference that support of pro-choice legislation is not compatible with Catholic teaching.”

But the “high standard of consensus among ourselves and of maintaining unity with the Holy See and the Universal Church as set forth by Cardinal Ladaria is far from being achieved in the present moment,” the text obtained by The Pillar said

“Moreover, as the Prefect’s sound theological and pastoral advice opens a new path for moving forward, we should take this opportunity to re-envision the best collegial structure for achieving that,” the text added.

The Pillar confirmed that the letter was sent to Gomez on letterhead from the Archdiocese of Washington. Sources told The Pillar that the initiative was organized principally through an effort of Cardinals Gregory and Cupich….

The above comes from a May 25 story in The Pillar.