WASHINGTON (DC)
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
WASHINGTON (September 30, 2005)—The Most Reverend Edwin F. O’Brien, Archbishop of Military Services, the Coordinator of the Apostolic Visitation of U.S. seminaries and houses of formation by the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See, has issued the following statement:
“As the Apostolic Seminary Visitation gets underway, it has attracted a great deal of attention from the public and the media. As a result I want to emphasize several points with regard to the Visitation.
“First of all, the Visitation is an activity of the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See, planned in consultation with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The role of the teams of Visitors, who were selected and appointed by the Congregation, is to gather information for the Congregation which will review the information and issue a report with regard to each institution. This report will be sent to the bishop or the religious superior with jurisdiction over that institution. An overall report will be given to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. As Coordinator, I simply oversee the logistics. I do not see the reports sent by the teams of Visitors to the Congregation.