Bishop Richard J. Malone is one of 18 United States bishops traveling through the Holy Land over the next week and a half. Follow their journey through a series of social media platforms, combined here for easy reading.

Bishop Richard J. Malone will be among 18 Catholic bishops from the United States taking part in the Bishops' Prayer Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land, scheduled for Sept. 10-19. Bishop Malone will deliver a prayer at Jacob's Well in Ramallah on Sept. 14, and lead a Muslim-Christian Prayer for Peace with students at Bethlehem University on Sept. 18.

BALTIMORE - Bishop Richard J. Malone was elected chairman-elect of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth at the Fall General Assembly on Nov. 12. He was also re-elected to the board of Catholic Relief Services.

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in a May 21 statement, applauded 43 dioceses, hospitals, schools and church agencies for filing 12 lawsuits around the nation saying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate violates religious freedom.

WASHINGTON—Blog posts, YouTube videos, an online quiz and resources on Facebook are among the ways U.S. Catholics can learn about the Church's teaching on issues and involvement in the political process, as part of an initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). These resources promote the document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the call to political responsibility issued by the U.S. bishops in 2007 and reissued last fall.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops want to provide an opportunity for all Catholics to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, according to a new document from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization focuses on reaching out to Catholics, practicing or not, who have lost a sense of the faith in an effort to re-energize them.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops are strongly united in their ongoing and determined efforts to protect religious freedom, the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in a March 14 statement.

For many years, the U.S. bishops have supported access to life-affirming health care for all. During the health care reform debate in Congress you received a number of urgent USCCB memorandum calling for health care legislation that would advance the goal of truly universal, life-affirming health care: upholding longstanding federal policies against abortion funding , protecting rights of conscience, and not leaving immigrants worse off.

1. The rule that created the uproar has not changed at all, but was finalized as is. Friday evening, after a day of touting meaningful changes in the mandate, HHS issued a regulation finalizing the rule first issued in August 2011, "without change." So religious employers dedicated to serving people of other faiths are still not exempt as "religious employers." Indeed, the rule describes them as "non-exempt."

WASHINGTON - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following statement, responding to President Obama's announcement about religious freedom that was made at the White House on Feb. 10, 2012.

The Catholic bishops of the United States called "literally unconscionable" a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. The Jan. 20 announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.

The Roman Missal, Third Edition, the ritual text containing prayers and instructions for the celebration of the Mass, is now being prepared for publication. In the United States, seven publishers (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., Liturgical Press, Liturgy Training Publications, Magnificat, Midwest Theological Forum, USCCB Communications, and World Library Publications) will publish ritual editions and are now advertising their plans and will soon accept pre-orders. The Roman Missal will be implemented in the United States of America on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011. The ritual editions should start arriving in parishes around October 1.

As members of Congress prepare to take a final vote on health care reform legislation, it is important to reiterate my position, and that of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.