By Catholic News Service • Posted June 8, 2016

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila will serve as the spiritual director of this year’s special spring assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops starting June 13.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, USCCB president, said he invited Cardinal Tagle because of his “wide range of pastoral experiences” and his “gift for joyful communication,” ucanews.com reported.

[hotblock]

The bishops gather in a special assembly every three years to “engage in a dedicated time of spiritual retreat, prayerful reflection and fraternal support.”

“The spiritual director serves as the central figure of the assembly, delivering daily reflections and homilies on a theme central to the episcopal ministry,” said Bishop John O. Barres of Allentown, Pennsylvania, chairman of the special assembly planning committee.

The theme of this year’s assembly, which will be in Huntington Beach, California, is “The Bishop as Missionary Leader for the Human Family.”

Cardinal Tagle has addressed three international eucharistic congresses in recent years and has delivered the keynote speech at the high-level dialogue on climate change at the United Nations in New York.