The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted Nov. 11 in favor of consecrating the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June 2026 as a part of the Church’s observance of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, for their annual Plenary Assembly, the bishops voted 215-8, with 7 abstaining, in favor of consecrating the nation at their next assembly, which will be on June 12, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The USCCB posted on X Nov. 11 that the bishops will also provide prayer resources and a novena that culminates on the solemnity.
“Through this act of consecration, the bishops seek to renew devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to recognize the kingship of Christ, perfecting the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel,” the post reads.
At their November General Assembly, the U.S. bishops approved the consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart in June 2026, as part of the Church’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) November 11, 2025
The initiative… pic.twitter.com/hQsIC0xdQL
Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, the chairman of the USCCB Committee on Religious Liberty, presented the action item, explaining that the committee and USCCB Office of Communications plans to create a podcast series and other media “that profile Catholics who, in varying ways, reveal the experience of Catholicism in America.”
“These reflections,” he explained, “will be accompanied by teaching resources that present Catholic contributions to our country in areas such as education, healthcare, and the Catholic immigrant experience, and that explain Catholic teaching about authentic patriotism and how a rightly-ordered love of country leads us to an appreciation of the goods we enjoy in America, even as we work to correct her flaws.”
The initiative will also encourage dioceses to invite the faithful to participate in acts of devotion such as 250 hours of Eucharistic adoration or 250 works of mercy as part of the commemoration, according to the bishop.
He explained that in 1925, Pope Pius XI released an encyclical instituting the Feast of Christ, in which he “referred to the pious custom of consecrating oneself, families and even nations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as a way to recognize the kingship of Christ.”
He recalled that in his last encyclical, Dilexit Nos, in 2024, the late Pope Francis “brought devotion to the Sacred Heart to the forefront of Catholic life, as the ultimate symbol of both human and Divine love, calling it a ‘wellspring of peace and unity.’”
“He wrote of how the Sacred Heart teaches us to build up, in this world, God’s kingdom of love and justice,” Bishop Rhoades continued. “Then in his first Apostolic exhortation, Dilexit Te, Pope Leo XIV, following upon Pope Francis’ teaching, invites us to contemplate Christ’s love, the love that moves us to mission in our suffering world today.”
Entrusting the nation to the care and love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart on the 250th anniversary “is an opportunity to promote the beautiful devotion to the Sacred Heart among our people,” Bishop Rhoades concluded, “and also to remind everyone of our task to serve our nation by perfecting the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel, as taught by the Second Vatican Council.”