By Stephen P. White
The bishops of the United States are gathered in Orlando, Florida, this week for the USCCB’s annual June assembly. The conference’s June meetings are usually more low-key than the November plenary sessions in Baltimore. That said, this week the conference welcomes a new president (Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, who was elected last November) and a new apostolic nuncio (Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, who replaces Cardinal Christophe Pierre).
If there is one aspect of this June meeting that is likely to draw attention, it is this: this afternoon, June 11, 2026, the bishops of the United States will gather at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, in Orlando, and consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The bishops decided to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart in November 2025. Months of planning have gone into this consecration, including a nationwide novena and a broad campaign to spread the word at the diocesan and parish levels. As this effort reaches its culmination, it is worth reflecting on what this consecration means for the Church in the United States.
First, because this year marks the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the bishops have made clear that the consecration is to be understood “as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary.” The founding of this nation deserves not only to be remembered; it deserves to be celebrated.
And so, the text of the bishops’ prayer of consecration acknowledges: “We celebrate the abundant gifts you have given to this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all persons with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Whatever else must be said or understood about our history as a nation, we should begin with gratitude.
Second, in addition to expressing gratitude, by consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart the bishops are proclaiming a fundamental truth about all human endeavors, including our political life—namely, that there is no greater perfection for human beings than to be conformed to Christ. In His Sacred Heart we discover both the perfection of our human nature and the overwhelming mercy of God, who not only saves us from sin and death but invites us to share in His divinity.
Such a claim certainly goes beyond the language of the Declaration concerning the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” yet the two assertions are far from incompatible. Man is not the supreme judge of his own affairs. Moreover, the common life of our nation is not diminished by being under the laws of nature, much less by divine law. Rather, it is precisely by being under such higher authority that political life can be ordered in a way that attains its proper ends.
Third. Like every nation in history, our political life has not always been perfectly ordered to its proper ends. Grave injustices—from slavery to abortion—have marked our history across the centuries. We have been divided to the point of open civil war in the past, and we are divided in many ways today. The sins and failures of this nation cannot be healed, much less corrected, by self-hatred. This country cannot be made beautiful by despairing of its promise. But, like all of Creation, it can find healing in the merciful heart of Jesus, the King of Kings.
By consecrating this nation to the Sacred Heart, the bishops are celebrating with gratitude what is best in it, recognizing that we stand under the judgment of a God who is both just and loving, and asking forgiveness for what has been and remains broken by sin. In the words of the prayer of consecration: “We make reparation for the offenses against you and against human dignity that have taken place in this nation.”
That brings us to a fourth consideration regarding this consecration: it is public.
Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, in a reflection on why the bishops wish to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart, put it this way: “As we gratefully reflect on the blessings God has bestowed on our country, our devotion to the Sacred Heart compels us to consider how we might foster truth, justice, and charity in American life… And we invite all in our society to see the face of Christ reflected in every sister and brother.”
The Church consecrates, but it is an unequivocally public act—and, in a real sense, binding. The Declaration of Independence begins by noting that the signers must publicly account for their motives and actions. Hence we read: “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them…”
By consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our bishops are making a public declaration that cannot easily be withdrawn. Our bishops may not be pledging their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to a political cause, but our bishops—and by extension, all Catholics in the United States who join in this consecration—are making a public declaration of devotion and dependence on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Moreover, this is a promise of devotion made not only before the nations or out of respect for the “opinions of mankind,” but before God Himself.
The entire Church in the United States, united with its pastors, is not only bearing public witness, not only offering the whole nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but is publicly invoking the Lord to act. In the words of the prayer of consecration:
O Desire of the Nations and Center of History, we ask you to bless these United States of America. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
To which we can all say, with one voice: “Amen.”
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
About the author
Stephen P. White is executive director of the Saint John Paul II National Shrine and a fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.