Virginia Binet Berg '54 Joins U.S. Bishops' National Advisory Council

Alum Helps Welcome Pope as Part of the

"Church in Minature" --

Advisors to the U.S. Conference

of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)

Virginia Binet Berg '54 (biology, chemistry), of Arlington, Virginia, was recently elected to serve a four-year term on the National Advisory Council of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The Advisory Council, which is made up of a group of fifty to sixty advisors, “has been called the church in miniature,” and it could be seen as “a national pastoral council” said Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik. Because of her membership on this council, she was invited to the White House reception to welcome Pope Benedict XVI on his first pastoral visit to the United States. She was a one of the distinguished guests (1,500) who received special seating up close on the White House lawn. Over 7,000 people gathered for this historic happening.

Warm First Impressions

Binet Berg had no idea that her new volunteer position would include such perks. Anticipating her first meeting of the National Advisory Council in March 7-9, 2008, Binet Berg said “I was scared to death.” Turns out she had no need to be nervous. “This was the warmest and most welcoming group of people I’ve ever gone to meetings with,” she noted, and having served in political, educational, governmental, and religious organizations, she has been to many meetings. Bishop Zubik said the Council is meant to represent the United States in terms of “the adult Catholic population by age, occupation, ethnicity, geography, vocation and avocation.” Binet Berg admired the diversity of her colleagues: “middle-aged white men and women were definitely not in the majority!” There were representatives of different ages, some even in their twenties, three Native Americans, numerous Latinos and Latinas, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, Indian (from India) religious, a Byzantine Rite Catholic, and others. Each lay member, including Binet Berg, had been nominated by a bishop and then elected by the conference of bishops. Bishop Paul Loverde, Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, nominated Binet Berg.

At the orientation meeting on Friday, each new Council member was assigned a “guardian angel.” Veronica Valandra, a member of the Lakota Indian Tribe and the Director of the Indian Ministry for the Diocese of Rapid City, showed Virginia the ropes and gave her a handmade angel lapel pin as a welcoming gift.

The Working Sessions -- Reactive and Proactive Elements

The second day was spent going over materials from the “Green Book,” which is a binder of the proposals for action items and informative reports that the bishops of the USCCB receive. Advisory Council members received their books in advance of the meeting so they could read and consider the contents.

On that Saturday, members first prayed together and then split into two groups – a reactive group and a proactive one. The reactive group discussed and voted on the USCCB’s action proposals. The proactive group, which Binet Berg joined, considered proposals they wanted the bishops to research or consider for action in the future. These were not complaints or concerns, but solution-oriented proposals. All discussions were confidential so participants could speak freely and honestly.

On Sunday, the groups came together for Mass, and then the two groups offered their recommendations to the full Advisory Council on what action items and other proposals should be submitted to the bishops at their June meeting. Again, there was discussion and then an up or down vote on each recommendation. Thoughts about the recommendations could be offered in discussion or in written comments to the bishops.

The Role of the Bishops on the Council

Throughout all three days, the four bishops on the Council played the part of being the "ears" of the USSCB, attending carefully to every participant's contribution, asking some questions for clarification, and taking notes so they could accurately report the proceedings, discussions, and conclusions to the larger USSCB group in June. Virginia was extremely impressed with “how the bishops, one of whom was an archbishop, listened and took copious notes. They could have tried to steer the conversation or influence it in some way, but they just listened.”

Binet Berg struck up a connection with the archbishop, who graduated from Cretin High School fours years after her brother. She serenaded him with the “Hail Cretin High” school song and observed that she may have taught his sister at St. Joseph’s Academy. It felt like a small world, one that seemed very full of respect, compassion, variety, and hope in these proceedings.

National Advisory Council
of the
United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops

What is the USCCB?

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is similar to a professional union in that it gathers together the nation's Bishops to facilitate cooperation for unity of vision, purpose, and public teachings, and to work together on shared projects and communications. The Roman Catholic Church is structured with three semi-autonomous levels: parish pastor, bishop, and the Holy See. Each level of authority is informed and influenced in their decisions through dialog, consultation, and persuasion. So the USCCB isn’t a group with any compulsory authority but rather an organization of Bishops who chair various Committees with staff members and work together as a team to accomplish the joint projects and goals of USCCB.

What is the National Advisory Council?

Established after the Second Vatican Council, the National Advisory Council was structured to offer the unique wisdom of the Body of Christ in the United States to the Bishops. The Council consists of lay people (28—14 men and 14 women), female and male religious (5-7), priests (7), bishops (4), and deacons (1-2).

What kind of concerns do they address?

In general, the USCCB meets twice a year as a full group, in June and November, to ponder, pray about, and make decisions about specific actions to take and communications to make in consort. The National Advisory Council meets prior to these meetings, in March and September, to offer counsel to the Bishops in preparation for their meetings. In general, the issues and topics that the USCCB, and thus the National Advisory Council, consider fall into three categories:

“Churchy” or pastoral concerns, such as liturgy, catechesis, evangelization, canonical issues, women in ministry, and child and youth protection.
Political, social, and policy advocacy to apply church teachings to current life: including abortion, marriage, poverty, immigration, education, and international affairs.
Administrative tasks, such as accounting, finance, facilities, staff, departments, human resources, planning, and fundraising such as special collections for missions, Holy Lands, etc.

An example of some issues dealt with at past conferences have been the 2008 elections and guidance for voters ("Faithful Citizenship" brochure), the war in Iraq, married love, homosexual Catholics, budget and priorities, downsizing the various numbers of committees, etc.

How does the USCCB take action?

The USSCB acts in two ways -- through the actions of the individual bishops voluntarily following through on the goals in their own dioceses and through the concerted actions of the Conference implemented by the staff and various departments in specific areas, such as news and communications, media reviews and CCC-TV, social justice, life issues, church documents, church life and ministries, family and laity issues, marriage, publications, evangelization and outreach, child protection, World Youth Day, etc. The web site offers a wealth of information and resources -- at www.usccb.org. The Bishops have recently streamlined their organization in a master plan. For a list of the working departments, refer to: http://www.usccb.org/depts.shtml.

Binet Berg's Unique Preparation to Serve on the National Advisory Council

As a laywoman representative of District 4 (consisting of 2 archdioceses and 4 dioceses in the Washington, DC area), Binet Berg is one of 28 lay people (from the 14 districts) in the nation to have this high level of advisory input, and her study and experiences at St. Catherine's helped prepare her for a position of such gravitas, insight, and influence. “At St. Kate’s when I was a student, we were all required to have four years of theology and four years in philosophy taught by Dominican theologians, so I graduated with a strong sense of the essentials of my faith.”St. Kate's also nurtured in her confidence and a passion for social justice, service, the sacraments, communion of saints, and the Church as a community of Christ. Virginia brings these qualities along with years of experience to this volunteer position.

The Experience She Brings

Binet Berg is used to having influence and using it effectively. Besides being the past president of the Arlington, Virginia Council of Catholic Women, she has been a Title I Private School Specialist at the U.S. Department of Education for twenty years, working to improve the quality of instruction provided to children who live in high poverty areas. Prior to her government employment, she was a middle and senior high school science teacher in the Archdiocese of St. Paul Schools. She also co-authored a guide for spirituality growth using the teachings of the three women Doctors of the Church – Saints Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, and Therese of Lisieux. She has served as a lector and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, on the Arlington Diocesan Commission for Peace and Justice, on the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, on the Roseville, Minnesota Human Rights Commission, and on the Minnesota State Environmental Education Board, among other organizations.

Married for over 50 years, she and her husband John are the parents of four sons and grandparents of seven.

The Counsel and Outcomes She Seeks

Binet Berg does not rely solely on her own experience and wisdom but actively seeks out the creative ideas and counsel of other lay Catholics and Catholic groups so she can represent the views and solutions of more than just herself. One group of Catholic business people worried that "we are losing too many of our youth to other faiths." So Virginia challenged them: "So what ideas do you propose? We cannot just go to the bishops with problems, but we need to offer them creative ideas for solutions. We need action proposals they can implement and promote." Virginia is interested in participating in some kind of forum to effectively seek ideas and proposals from the alumnae of St. Catherine’s. “One of the things I want to learn is how to ask bishops as a whole, not just as a conference, to consider some actions.”

As for what will happen to the reactive and proactive recommendations of the National Advisory Council made in March, no one is sure. “I won’t know till June, after the Bishops’ biannual meeting, the outcomes of our recommendations,” said Virginia. But whatever the outcomes, she has already learned an enormous amount about the great diversity within her Church family and what an incredible experience it is to listen to the many voices within it.