Official website for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, detailing “current news and global issues of concern”. It also contains sections on prayer & worship and beliefs & teaching, among others. Originating in the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church when episcopal conferences were first established, the current USCCB consists of the former The United States Catholic Conference, a secular nonprofit, and the former National Conference of Catholic Bishops, for bishops only. The two organizations merged in 2001. – from website and New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed