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Here, ladies and gentlemen, is Baltimore\u2019s historic Seven Foot Knoll,<\/strong> the oldest surviving screwpile lighthouse in the United States, and the only one of this type.<\/p>\nA screw-pile lighthouse<\/strong> is one which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms.\u00a0 The Seven Foot Knoll lighthouse was built in1856, and has been inactive since 1987.\u00a0 It consists of a round, dark red single-story keeper\u2019s cottage crowned by a black cylindrical lantern and gallery.\u00a0 The architectural landmark originally stood at the entrance to Baltimore Harbor, but it was relocated in 1988 to the Inner Harbor waterfront, where it is now used as a museum and learning center.\u00a0 It appeared frequently in the 1990s hit television police drama Homicide: Life on the Street<\/span>.<\/p>\n Here in Baltimore for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops\u2019 Fall General Assembly,<\/strong> I have a birds-eye view of Seven Foot Knoll from my hotel window.\u00a0 I\u2019ve come to juxtapose the lighthouse and the Bishops\u2019 Conference in the same word cloud\u2014since the Marriott has been home to the USCCB General Assembly for a number of years.<\/p>\n And just as the lighthouse shines to warn ships if they stray too near the rocks, so does the Church guide its people with the light of Truth.<\/strong>\u00a0 Here in Baltimore this week, the U.S. bishops will have something to say about many important issues facing the Church and society.<\/p>\n Religious Liberty<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Today the newly constituted Religious Liberty Committee has been meeting in closed-door session, and Committee Chair Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport will likely report to the full assembly tomorrow.\u00a0 The threats to our freedoms from the current Administration have been wide-ranging, from government support for same-sex \u201cmarriage\u201d to the HHS contraceptive mandate for health care plans, to the recent denial of support for the Bishops\u2019 highly effective programs to help victims of human trafficking.\u00a0 President Obama recently criticized the House\u2019s \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d vote, suggesting that it was no more important than the discussion of a commemorative coin for baseball and scolding the Congress for its failure to address the \u201cmore important\u201d issue of job creation.<\/p>\n Health Care<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 The bishops will vote this week on whether to make the Task Force on Health Care into a permanent Subcommittee on Health Care Issues, which would report to the Committee on Doctrine.\u00a0 An odd placement, you think?\u00a0 Not really, when you consider the thorny issues on which the USCCB has spoken this year:\u00a0 Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, non-Catholic hospitals in Catholic healthcare systems, for-profit Catholic health care, canonical status of Catholic health care facilities, conscience protections for Catholic health care institutions and Catholic medical professionals, and health care reform.\u00a0 Under the broad umbrella of health care would fall the familiar issues of abortion, contraception, sterilization, euthanasia, transplants, and more.<\/p>\n The bishops will be addressed for the first time by Conference president Archbishop Timothy Dolan, and will also hear the first address by our new Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan\u00f2.\u00a0 A private, bishops-only reception for the Nuncio, who arrived Saturday from Italy, is planned for Monday evening.<\/p>\n Other issues before the bishops this week have perhaps less razzle-dazzle,<\/strong> but are also important within the life of the Church:<\/p>\n\n