By Jay Sorgi \u2022 Posted September 28, 2026 <\/p>\n
A pair of Philadelphia Catholics will be playing key roles advising bishops throughout the United States on major issues facing the Church in America.<\/p>\n
Dr. Daniel Drain, director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia\u2019s Office for Life and Family and a theology professor at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, has been named the chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops\u2019 (USCCB) Advisory Council for the Administrative Committee (ACAC).<\/p>\n
That committee, which typically meets around March and September every year, acts as a central hub for USCCB leadership. It includes USCCB officers including its president, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the chairs of each standing USCCB committee, and representatives from each region of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey act as really the board of governors for the whole USCCB,\u201d Drain explained.<\/p>\n
Sofia Zacharczuk, chief of staff of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia which is led by Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak, has been chosen as the council\u2019s secretary.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo millennials from Philadelphia all of a sudden were asked to take on leadership roles for the national Advisory Council. I don\u2019t know what the Holy Spirit is doing there, but it was a pretty decisive move,\u201d Drain said.<\/p>\n
Drain will first serve the council as chair-elect for 2027, chair for 2028 and past chair in 2029.<\/p>\n
Zacharczuk\u2019s term on the council also lasts three years, and she helps represent Eastern Catholic churches on the advisory council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m impressed \u2026 that the bishops were so thoughtful to think of putting together such a council where we are representative of all different Catholics across the United States,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want to hear what we have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council was formed in 1968 mainly as a body of devoted Catholics including lay people who can assist the Administrative Committee with what Drain calls a faithful synodal approach to listening for the work of governance of the conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conference president and the bishops themselves govern the conference, but they have a first round of consultation for most things they\u2019re thinking about doing, and that\u2019s the focus of the advisory council,\u201d Drain said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very concretely consulting on the process of the governance of the bishops\u2019 conference, and so that requires a proper process for who hears what and when.\u201d<\/p>\n