Established in 2001 with the union of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is an assembly of the hierarchy that represents the U.S. and U.S. Virgin Islands contingents of the Catholic Church. The organization s purpose which is drawn from the church s universal law and applied to Episcopal conferences throughout the world is to promote the greater good that the Catholic Church offers to people. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was established in 2001. It has headquarters in Washington, D.C., and additional offices in New York and Miami. The bishops that constitute the conference represent the more than 63 million Americans who belong to more than 19,000 Catholic parishes throughout the U.S.