"The impact and consequences of the shame and sorrow" felt by the bishops would set the tone for their Rome trip, both in curial meetings and during points of prayer, "especially as we come to pray at the tomb of St. Peter and at the tomb of St. Paul," the statement said.
"These themes will also be part of our conversation with Pope Francis, when we meet with him on Friday."
While the global abuse scandals will undoubtedly feature during the various meeting the English bishops will have, issues with more national focus are also expected to be discussed.
Key among them is expected to be the case of Alfie Evans, the English infant who was refused medical treatment, and barred from traveling to Rome to receive ongoing care at the Bambino Jesu hospital.
A UK court ordered that it was in Alfie's best interests to die, and prevented his parents from seeking treatment abroad, or even taking him home from the hospital, despite life support being withdrawn by hospital staff.
Despite strong interventions by Pope Francis in favor of Alfie and his parents - efforts which were widely credited with Alfie being granted Italian citizenship - many English bishops, including Cardinal Nichols, were perceived as lukewarm on the subject and even viewed as siding with the court.
In April, Nichols was quoted as saying that "the doctors' position that no further medical help could be given was very important" and that "palliative care, which isn't a denial of help, can be an act of mercy."
"It's very hard to act in a child's best interest when this isn't always as the parents would wish – and this is why a court must decide what's best not for the parents, but for the child," Nichols said at the time.
One source close to the conference told CNA that the pope is expected to raise the case "with both barrels" during his meeting with the bishops.
The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales includes the 22 dioceses across the two nations. Its membership also includes the Military Ordinariate covering the armed forces of the UK, the Apostolic Eparchs of the Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar Churches in Britain, the Apostolic the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands.
Ed Condon is a canon lawyer and worked as Catholic News Agency's Washington DC editor until December 2020.