The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (Italian : Consiglio dei Superiori Maggiori delle Donne Religiose) (CMSWR) is one of two associations of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States (the other being the Leadership Conference of Women Religious). As of December 2020 [update] , CMSWR includes the leaders of 112 religious congregations which have a total membership of approximately 5,700 women religious in the United States. [1]
Established on 12 June 1992 with provisional approval by the Holy See's Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, it obtained definitive approval on 26 October 1995 under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. [2] [3] [4]
The council's purpose is to promote collaboration and inter-communication among its members, participation, dialogue and education about the teaching of the Catholic Church on the religious life, unity with the Pope and cooperation with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. [2]
CMSWR is one of four United States federations of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life that have received approval from the Holy See, the others being the Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes USA, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and the US Conference of Secular Institutes. [3] [4]
In the 1980s, several religious communities saw the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which had been established on December 12, 1959 under the name "Conference of Major Superiors of Women in the United States", as turning towards secular and political interests and as supporting dissent from the Church's teaching. They asked to be authorized to form a parallel association clearly loyal to the Magisterium, and the Holy See finally granted their request in 1992. [5]
CMSWR members differ from those of the LCWR in having "major superiors" rather than "leaders" and in wearing recognizable religious habits. Their institutes have only 20% of the women religious of the United States, but they are younger, and growing in numbers. [5]
According to the 2009 Study on Recent Vocations by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, the average median age of nuns and sisters in CMSWR institutes was 60, compared with 74 for those in LCWR; among those joining CMSWR institutes only 15% were over 40, compared with 56% for LCWR institutes; 43% of the CMSWR institutes had at least 5 novices, compared with 9% of the LCWR institutes. [6] [7]
In January 2009, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life announced it would conduct an apostolic visitation of American women religious to examine their quality of life, ministries, and vocation efforts. The congregation under the leadership of Cardinal Franc Rode, appointed Superior General Mother Mary Clare Millea to oversee the visitation. [8] [9] The council welcomed the visitation and encouraged members to cooperate fully. [10]
In October 2010, the council's chairperson Sister Regina Marie Gorman and former chairperson Sister Ann Marie Karlovic O.P. met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Apostolic Palace in Rome. [11]
In March 2012, the council celebrated their 20th founding anniversary and its board of directors met with Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. [12]
As of 2020 [update] , the CMSWR Chairperson is Mother Mary McGreevy, RSM, (Superior General, Religious Sisters of Mercy); the Assistant Chairperson is Mother Anna Grace Neean, OP (Prioress General, Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia). [13] The current Episcopal Liaison, appointed by the Holy See is Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali. [14] [15]
Various individual members of religious congregations presently belonging to the council have been canonized or beatified by the Catholic Church, among which are the following: [12]
The Barnabites, officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul, are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul and the members of the Barnabite lay movement.
The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri, abbreviated CO and commonly known as the Oratorians, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity.
Peter Julian Eymard was a French Catholic priest and founder of two religious institutes: the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament for men and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament for women.
The Assumptionists, formally known as the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption, is a worldwide congregation of Catholic priests and brothers. It is active in many countries. The French branch played a major role in French political and social history in the 19th century.
There are a number of Roman Catholic religious orders or congregations with Immaculate Conception in their name. Several of them are discussed here.
The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary are a Roman Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women founded by Mother Mary of the Passion at Ootacamund, then British India, in 1877. The missionaries form an international religious congregation of women representing 79 nationalities spread over 74 countries on five continents.
The Order of the Immaculate Conception, abbreviated OIC and also known as the Conceptionists, is a Catholic religious order of Pontifical Right for women. For some years, they followed the Poor Clares Rule, but in 1511 they were recognized as a separate religious order, taking a new rule and the name of Order of the Immaculate Conception.
In the Catholic Church, a canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view to maintaining faith and discipline and of correcting abuses. A person delegated to carry out such a visitation is called a visitor. When, in exceptional circumstances, the Holy See delegates an apostolic visitor "to evaluate an ecclesiastical institute such as a seminary, diocese, or religious institute [...] to assist the institute in question to improve the way in which it carries out its function in the life of the Church," this is known as an apostolic visitation.
Mary Frances Schervier, TOSF was the founder of two religious congregations of religious sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, both committed to serving the neediest of the poor. One, the Poor Sisters of St. Francis, is based in her native Germany, and the other, the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, was later formed from its province in the United States. She was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1974.
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is one of two associations of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. LCWR includes over 1300 members, who are members of 302 religious congregations that include 33,431 women religious in the United States as of 2018. Founded in 1956, the conference describes its charter as assisting its members to "collaboratively carry out their service of leadership to further the mission of the Gospel in today's world." The canonically-approved organization collaborates in the Catholic Church and in society to "influence systemic change, studying significant trends and issues within the church and society, utilizing our corporate voice in solidarity with people who experience any form of violence or oppression, and creating and offering resource materials on religious leadership skills." The conference serves as a resource both to its members and to the public who are seeking resources on leadership for religious life.
A religious brother is a member of a Christian religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life of the Church, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He is a layman, in the sense of not being ordained as a deacon or priest, and usually lives in a religious community and works in a ministry appropriate to his capabilities.
The Religious Congregations of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church are divided in Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches as Monasteries, Hermitages, Orders, Congregations, Societies of Common Life in the Manner of Religious, Secular Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Hélène Marie Philippine de Chappotin de Neuville, known as Mary of the Passion, was a French religious sister and missionary, who founded the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in British India in 1877, currently one of the largest religious institutes in the Catholic Church.
Maria Domenica Mantovani was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious, and the co-founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family; she established them alongside Giuseppe Nascimbeni. As a nun she received the religious name of Maria Giuseppina of the Immaculata.
Léonie Aviat, her religious name Françoise de Sales, was a Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-founder along with Louis Brisson of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales.
The Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales are a congregation of Roman Catholic Religious Sisters who base their spirituality on the teachings of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal.
The Oblates of Jesus the Priest is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of sisters. Founded in Mexico in 1924, it is now represented in Mexico, the United States, Italy, and Ecuador. Their charism is “to love the priesthood and to make it loved,” so the apostolates of the sisters predominantly center on assisting priests and promoting the priesthood. These include, but are not limited to, ministering in seminaries, aiding retired priests, sewing vestments, assisting in rectories, working as secretaries for bishops, and conducting religious education in some parishes. The Oblate sisters are also very musical, emphasizing singing and playing instruments during their liturgies and sometimes writing their own music.
Maria Katharina Kasper – born Katharina but in religion known as Maria – was a German Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Kasper entered the religious life later in her life despite having harbored a desire to become a religious sister for a very long time. It did not materialize earlier due to aggravating circumstances such as the Kaspers' poor economic status and the deaths of both a brother and her father. Her dedication to the poor and the will was noted during the course of her life and she dedicated herself to this work with great zeal.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)