Is there a future for religious life?

One of the most frequently asked questions our sisters receive is “How many young women are entering the Congregation?” Fortunately, we have several women in different stages of initial formation, and we welcomed a new postulant into the Congregation just yesterday.

The members of the 2011-2016 General Council sat down for an extended interview with Rosie Blankenship, a member of the HOPE editorial board, and answered several questions related to the future of religious life. Not surprisingly, our general officers are very positive about the future.

“I think we are headed once again for transforming ourselves, for remaking ourselves. I would use the word urgency for it. I feel like we understand the urgency of the times — not driven by our age or our lacks or anything else — but that the times call for urgent Gospel responses. I want to go back to a really old-fashioned word: sacrificial. There was a sense of whatever it costs — whatever it takes — we are going to do it and we are going to do it together,” said General Superior Sister Denise Wilkinson in the article, “The future of religious life,” in the winter 2012 issue of HOPE.

Sister Ann Casper, in her article, “Religious life: a future full of hope,” shares an insight from Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, “Regarding numbers, Sister Sandra gives an interesting perspective. True, she says, the number of religious is not what it was in the boom-years of the 1950s. Still there are nearly 60,000 women religious in the United States today, about 10,000 more than there were at any point between 1720 and 1900, a time comparable to our own, when fewer religious women, ‘in small, widely dispersed groups did whatever needed to be done, for whomever needed it and with whoever wanted to help them.’”

In the newest issue of HOPE you will learn more about why we are so positive about our future from not only the sisters’ perspective, but also the perspective of some of our partners — a volunteer, a Providence Associate and interns at White Violet Center for Eco-Justice. You’ll also find the usual items of interest — alumnae/i news, photo albums, obituaries, partners in our mission, newsnotes and upcoming events.

The winter 2012 issue of HOPE will soon be arriving in your mailbox. It is also available online right now!