Changing reality of religious life takes stage at LCWR conference

In the second public address of the first full day of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious' 2015 assembly, St. Joseph Sr. Janet Mock spoke about the changing reality of religious life, likening it to the resurrected body of Christ.

"If your congregation has done all it can do, you must place the collective wisdom that is yours at the service of the world through prayer and suffering, entering into the passivity of Christ for the good of the world," she said, adding that life always comes out of death.

The point of Mock's address wasn't diminishment, per se, but rather how religious communities can prepare for a future that will be very different from the past. She emphasized the need for intercongregational ministries, saying there could be no "superstars" in religious life, and discussed the need for current leadership to ensure that younger sisters are prepared intellectually, spiritually and psychologically for the world.