Sister of St. Joseph appointed executive director of LCWR

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- The board of directors of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious has appointed Sr. Janet Mock, a Sister of St. Joseph of Baden, Pa., as executive director of the organization, which is based in Silver Spring.

Mock, a native of Johnstown, Pa., served as executive director of the Religious Formation Conference from 1997 to 2007. Prior to that, she was a teacher, was formation director in her congregation for 10 years and served in congregation leadership for 10 years, which included service on LCWR committees both national and regional.

Following congregational leadership, she worked in community outreach at Carlow Hill College, a satellite campus of Carlow University in Pittsburgh. Most recently, she directed the Institute for Leadership and Catholic Mission at Washington Theological Union.

"Sister Janet's extensive experience in religious life leadership and formation will be invaluable at this moment in LCWR's history," said the conference's president, Sr. Pat Farrell, a Sister of St. Francis of Dubuque, Iowa.

"U.S. religious life is in a period of significant transformation and the Leadership Conference is fully committed to providing our members with the resources needed in these critical times," she added.

Mock said in a statement that it is a "privilege to be working with LCWR at this time when the world, the church and those in religious life are all asking what is most needed today to create a just and peaceful world."

She also said she looks forward to "working with our members in conversation with those in the wider church and global communities in engaging the deeper spiritual and moral questions of the day."

LCWR, which has almost 1,500 members, is the official, canonically established organization for leaders of communities of women religious. It "seeks to develop leadership and promote collaboration within the church and society, and serve as a voice for systemic change," said a press release.

LCWR members represent approximately 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic sisters in the United States.