As numbers decline, communities age, women religious urged to discern their 'emerging future'

ATLANTA (OSV News) -- From a message that "dread is not of God" to a "pilgrimage of hope," several hundred Catholic sisters and guests gathered in downtown Atlanta for the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

During days of conversation, prayer and friendship from Aug. 12-15, the gathering of elected leaders of religious congregations reflected on the theme of "Hope Unbroken: Journeying in God's Promise." LCWR has more than 1,200 members, representing about 66% of women religious in the United States.

Sister Kathy Brazda, the outgoing president of LCWR, acknowledged the shifts of religious life as she offered a vision to "continue to discern our emerging future."

"Look around the room," said Sister Kathy, who is on the leadership team of the Congregation of St. Joseph. "Like it or not, we have been chosen, incredibly, to be the people for these times."

The number of religious sisters in the United States had fallen from nearly 80,000 in 2000 to around 35,000, according to Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Many congregations are aging, merging and stepping back from long-standing ministries. But Sister Kathy urged the leaders to view this reality as an invitation.

Sister Kathy said her "veil of self-sufficiency" was lifted following a cancer diagnosis last October. "In that moment, everything changed. My world paused."

Fear and anxiety led her to doubt her future, not only as a congregation leader but her life, she said. That experience led to a deeper immersion into the heart of God, "the heart of love."

"Dread is not of God," she said. During her recuperation from treatment at the congregation's assisted living home, she recalled the care from her fellow resident sisters. The time spent with them revealed how leadership is more than titles and ego. "It's about letting go of control without letting go of purpose. It's choosing to stay rooted in hope, even though life is uncertain and unsure."

Embracing these vulnerabilities can serve as a pathway "to guide us to partner with others to present a more Christ-like vision in the world," she said. Sisters' lives are being "re-called into a sacred space of prayer" that leans on the love of God. She shared when Jesus prayed, "he trusted that God could act in ways that defied reality."

Her encouragement to her peers: "Let us live remembering: Dread is not of God."

With a poetic and global perspective, Sister Simona Brambilla, the first woman to lead a dicastery in the Roman Curia, gave a keynote speech, drawing on her experience from living in Mozambique and travels as the head of her international religious community, the Consolata Missionaries.

Speaking in her native Italian, she shared a local folk proverb: "God is not like the sun going solo through the world, but like the moon going with the stars."

While the blazing sun hides other stars during the day, the moon "shines in the night and its light reflecting off the stars, enhances and magnifies its splendor," she said.

Religious women with "sharper awareness of our smallness" are called to embrace a "lunar expression" of consecrated life to illuminate others, she said. Nighttime can be unnerving, Sister Brambilla said, but is also the "best time for creativity" and its "discreet glow provides the space for freedom, allowing the seekers not only to see with their eyes but also to imagine, feel and intuit. The moon restores our inner vision," she said.

"This is our time ... it is night. Advent night. Easter night. Night of rebirth, she said. "We were born small. We were born naked. None of us were born with armor."

On the conference's second day, hundreds of sisters prayed on a milelong pilgrimage route around downtown in the early morning. With readings and prayer, they stopped three times to contemplate forced migration, climate change and racism, drawing from Pope Francis' "Laudato Si'" encyclical.

Later that day, Jesuit Father James Martin, a bestselling author and Vatican consultor, addressed the sisters with warmth. "First, Catholic sisters are my heroes," he said.

Basing his keynote speech on the Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus, Father Martin shared a message touching on change, grief and love.

He acknowledged the mix of emotions faced by sisters of "joy and hope and griefs and anxieties" as they look to the future. But he encouraged them to trust like Lazarus, listening for the one "who was calling him."

"This is what enables us to move ahead in our own lives," Father Martin said, "and in our community discernment, knowing who is calling us forward -- Jesus."

In the Gospel, Martha and Mary question Jesus on his delay after their brother's death. Communities may be asking about the decline in vocations and community life and question Jesus' perceived absence.

"It's important to name that, be grateful for what went before, grieve that and accept it. ... There is a need to celebrate what happened there, savor it and then give it over to God."

But death is not the end of the story, he said to the gathering. The Gospel story speaks to today's situation: It's a time to step out in faith.

In Father Martin's telling, Lazarus faced a decision no one had faced before: to leave the tomb. He risked returning to life uncertain of what awaited him.

Father Martin asked if religious men and women cling to a life that is familiar but keeps their communities bound.

"This change of era in which we find ourselves is where God needs us to be and the unfamiliar land of "not knowing" no longer leaves us hesitant or timid," he said. "The invitation for all of us, as men and women religious, as Catholics and Christians, is indeed, on every day of our lives, to listen to the voice of Jesus and to "Come forth."

Sisters across congregations found personal meaning in the talks.

Sister Teresa Laengle, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, said she was touched by the presidential address. It showed courage to talk about vulnerability as a leader and it reminded her "trust in God at all times, that God is with us."

"We continuously need to have hope. Since our world seems to be broken, we can't give up hope for the world," she told The Georgia Bulletin, Atlanta's archdiocesan newsoutlet.

Sister Katie Gaspard, of the Dominican Sisters of Houston, said women chose the life of ministry and service when religious life looked a different way. She found support in Father Martin's image of Lazarus choosing to step out of the tomb into mystery. "It's a choosing that comes with responsibilities," she said.

For Sister Katheryn Sleziak, a member of the Dominicans of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the call of vulnerability stood out. By sharing the changes of our lives, we lower barriers and invite people to join our mission, she said.