Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious
The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) is an association of higher superiors of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States . It was founded on June 12, 1992 with the approval of the Congregation for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life . The association received its final confirmation on October 26, 1994 under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
The purpose of the association is to promote cooperation and understanding among its members, exchange, dialogue and training on the doctrine of the Catholic Church and consecrated life, unity with the Pope and cooperation with the Bishops' Conference of the United States .
The CMSWR is one of four associations of institutes of consecrated life; others are the Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes USA, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and the US Conference of Secular Institutes.
history
In the 1980s, some religious orders in the United States found that the LCWR was increasingly turning to secular and political interests and supporting deviations from church doctrine. They asked permission to found a second association that was clearly dedicated to teaching. The Holy See granted this permission in 1992.
The members of the CMSWR mostly wear the habit , and the average age of the superiors is 60 years, considerably lower than that of the members of the LCWR, in which it is 74 years. Although the religious institutes combined in the CMSWR make up only 20% of the women religious in the United States, these religious institutes are growing and their members are younger. According to a 2009 study of recent appointments, only 15% of women joining the CMSWR institutes were over 40 years of age, while 56% of those joining the LCWR were over 40 years old. 43% of the institutes in the CMSWR had at least five novices ; in the LCWR, however, it was only 9%.
In January 2009 the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life announced an apostolic visit to the institutions of women religious in the United States. The Congregation under Franc Cardinal Rodé commissioned the Superior General of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Mary Clare Millea, to oversee the visitation. The CMSWR welcomed the visit and encouraged its members to cooperate fully.
In October 2010 the spokeswoman for the CMSWR, Sr. Regina Marie Gorman OCD, and the former spokeswoman, Sr. Ann Marie Karlovic OP, were welcomed by Pope Benedict XVI. received in the apostolic palace. In March 2012, the CMSWR celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and on the occasion its representatives met with Archbishop Fisichella , President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization .