VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 223
DATE 16-12-2014

Summary:
- Presentation of the Final Report of the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes
of Women Religious in the United States of America
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Presentation of the Final Report of the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of
Women Religious in the United States of America
 Vatican City, 16 December 2014 (VIS) - This morning a press conference was
held in the Holy See Press Office to present the Final Report of the Apostolic
Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States of America.
 The speakers in the conference were Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of
the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of
Apostolic Life; Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, O.F.M., secretary of the
same congregation; Mother M. Clare Millea, A.S.C.J., director of the Apostolic
Visitation in the United States; Sister. Sharon Holland, I.H.M., president of
the "Leadership Conference of Women Religious" (LCWR); Sr. Agnes Mary Donovan,
S.V., coordinator of the "Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious"
(CMSWR), and Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., assistant to the Visitation Committee.
 Cardinal Braz de Aviz explained that the Visitation was initiated "because of
our awareness that apostolic religious life in the United States is
experiencing challenging times. Although we knew that any initiative of this
magnitude would have its limits,we wished to gain deeper knowledge of the
contributions of the women religious to the Church and society as well as
those difficulties which threaten the quality of their religious life and, in
some cases, the very existence of the institutes.
 "Our final report on the Apostolic Visitation is addressed to the women
religious of the United States as well as to the Church's Pastors and
faithful. In addition to publishing this general report, our Dicastery will
send individual reports to those institutes which hosted an on-site visitation
and to those institutes whose individual reports indicated areas of concern.
We will also send letters of thanks to those institutes which participated in
the first two phases of the Visitation. ... We are aware that the Apostolic
Visitation was met with apprehension by some women religious as well as the
decision, on the part of some institutes, not to collaborate fully in the
process. While this was a painful disappointment for us, we use this present
opportunity to express our willingness to engage in respectful and fruitful
dialogue with those institutes which were not fully compliant with the
Visitation process".
 The cardinal went on to remark that Pope Francis had asked the dicastery, in
close collaboration with the Congregation for Bishops, to update the curial
document Mutuae Relationes regarding the collaboration among bishops and
religious, "in accord with the Church's resolve to foster the ecclesial
communion which we all desire". He concluded by expressing his joy at Pope
Francis' many recent statements about "the indispensable and unique
contributions of women to society and the Church. I assure you that this
Congregation is committed to collaborate in the realisation of Pope Francis'
resolve that 'the feminine genius' find expression in the various settings
where important decisions are made, both in the Church and in social
structures. We will continue to work to see that competent women religious
will be actively involved in ecclesial dialogue regarding "the possible role
of women in decision-making in different areas of the Church's life".
 Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, O.F.M, secretary of the Congregation,
then went on to present an overview of the final report. He explained that the
dicasteries of the Apostolic See regularly authorise Apostolic Visitations,
which involve sending one or more visitors to evaluate an ecclesiastical
entity in order to assist the group in question to improve the way in which it
carries out its mission in the life of the Church. "In some ways, however,
this Apostolic Visitation was unprecedented. It involved 341 religious
institutes of women religious which engage in apostolic ministry and which
have a generalate, provincialate and/or initial formation program in the
United States. Both diocesan and pontifical right institutes, to which
approximately 50,000 women religious throughout the United States belong, were
part of the Visitation. Each province of institutes which had more than one
province in the United States was considered a separate unit, for a total of
405 entities involved in the Visitation. Our dicastery appointed a woman
religious from the United States, Mother Mary Clare Millea, A.S.C.J., as
Apostolic Visitator, granting her the faculties to design and carry out the
Visitation. She, in turn, chose a core team of American religious who assisted
her throughout the process".
 "The Visitation took place between 2009 and 2012 and was divided into four
phases. In the first phase, 266 superiors general (78% of their total
number)voluntarily engaged in personal dialogue with the Visitator.
Subsequently, all major superiors were asked to complete a questionnaire
requesting empirical data and qualitative information regarding the spiritual,
community and ministerial life of the individual institutes. On-site visits
were then conducted in a representative sample of 90 religious institutes,
representing about half of the apostolic women religious in the United States.
In the final phase of the Visitation, the Visitator submitted to our dicastery
a final general report on the major issues and trends in women's religious
life in the United States. While these trends cannot be presumed to apply to
each of the institutes, they were significant enough to warrant mention in her
report".
 "The document we are presenting today is our Congregation's response to the
Vistitator's general report. Following a brief introduction, it describes the
rationale and offers an overview of the Visitation process. It then briefly
treats the principal issues evaluated during the Visitation process: empirical
data, charism and identity, vocations and religious formation, Christ-centred
prayer, community life and ministry, governance and financial stewardship,
collaboration in the evangelising mission of the Church and ecclesial
communion. On each of these topics, a point of reference is given in the form
of a brief statement of current Church teaching on the issue being reviewed.
This is followed by a summary of the Visitator's overall evaluation of the
reality. The third part of each section contains the Congregation's
recommendations to all religious institutes regarding that issue".
 Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo added that "any oral summary of the Apostolic
Visitation during this press conference would risk impoverishing its content.
The full text of the Report will be made available for consultation at:
www.vatican.va, www.uisg.org, www.vidimusdominum.org, www.lcwr.org,
www.cmswr.org, and www.usccb.org) and will be sent to all the participating
religious institutes.
 The Visitator, Sr. M. Clare Millea, A.S.C.J., remarked that the Visit had
provided many opportunities for "reflection, dialogue and communion among
women religious in the United States as well as with the Church's pastors and
lay faithful. Congregation leaders, including those who at first expressed
resistance to this initiative, have shared that the process has yielded
surprising positive results, such as honest confrontation with the
transformative power of the Word of God, deep spiritual conversations with our
sisters about the life, witness and message of our foundresses and founders,
earnest delving into Church documents about consecrated life, increased
solidarity among women religious and renewed desire to move beyond attitudes
which prevent us from being in communion with one another, a wonderful
outpouring of loving gratitude expressed to women religious by bishops, clergy
and laypersons, which has sparked new energy and resourcefulness among us and
awakened a renewed interest in the promotion of vocations to the religious
life".

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 16 December 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Fr.
Samson Shukardin, O.F.M., as bishop of Hyderabad (area 137,386, population
22,309,840, Catholics 47,242, priests 30, religious 89), Pakistan. The
bishop-elect was born in Hyderabad, Pakistan in 1961, gave his solemn vows in
1991 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He holds a diploma in theology from
the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Karachi and a licentiate in
civil law from the Sindh Law College, and has served in a number of pastoral
roles, including parish vicar in Gujrat, procurator of the Franciscan
province, and custodian of the Franciscan Order and president of the
Conference of Major Superiors in Pakistan. He is currently parish priest of
the "St. Elizabeth" parish in Hyderabad, diocesan director of the Commission
of Justice and Peace, and vicar general of the diocese of Hyderabad. He
succeeds Bishop Max John Rodrigues, whose resignation from the pastoral care
of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy
Father.

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