In the Diocese of San Jose there are 30 women’s congregations
with 249 members. Some belong to LCWR,
some belong to CMSWR, some belong to neither
either because their Motherhouse it outside the U.S. or because they are not
enamored of enough of either group to want affiliation. There are 14 men’s congregations with 222
members. They all belong to the CMSM. The
membership in both women’s and men’s congregations is among the most culturally
diverse in the country. Members come
from Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Argentina and several
other Latin American countries in smaller numbers. All are struggling with areas of vulnerability,
particularly false expectations about membership numbers. Religious life was always meant to be small,
not the huge numbers that occurred in the post- World War II years.
As it says
in our Dominican Praise for Tuesday mornings in Lent, “It was not because you
were such a numerous people that God’s heart was drawn to you and that God chose
you – indeed, you were the smallest of all the peoples. It was because God loved you and was faithful
to the oath sworn to your ancestors that God brought you out with a strong hand
and redeemed you.” Small does not mean not vital. Internationality is the key to survival. If a congregation has gone for 30 or 40 years
with no one entering, they have no one to bridge the gap between existing
membership and new prospects inquiring about religious life. Those who have extended membership to women
and men from other countries have created a bridge for the future. In Pope Francis’s letter to Religious he
never once said he hoped for higher numbers of men and women in religious life. He asked us to be experts in communion and to
be the beacon on the hill.
March 31, 2019 a presentation by Sr. Mary Hughes, OP at Diocese of San Jose Chancery Office.
March 31, 2019 a presentation by Sr. Mary Hughes, OP at Diocese of San Jose Chancery Office.
