"Just a beginning of new vitality in religious life"

"Just a beginning of new vitality in religious life" | Ann Carey

A Catholic World Report interview with Mother Clare Millea, ASCJ, about the now completed apostolic visitation of U.S. women religious

The apostolic visitation of U.S. women religious that was initiated by the Vatican on Dec. 22, 2008, to study the quality of life of U.S. sisters has entered a new phase. A January 9, 2011, press release (available as a PDF file) from the visitation office announced that Mother Mary Clare Millea, ASCJ, has given the Vatican an overall summary of her findings as well as most of the reports on individual orders.

Mother Clare, who is superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, had been appointed apostolic visitator by Cardinal Franc Rode, then-prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL), who initiated the visitation. Mother Clare invited superiors of all U.S. women's apostolic orders to contact her, and she requested each order to return a comprehensive questionnaire about the order.

Mother Clare also appointed visitors to call on about 100 religious orders, nearly one-third of all the orders of women religious in the U.S. The 74 visitors were all Americans who are members of religious orders themselves, and mostly sisters. To insure confidentiality, the identity of the visitors was revealed only to the congregation receiving the visit.

U.S. religious now await consideration of the reports by CICLSAL, which has a new prefect—Archbishop João Braz de Aviz—and a new secretary—Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSSR, an American. The Vatican has declined to offer a timeline for those deliberations or to give any hint about what decisions might emerge from the apostolic visitation.

Catholic World Report was able to reach Mother Clare by e-mail even though she is traveling out of the country on business for her order. She could not discuss any of the contents of her reports, but did respond to questions about some other aspects of the visitation.

Catholic World Report: The visitation was initiated by Cardinal Franc Rodé. He has since retired, and CICLSAL now has a new prefect and secretary. Is it your sense that they will give the visitation reports their close attention?

Mother Clare: Both Archbishop João Braz de Aviz, prefect of CICLSAL, and Archbishop Joseph Tobin, secretary, have consistently

shown great interest in the apostolic visitation. My impression is that they and their staff are carefully studying the submitted reports.

Catholic World Report: Some critics of the visitation have charged that women religious will get no feedback from the visitation, but you had said at the beginning of the visitation that every order would receive a report back from the Vatican. Is that still correct?

Mother Clare: At the beginning of the apostolic visitation, Cardinal Rodé assured me that the religious institutes would receive feedback from the dicastery. The current officials have expressed their intentions to do so as well.

Catholic World Report: Americans joke that the Vatican thinks of time in terms of decades or centuries, while we Americans think in terms of days and months. Naturally, people are anxious to receive some feedback on the visitation. Is it your sense that an effort will be made to give that feedback within the next couple of years?

Read the entire interview at www.CatholicWorldReport.com...