Timeline of the History of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

The following information is a timeline of some of the significant events in the history of the Conference of Major Superiors of Women, later called the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

1950
Pope Pius XII convenes the First General Congress of the States of Perfection, calling to Rome the superiors general of religious orders throughout the world. 

August 1952
The heads of men and women’s religious organizations meet at the National Congress of Religious of the USA. Reverend Arcadio Larraona, secretary of the Congregation for Religious, refers to a “movement” requiring change: “We must live in our times and according to the needs of our times.” Mother Gerald Barry, OP, chaired a national committee of sisters to plan the women’s section of the Congress. 

September 1952
At the First World Congress of Mothers General of Pontifical Right, Larraona again asks the women present what their founders would do if confronted with the needs of the world today. 

April 1956
The Vatican’s Congregation for Religious asks US sisters to form a national conference. 

November 24, 1956
The US sisters’ committee invites general and provincial superiors of pontifical communities to Chicago to discuss the formation of a national conference. By unanimous vote, the Conference of Major Superiors of Women (CMSW) is launched to: 

· promote the spiritual welfare of the women religious of the USA

· insure increasing efficacy in their apostolate 

· foster closer fraternal cooperation with all religious of the United States, the hierarchy, the clergy, and Catholic associations. 

1958
The Conference promotes its first regional program: “Revitalizing Religious Life for the Individual and the Community through Combating the Effects of Naturalism, Lack of Mortification, and Excessive Activity.” 

1960
CMSW forms standing committees on Latin America, Catechetics, Health, and Finance. Florence Wolff, SL, is named the first part-time national coordinator.

1961
Second National Congress of Religious in the USA convenes superiors of men’s and women’s communities at the University of Notre Dame. Archbishop Agostino Casaroli asks US communities to commit ten percent of their personnel to Latin America over the next decade. 

1963
The National Secretariat moves to Washington, DC. 

1964
First “CMSW National Conference” brings together membership in a single location for the first time with a program that included a formal business meeting. National Chair, Consolatrice Wright, BVM, challenges communities to listen to the “eternal now” of the Spirit. Mary Luke Tobin, SL, is elected national chair; the CMSW National Executive Committee sends her to Rome to “hang around the halls of the [third session of the Second Vatican] council” to see what she could learn. On the way to Rome, she is invited by the Vatican to be one of a handful of women observers. Rose Emmanuella Brennan, SNJM, becomes the first full-time executive director of the Conference. 

1965
A national gathering of CMSW with the theme, “Sisters and the Council,” marks the beginning of annual assemblies. The National Executive Committee initiates the Canon Law Committee so that U.S. women religious have a voice in the revision of church law. The first of many assembly resolutions is adopted at the national meeting. 

1967
The national assembly, called “The Sisters’ Survey,” focuses on results of a Conference-sponsored survey of active women religious in the United States. The study, conducted by Marie Augusta Neal, SND, is designed to provide hard data to individual communities about their members’ readiness to adopt Vatican II’s mandate for renewal. 

1968
CMSW submits Proposed Norms for Consideration in the Revision of the Code of Canon Law to the cardinals on the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law. In a follow-up questionnaire, eighty-nine percent of members indicated that Norms had a positive influence on renewal in their communities. The first meeting of “the new liaison committee” marks a formal mechanism for regular CMSW contact with American bishops. 

1969
The National Executive Committee begins an organizational study of CMSW’s purpose and services. 

1970
The regions are restructured with the original six replaced by the present 15; and all members enjoy universal suffrage, able to vote for national officers for the first time. The concept of a three-stage “presidency” is defined. 

1971
The national assembly, meeting in Atlanta, adopts new bylaws and changes the name of the organization to Leadership Conference of Women Religious . Other “firsts”: The first assembly entrusted to a program committee; the first with pre-assembly seminar preparation; the first mixing content with large group and workshop sessions; turned the face of the Conference firmly toward justice issues. 

A splinter group of CMSW members holds a meeting. With the name Consortium Perfectae Caritatis (CPC), the group drew members concerned that the newly-named LCWR was deviating from “authentic” church teaching about the essentials of religious life.  The first of ongoing periodic meetings among women and men religious in Canada, Latin America, and the United States.

1973
National membership numbers 648 members from 370 religious communities. They are 241 general superiors; 267 provincial superiors, and 140 others (regional superiors, members of executive committees, etc.). The Assembly has been responsive to the needs of migrant people, the displaced people of Northeast Pennsylvania, the oppressed of Bangladesh and of others in the Third World. The United States Catholic Mission Council, the National Sister Formation Conference, the National Sister Vocation Conference and NETWORK have been beneficiaries of LCWR members’ support.

1974
Regional programs and activities emphasize evangelization, the Gospel way of justice and the faith dimension of femininity. The creation of communications centers; the sharing in national Catechetical Directory (NCD) consultations; reconciliation experiences; participation in workshops sponsored by the LCWR Global Ministry committee; days of retreat; inter-congregational renewal experiences; actions in reference to the displaced persons of southeast Asia; assisting in the programming for the 41^st International Eucharistic Congress; and efforts to speak out when human rights are violated are among regional endeavors. 

1976
The Conference began a goal-setting process to clarify priorities in programming and allocation of resources. The resulting goals: to articulate a contemporary theology of religious life; education for justice; prayer, study and action on women’s issues; collaboration with others to the maximum extent possible. 

1977
The LCWR Office is granted non-governmental status at the United Nations, bringing the perspective of the woman religious to issues of disarmament, woman, and human rights through the practice of permitting certified organizations to participate on international committees. Marjorie Keenan, RSHM, of the LCWR staff, was appointed to the Peace and Justice Commission of the Vatican, a first for an American woman religious. 

1978
The first joint LCWR/CMSM assembly, “Convergence,” focuses on the connection between actions of U.S. corporations and poverty and oppression in the Third World.

1979

LCWR president Theresa Kane, RSM addresses Pope John Paul II at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on October 7, 1979.

1982
Purchase of Silver Spring, MD, property gives National Office a permanent home. No-interest loans and gifts from members help LCWR secure the 8808 Cameron Street office it shares with CMSM. 

1984
The Papal Commission on Religious Life (Quinn Commission) is instituted. LCWR members assist ordinaries and vicars in the design of listening sessions. Bette Moslander, CSJ, is appointed the Commission’s official liaison with LCWR. In her response to Archbishop John R. Quinn’s presentation about the Commission at the November 1983 National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting, she became the first woman to address the NCCB body.  The 1984 National Assembly in Kansas City resolved LCWR had a legitimate role to play in assisting members facing ecclesiastical problems. After a statement on plurality and abortion appears in the New York Times (October 7, 1984), the Conference provides canonical and theological resources to members involved in the resulting controversy; the LCWR presidency met with the apostolic pro-nuncio and the NCCB. 

1986
The Tri-Conference Religious Retirement Office is formed by LCWR, CMSM, and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. (The office is later named the National Religious Retirement Office.) 

1989
First meeting of the Tri-Conference Commission on Religious Life and Ministry formed as the result of a Quinn Commission recommendation. The bishops, CMSM, and LCWR choose to focus on three areas: identity of religious life, collaboration, and procedures for ongoing issues. 

The 1989 Assembly explores the future of religious life; and results in the articulation of ten “transformative elements” that describe how leaders see religious life of the future. 

1991
LCWR establishes a framework for collaboration with the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) by approving a memorandum of understanding on collaboration between the two Conferences.

1992
LCWR publishes Threads for the Loom: LCWR Planning and Ministry Studies , a compilation of the comprehensive ministry survey engineered by Anne Munley, IHM. 

1994
Synod on Consecrated Life is held in Rome. LCWR members participate in pre-synod activities, including a comprehensive critique of the lineamenta . LCWR past president, Doris Gottemoeller, RSM, is named an auditor of the Synod. 

A think tank on the viability of religious institutes launches the Collaborative Viability Project, a joint effort of LCWR, the National Association for Treasurers of Religious Institutes (NATRI), and the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO). The project later publishes materials to help religious institutes assess their likelihood of survival into the future and offers consultation teams to help religious interpret results of their viability self-assessment. 

1996
LCWR publishes Creating a Home: Benchmarks for Church Leadership Roles for Women , the result of a two-year study addressing a question from U.S. bishops: If ordination is closed to women, in what alternate ways can they exercise leadership in the church?

1997
A think tank on leadership results in the identification of capacities, skills, and competencies required for effective religious leadership. A small booklet, Dimensions of Leadership , defines these capacities as spiritual, relational, and organizational. LCWR collaborates in the Collaborative Viability Project to assist communities in assessing their “health” in the areas of mission, leadership, membership, resources, planning, and risk taking. LCWR further trains leaders to participate in on-site consultations, along with finance experts, to help communities evaluate their responses to the self-assessment. 

1998
Another LCWR collaborative effort, the Center for the Study of Religious Life, opens in June at its headquarters at Chicago Theological Union. Its mission is to undertake interdisciplinary reflection on the experience of religious life since Vatican II. LCWR’s partners are the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and CTU. 

2001
LCWR members commit themselves to a year of contemplation and fasting for the healing of broken relationships within the church and society. Individual congregations commit themselves to taking at least one day of the year to hold the church and world in a contemplative space, thus ensuring that prayer and fasting were happening every day of the year 2001.

LCWR publishes Women and Jurisdiction: An Unfolding Reality, a ground-breaking benchmarks study examining how women in Catholic church leadership roles participate in decision-making in the church with regard to church personnel, property and policy.

2002
LCWR publishes Carriers of the Story: A Leadership Conference of Women Religious Ministry Study, authored by Anne Munley, IHM, which traces the ministries of US women religious in institutes led by LCWR members.

2003

LCWR establishes its Outstanding Leadership Award to recognize and honor persons and groups who have significantly contributed to the ministry of leadership and who reflect the LCWR mission. The award is presented annually at the LCWR assembly. The first award is presented to Mary Luke Tobin, SL.

2005

LCWR opens its jubilee year at its annual assembly in Anaheim, California in August.

Leadership Conference of Women Religious

8808 Cameron Street – Silver Spring, MD 20910

301-588-4955 – www.lcwr.org