Many apostolic congregations of religious women in the West find themselves having conversations about “coming to completion,” that is, about declining membership, a rising median age, and lack of interested inquirers. What is their future?

My congregation, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions numbered 1270 sisters in 1971, and today it numbers 834, while in my New Zealand province, we were around 250 sisters at the time of Vatican 2, and today we are 67. Such data explains why religious congregations are making decisions around their future, around the material assets they have, and how best to care for their members when the median age hovers around the 80 years mark.

Responding to such situations

Some congregations invite sisters from their Asian and African provinces to Western provinces and thus ensure a congregational presence in countries such as France where the number of French women seeking to join a congregation has virtually ceased. Others are making efforts to ensure that their particular charism stays alive through associating in a formal way with lay people who have been impressed by their experiences of the Sisters’ missionary outreach and spirituality. Some are taking steps to work with national organisations established by Major Superiors’ Conferences in their particular countries. Such organisations would gradually assume responsibility for stewardship of resources, and care of the aged and infirm.

Should we be surprised about these changes?

Probably not, as we are talking about apostolic congregations founded in the 19th century for quite specific purposes. In the case of my own congregation, we were founded for the foreign missions where we were to engage primarily in the education of women and children. Our foundress saw as a priority education of indigenous peoples in colonies of European imperial powers, but the majority of Sisters ended up teaching the children of the ever-growing settler communities in British colonies such as Canada or New Zealand. Today, these tasks are the responsibility of governments.

Lessons from history

Four distinct stages characterise the life of a particular congregation – foundation, growth, stability, decline or infrequently, refounding. History indicates that apostolic congregations have a life expectancy of around 200 years so we ought not to be too surprised that we now find ourselves diminishing. Most of us now are into decline.

We can still be hopeful

I am always amazed at the extraordinary way in which sisters have responded to the needs so apparent in the 19th century, whether as educators, nurses, or social workers. Their commitment, generosity and love showed through time and time again. I am heartened by Jesus’ words:

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). 

Death precedes new life and thanks to the ever-present empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, new and exciting forms of religious will come to birth.