In 2012, I was invited to write the chapter on “the experience of Australian women religious in the wake of Vatican II” in a work that reflected on aspects of the Church in this country since Vatican II (1962-1965).[1] Having explored the graces and struggles that accompanied those 50 years, my prediction, and that of many others, was that we would require vision, imagination, and above all prayer, if we were to discern how God might be calling us to move forward amid increasingly challenging signs of the times.
Now, 12 years later, those challenges have not gone away, and in fact have intensified. For many congregations, at least in the western world, much of the initial enthusiasm, energy, and spiritual dynamism inspired by the vision of Vatican II, has continued to fade. As I wrote then: “It seems clear that, unless there is a totally unexpected surge in new vocations, many congregations will fold within the next couple of decades” (173). In fact, this trend is proceeding exponentially, as is evidenced by the fact that much of the current conversation is around ‘coming to conclusion’, rather than discerning ‘how might God be calling us to transform our life and mission?’
How and why have we come to this situation? In this same chapter, I noted that: “This phenomenon has been explored, and explanations offered, on two broad fronts: external factors such as increasing liberalism, secularism, and consumerism, and internal changes such as abandonment of religious dress and traditional community lifestyles… These judgments include the claim that the Council’s opening the door, literally and metaphorically, to new freedoms has ultimately led to there being little difference between religious and lay life” (173-174).
I asked: “Is there any truth in these critiques?” and continued: “It seems to this writer that there is nothing to lose, and perhaps much to gain, by at least examining them, dispassionately and honestly… Is it valid to claim that there is little difference in the lifestyle of Australian women religious from their lay counterparts? Is the large-scale abandonment of living in common a betrayal of a core element of religious life, and a source of confusion?…
Why have a handful of American women religious been able to find several Australian women eager to join them?… Ultimately, is the Holy Spirit calling us to explore a middle path, and if so, what might the various points of view contribute to the discernment?” (174)
Speaking in Ireland with the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (ALMRI), the Canadian canon lawyer Sr Bonnie MacLellan CSJ referred to “the current experience of consecrated life in Canada [that is] shared with the rest of the western world”, and commented: “If I were the CEO of IBM, I would look to religious life and say, ‘plan for the wind-up of the corporation’ but then she added: ‘Our ways are not God’s ways.’[2]
This timely biblical reminder is attributed to the Lord by the prophet Isaiah: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord” (Is. 55:8). As the last chapter of Second Isaiah (Is 40-55), it forms a bookend to the first: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God…” (40:1). The historical context is the good news heralded by the prophet that, not only will Cyrus, king of Persia, allow them to return from their 50-year exile in Babylon to their Jerusalem homeland, but will also provide them with all the resources they need to restore their beloved city and Temple, for them, the dwelling-place of God.
Perhaps like the Jewish exiles, we are being offered renewed hope that “our time of exile is coming to an end” (cf. Is 40:2). While some may decide to live out their days in Babylon, others of us feel called to begin afresh, listening to the voice of God, and to the wisdom of those whose vision is shining a credible light on how to refound.[3]
In a recent audience with women religious, Pope Francis encouraged them to “take up the witness of your founders. It is up to you to continue, as they did, to seek out and spread the beauty of Christ in the concrete circumstances of today’s world.”[4] He went on to note that their founders “chose what is essential and renounced what is superfluous.” He invited consecrated men and women to “strip themselves” of whatever might prove an obstacle to “listening attentively in their discernment… By doing so, you will be able to understand the needs of the present moment and “make the best decisions for the future.”
So, how might we begin to respond?
In her foreword to God’s Call is Everywhere,[5] Sr Patricia Murray IBVM, executive secretary of UISG, proposes a first step. “It is at times of diminution that have led to a new understanding of the meaning and purpose of religious life (ix) … Key areas of importance in relation to those who have discerned a vocation to religious life and have responded to God’s call are prayer, living an authentic community life, and making visible the charism and mission of the congregation (x)…”
It is important to note that ‘the charism and mission of a congregation’ are constituent elements of its ‘patrimony’, along with questions regarding finance and property. In her article ‘Chapters and Assemblies’[6], Bonnie MacLellan quotes the whole of canon 578 in emphasising this point:
“Can. 578. All must observe faithfully the mind and designs of the founders regarding the nature, purpose, spirit, and character of an institute, which have been sanctioned by competent ecclesiastical authority, and its sound traditions, all of which constitute the patrimony of the same institute.”[7]
Patricia Murray’s further observation is crucial, and is precisely where I think we need to begin: “Consecrated life needs to acknowledge its internal weaknesses… The synodal pathway offers a way for (us) to tackle necessary reforms / changes” (xiii).
To recognise these ‘internal weaknesses’, and even more so, to ‘tackle necessary reforms’, will require honesty and courage, what Pope Francis frequently calls parrhesia (‘boldness’).
Some helpful insights for a way forward are suggested in the CICLSAL document, New Wine in New Wineskins (2017)[8], not least because of its “fearless critique of various practices that have developed within consecrated life since Vatican II”.[9]
The current response of some women religious and /or their congregations is to understand the ‘old wineskins’ as formal structures, practices, and religious dress. But for others, ‘old wineskins’ that call for review and transformation also include some that are more recent, especially the increasing trend towards replacing common life with ‘living singly’. And so, somewhat paradoxically, reclaiming ‘a communal lifestyle’ may now be among the ‘new wineskins.’ In Patricia Murray’s list above, “living an authentic community life” is a “key area of importance for those discerning a vocation to religious life”
However, “authentic community life”, lived in common, does not mean reverting to formal structures, fixed daily timetable, or confusing a vow of obedience with ‘mother-daughter’ type models that require adult women to ‘ask permission’.[10] Rather, and this is one area where the synodal process could well make an important contribution, ‘conversations in the spirit’ would become the norm so that each point of view, discerned individually in deep and solid prayer, is valued and included in the decision-making process. As early as the sixth century, St Benedict understood this and consistently put it into practice in his communities!
As a process for moving forward, we could adopt the pattern of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, on which the ‘conversations in the Spirit’ are based. The exercises of the ‘first week’, where the invitation to contemplate the universal and enduring love of God provides the setting for acknowledging our failures to love in response, would ideally lead to honest recognition of our ‘internal weaknesses’ as a congregation.
Having accepted this communal grace of openness and forgiveness, the remaining three ‘weeks’, centred on the life, mission, death and resurrection of Jesus, would draw us into discerning where the Spirit is inviting us to transformation. The contemplatio, the ‘contemplation to obtain love’, would centre on gratitude for all these previous graces, and deep prayer for the ongoing grace to reignite the vision of our founders, their courage and preparedness to visit the ‘signs of the times’, and to respond in new ways to the ever-increasing needs of the poor and marginalised.
Such a plan, formidable as it may seem, and against the current tide, is more than possible if we have sufficient faith, hope, and love. As one foundress, writing in 1815, said: “The fact that it has never been done before is no reason why it cannot be done now”.
The conclusion to my above-mentioned work is as relevant as ever:
“There are great challenges ahead, but faith and the long history of religious life point to the ever-fresh ways in which God has constantly drawn religious into more authentic ways of being. The heart of such optimism is captured in this prophetic comment:
‘I don’t believe that God is bringing religious life to an end in the church and in the world. I believe that there will always be a place for some followers of Jesus for whom God is the love of their lives and their only lover.’[11] ” (175).

Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv and Sr Dr Margaret Beirne RSC, during the 2023 Diocesan Synod. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Sr Dr Margaret Beirne RSC is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College in Surry Hills, Sydney. After 30 years in secondary education, she began doctoral research on the Gospel of John at École Biblique in Jerusalem in 1995. She completed her DTheol at Melbourne College of Divinity in 2000, publishing her thesis and several articles. Sr. Margaret joined St Andrew’s in 2009, and in 2014, she served as Congregational Vicar for the Sisters of Charity. She was appointed Associate Professor at St Andrew’s faculty in 2021.
[1] “‘Old Habits Die Hard’: The Experience of Australian Women Religious in Australia in the Wake of Vatican II” in Vatican II. Reception and implementation in the Australian Church, Neil Ormerod et al (eds.) Mulgrave, Vic: Garratt Publishing, 2012, 157-179.
[2] “Redraw religious life model’, The Tablet 30 March 2024, p.38.
[3] For an excellent practical process for such refounding, see Ted Dunn, Graced Crossroads: Pathways to Deep Trust and Transformation (Pennsauken, NJ: Bookbaby, 2020).
[4] Christopher Wells, “Pope urges religious to pray for vocations”, Catholic Media, 15 July 2024, https://catholicmedia.org/pope-urges-religious-to-pray-for-vocations/.
[5] Patricia Wittberg SC, Mary L. Gautier, Gemma Simmonds CJ, Nathalie Becquart XMCJ; Foreword by Patricia Murray, IBVM. God’s Call is Everywhere: A Global Analysis of Contemporary Religious Vocations for Women. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2023, (vii-xvi).
[6] Bonnie MacLellan, ‘Chapters and Assemblies: Governance Options for Canadian Religious Institutes’, Newsletter of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, #202, July 2022, 19-29.
[7] MacLellan, ‘Chapters and Assemblies’, 20.
[8] New Wine in New Wineskins. The Consecrated Life and its challenges since Vatican II (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2017).
[9] Br Reginald Cruz, cfx, UISG webinar, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywC5kBhE_F8.
[10] For a trenchant critique on this point, see New Wine in New Wineskins, #21.
[11] Steve Curtin SJ, ‘A Personal Reflection’, in Stephen Reid, Robert Dixon & Noel Connolly, See, I am doing a new thing! A report on the 2009 survey of Catholic Religious Institutes in Australia, 31.