Conférence religieuse canadienne Bulletin Canadian Religious Conference Volume 11, Issue 2 — Spring 2014 In this issue: 3. An Association “A mari usque ad mare” — Fr. Yvon Pomerleau, OP 15. CRC Administrative Council Meeting in Quebec — Loretteville (QC), 4. The Figures Speak for Themselves! January 8-10, 2014 SMNDA — Fr. Yvon Pomerleau, OP — Élisabeth Villemure, 16. “The Service of Leadership Has 5. CRC Administrative Council Meeting Enriched My Life” — Panel Presentation in the “West” — Saskatoon (SK), by France Croussette, AM May 1-3, 2013 — Anne Lewans, OSU 17. My Commitment in Religious Life over the Years — Panel Presentation 6. Religious Life 50 Years after Vatican II: by Gaétan Sirois, FSC Who Have We Become? — Panel The Renewal of Religious Life Presentation by Patricia Derbyshire, SCSL 18. Is Ongoing — Panel Presentation 7. “My Own Journey in Religious Life” by Gaétane Guillemette, NDPS — Panel Presentation by Joyce Harris, SSA “Live the Parable of the Good Samaritan” 8. Who Have We Become…? 19. Structural Changes, a Time of — Lorette Langlais, SBC Transformation — Panel Presentation by Margaret Patricia Brady, OSB 9. “Key Insights, Emerging Directions” 20. CRC Administrative Council Meeting — Sœur Teresita Kambeitz, OSU in Atlantic Canada — Moncton (N.-B.), March 19-21, 2014 — Rosemary MacDonald, CSM 10. CRC Administrative Council Meeting 21. The Evolution of the Service of in Ontario — Mississauga (ON), Leadership since Vatican II — Panel October 2-4, 2013 — George T. Smith, CSB Presentation by Dolores Bourque, FMA 22. “Social Justice Is an Integral Pillar 11. Life in Community: A “Voyage of My Faith” — Panel Presentation of Discovery” — Panel Presentation by Auréa Cormier, NDSC by Jean Goulet, CSC 23. Vatican II Religious: 12. Polarization and Justice: Why Who Have We Become? ‘Evolving Consciousness’ Matters — Panel Presentation — Panel Presentation by Sue Wilson, CSJ by Loraine d’Entremont, SC 13. Poverty, the Periphery, and Praise Consecrated Life and the Image of — Panel Presentation by Timothy Scott, CSB 24. a Butterfly — Elizabeth M. Davis, RSM 14. Challenges and Directions for the Future — Veronica O’Reilly, CSJ CRC Bulletin - Spring 2014 - 2 - News Briefs CRC MISSION The Canadian Religious Theme of the Bulletin Conference (CRC) is both Who Are We Post-Vatican II Religious Now and Where Are We Headed? This is a voice for and a service the theme of articles in this issue of the CRC Bulletin. This topic was the sub- to leaders of religious ject of regional meetings that took place from May 2013 to March 2014. Each institutes and societies meeting included a presentation by three panelists followed by a reflection inspired by the latter and the discussions that followed. These articles pres- of apostolic life. The ent highlights of what was said. The full presentation is available on the CRC mission of the CRC is to website: www.crc-canada.org; see the sections Publications/CRC Bulletin and encourage its members to Documentation/50 Years after Vatican II. live fully their vocation in following Christ. The CRC supports its members in General Assembly of the CRC their prophetic witness The next General Assembly of the CRC will be held in Montreal from May 29 to justice and peace to June 1st, 2014. The theme selected is: Beyond Frontiers: A Call to within society and the Transformation. “This theme,” explains Yvon Pomerleau, OP, “invites us to take a fresh look at a reality that is now part of both our congregations and Church. The CRC looks our ministries: the presence of people from different cultures whose values, for audacious ways of beliefs and history could not be more different.” Father Anthony Gittins, CSSP, interpreting faith and life an expert on intercultural issues, is the guest speaker. so as to embrace the new At this meeting, the 60th anniversary of the CRC will be celebrated. A summary vision of the universe. of the highlights of each day will be published on the website of the Canadian Religious Conference. Make sure to visit our website at www.crc-canada.org. September 2010 Year of Consecrated Life Pope Francis announced that the year 2015 will be dedicated to consecrated life. The year will begin in October 2014 and will end in November 2015. To mark this special year, the CRC will work with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. A committee has been set up for this purpose. Its members are two bishops, one French-speaking sister and one English-speaking father, two members of new communities and one member of a secular institute. The committee will plan some activities and eventually develop a message addressed to all of God’s people. Editorial Team Editor in Chief For Information Tel: 514 259 0856 Fax: 514 259 0857 Jean Bellefeuille Louise Stafford, FSP Canadian Religious Conference [email protected] Joyce Murray, CSJ www.crc-canada.org Design and Layout 2715 Côte Saint Catherine Rd Yvon Pomerleau, OP Caron Communications Montreal (Quebec) Lorraine St-Hilaire, SNJM graphiques H3T 1B6 CRC Bulletin - Spring 2014 - 3 - An Association “A mari usque ad mare” Since its inception sixty years ago, the Canadian the country. The Justice, Peace and Integrity of Religious Conference (CRC) has identified all of Creation component (JPIC) of the CRC consists Canada as its area of focus, along with the inher- of regional groups that work in conjunction with ent challenge of bilingualism. the ad hoc office team. The national office pub- lishes an annual directory that allows all mem- To accommodate the growing numbers of men bers to stay in touch. and women religious, the CRC created four regions: the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario and New Initiative Western Canada, with a national office in Ottawa. The first regional meetings were held in 1967. Over the past two years, a new initiative was At the dawn of the new millennium, the situa- taken by the Administrative Council and the tion of the Church and of religious life changed office to develop the presence of the CRC in the dramatically and the CRC was forced to con- regions. Four Council meetings were held respec- sider restructuring. At the end of 2002, the CRC tively in Saskatoon (May 1-3, 2013), Toronto closed its four regional offices and the national (October 2-4), Quebec City (January 8-10, 2014) office moved into a new location in Montreal. The and Moncton (March 19-21, 2014). At each of CRC’s aim to serve the regions remains within these meetings, some time was spent exploring the renewed CRC. the region and its social and religious realities. For an entire day, Council members met with the At the Service of all Regions superiors, JPIC representatives and one bishop from the region to reflect on the challenges of The CRC aims to serve all regions of the coun- religious life 50 years after Vatican II. try. The General Assembly, held every two years, is a unique opportunity to bring together all the The purpose of this issue of the CRC Bulletin is Canadian members. The Administrative Council, to offer an echo of these regional meetings (the for its part, is composed of members from full text of the articles is posted on the CRC’s across the country. The Committees established website). On the eve of our General Assembly by the Administrative Council (for the moment: and the celebration of our sixtieth anniversary, it the Theological Commission and the Finance is appropriate to remember that the CRC remains Committee) reflect a regional representation. an association a mari usque ad mare. The CRC office develops activities aimed at reaching members in various ways. Let us men- Fr. Yvon Pomerleau, OP tion the CRC website, in both languages, which Director of the CRC has links to the CRC Bulletin, the Council Link and an entire news network. Several formation sessions are organized to be reproduced across CRC Bulletin - Spring 2014 - 4 - The Figures Speak for Themselves! Is it possible to paint a picture of religious life National Distribution in Canada using statistics? Some figures speak for themselves. Even if they do not explain Of the men and women religious living in Canada, everything, we must be able to wrap our head 90% originated in this country and 10% came around them. For the sake of simplicity and con- from abroad. Distribution over the national ter- venience, the statistics will be presented here ritory is very uneven: 68% in Quebec; 16% in in rounded numbers and percentages. Besides, Ontario; 8% in Western Canada; 6.5% in the precision does not necessarily coincide with Atlantic and 1.5% in the Northern Territories. accuracy, because the data changes from day to day. This table reflects data gathered back on Age Groups December 31, 2012. The breakdown by age group is as follows: Throughout Canada, there are a little more 50% are over 80 years old; 44% are between than 200 religious congregations, of which 185 60 and 80 years old; 5% are between 40 and responded to our questionnaire. 70% of congre- 60 years old and only 1% under 40. There are gations are female and 30% male. The same only 120 (1%) men and women religious in percentage applies to French-speaking congrega- initial formation, including 40 novices across the tions (70%) versus English-speaking ones (30%). country. However, almost 25% of religious live in The total number of men and women religious a nursing home. is less than 16,000, of which 80% are women and 20% men, and again, 80% Francophone and Community Living 20% Anglophone. In terms of community living, the situation is as follows: 45% live in communities of more than 20 people; 15% in communities of between 10 and 20 people; 13% between 5 and 10 and 15% less than 5 people.