By Gretchen Keiser

A dialogue is beginning between sisters who are serving in the archdiocese and Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan in response to a recently appointed papal commission studying religious life in the United States.

The sisters, who come from more than 25 different religious communities, are in the process of selecting a representative from each community to meet with the archbishop as a group and present their views on religious life. This meeting, which is planned for Nov. 8, will precede the annual November meeting of U.S. bishops in Washington, D.C., where the bishops are expected to talk about the work of the commission and initial response in their dioceses.

The commission, made up of Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco, Archbishop Thomas Kelly of Louisville and Bishop Raymond Lessard of Savannah, was appointed by Pope John Paul II in June. The pope linked the naming of the commission to the ongoing Holy Year of Redemption being celebrated by the church. He expressed concern about the “Marked decline in recent years in the numbers of young people seeking to enter religious life, particularly in the case of institutes of apostolic life.” He also emphasized the need for bishops to work closely with religious communities in their dioceses, as pastors and as a source of confirmation of the community’s judgment of its essential nature and area of service. He also expressed concern that declining numbers were placing an unhealthy burden of overwork and diminished spiritual life upon those in religious life.

Sister Dawn Gear, G.N.S.H., the president of the Atlanta Conference of Sisters, said she was very pleased with the great interest and cooperation of the sisters in the archdiocese and the archbishop.