Power of Sisterhood

Book excerpt: In 2008, the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life initiated an Apostolic Visitation to examine the quality of life of women religious in the United States. Power of Sisterhood: Women Religious Tell the Story of the Apostolic Visitation serves as an historical record of the event and describes the experience of the women who participated in it. This book, initiated by a group of women in leadership in their communities during this unprecedented time, grew out of a survey that gleaned the essence of the experience from as many congregations of women religious as possible. After framing the Visitation as a story, situating it in an historical and theological context, tracing its chronology, and detailing the experience as revealed in the survey, the book delves into the deeper meaning of the Visitation for women religious as they experienced it and as they move into the future.