Abstract

Chapter seven examines the nature of religious life following the tumultuous decades of renewal. This chapter explores how the community lived and worked as the meaning of religious life shifted. In a post-Vatican II world and Church, women religious have reinvented or reimagined their places in society and in the Catholic Church (among hierarchy and laity). This chapter looks at how Sisters of Mercy lived from the 1980s to 2008, what diverse ministries drew their focus, and how they came together as one. This chapter also deals with the consequences of a shrinking Mercy community population due to low entrance levels and aging. Lastly, it examines the motivations and process of the merger into West Midwest in 2008.

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