Declining institutional sponsorship and religious orders: A study of reverse impacts

In recent decades, Catholic religious orders have largely withdrawn from an active presence in the day-to-day operations of their sponsored institutio ns. Recent mergers have similarly reduced their presence at administrative and board levels. While many studies have investigated the impact of this r educed presence on religious colleges, hospitals, and social agencies, few if any have studied the impact on the sponsoring orders themselves. The pre sent paper uses a series of thirty extended, taped interviews to explore th e implications of reduced or eliminated institutional presence on the inter nal functioning, group, identity, and spirituality of two communities of Ca tholic sisters. Some tentative implications are suggested for further resea rch in other denominations.