Sisters get rare standing ovation

Archbishop William Lori addressed the 2026 National Assembly of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious in Missouri, receiving a standing ovation from an audience marked by humility and preference for substance.

“A standing ovation is a rare thing at any conference. It is even rarer among women religious.”

What has become of freedom?

Marking 250 years of American independence, Archbishop Lori challenged sisters to examine what freedom means today, noting that polarization, loneliness, and declining trust fracture contemporary society.

“What has become of freedom?”

Renewal starts with renewed persons

Archbishop Lori argued that before institutions can be renewed, individual hearts must be transformed. Renewal requires holiness rooted in personal conversion, not structural change alone.

“Before there can be renewal of institutions, there must be renewal of persons.”

Consecrated life shows another way

Through poverty, chastity, and obedience, women religious demonstrate that authentic freedom exists beyond modern culture's false definitions. Their lives challenge worldly notions of what it means to be human.

“Every authentic consecrated life becomes a living statement that another way of being human is possible.”

Sisters shaped America through conscience

Women religious formed the nation's moral imagination long before civic debates. They taught virtue, built trust, and helped young people recognize Christ in one another through education and community.

Forgotten architects of freedom

While history remembers presidents and founders, countless sisters welcomed immigrants, cared for the sick, educated children, and built community institutions. Their names are forgotten but their impact immeasurable.

Greatest gift was moral formation

Archbishop Lori said women religious' greatest achievement was not the institutions they built but forming the nation's moral imagination. Children learned mercy before algebra and virtue before voting.

“The greatest achievement of American women religious has been the formation of the nation's moral imagination.”

Trust in Christ for the next 250 years

Archbishop Lori urged sisters not to measure success by numbers or influence but by fidelity to Christ. The future depends on women seized by God whose lives testify that holiness transforms the world.

“We move forward not because we know exactly what the future holds, but because we know Who holds the future.”