PITTSBURGH (CNS) -- In his final address as president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Father John S. Edmunds asked attendees at the organization's annual assembly: "What do we mean when we say 'we religious?'"

"Religious are those whose lives only make sense in light of our passion to live for God," he said, answering his own question. "Religious respond to the call of God together as communities of prayer. Religious bring the grace and mercy of God to those who feel cut off or alienated in the circumstances of their lives. That is who we are."

Father Edmunds, who is superior general of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, completed a two-year term as president during the Aug. 6-9 assembly in Pittsburgh.

He was succeeded Oblate Father James J. Greenfield, provincial of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales of the Wilmington, Delaware-Philadelphia province. He was installed to begin a two-year term during the assembly's closing Mass,

Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, CMSM is made up of the leaders who represent more than 17,000 Catholic religious brothers and priests in the United States.

At the opening event, assembly participants received a message from Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

He asked CMSM's member institutes to reflect on several questions as they prepare for the Year of Consecrated Life, which will begin Nov. 30. The questions include:

-- "At what point are we in regard to the return to the sources of every form of Christian life and to the founding charisms of the institutes?"

-- "Have our institutes adapted in an evangelical way to the changed conditions of the times?

-- "Is following Christ, as taught by the Gospel, the fundamental norm for us, the supreme rule?"

Bishop John Corriveau of Nelson, British Columbia delivered a plenary address on "A Spirituality of Communion and the Mission of Religious Life."

"The church is a communion which finds its dynamism and its force in the mystery of the Holy Trinity" and "the unity of the Trinity is relational, not structural." Consequently, he continued, "we do not image God in our individuality, but in our relationality."

The bishop, who is a Capuchin Franciscan, said that "the spirituality of communion must spawn a similar renewal in the church today giving birth to new ecclesial movements and religious congregations.

"Existing ecclesial movements and religious congregations must also renew their spirituality and mission in light of the communal identity of the church," he said.

Sister Patricia Wittberg, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, talked on "Building Community in 21st-Century Religious Life." She outlined a sociological perspective about fostering community within religious life. Sister Wittberg described a healthy form of common life where members have a balanced sense of self, and their gifts and talents contribute to the overall richness of community life.

Viatorian Father Mark Francis, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, spoke about the tension in navigating between "the mission that flows from our baptism and especially our religious profession that belongs to the charismatic/prophetic dimension of the church and how this fits into our relationship with diocesan and parish structures of the 'institutional church.'"

Her referenced the Second Vatican Council's decree "Perfectae Caritatis," which was on the renewal of religious life, pointing to section 23 on the "democratic and deliberative process" for community leaders.

It says in part: "This synod favors conferences or councils of major superiors, established by the Holy See. These can contribute very much to achieve the purpose of each institute; to encourage more effective cooperation for the welfare of the church; to ensure a more just distribution of ministers of the Gospel in a given area; and finally to conduct affairs of interest to all religious."

Father Francis said, "It is interesting to read that the purpose of these conferences of major superiors was not only to include a place for dialogue between religious communities, but to help to deal with issues of ministry and mission in the local church through a 'suitable coordination and cooperation with episcopal conferences.'"

He noted this decree led to "Mutuae Relationes," a set of directives issued jointly by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for Religious in 1978. The document said religious orders are part of the local church, though with their own internal organization, and that their "right to autonomy" should never be considered as independence from the local church.

At the assembly's membership meeting, attendees considered and approved a revised mission statement and a five-year strategic plan for CMSM.

Titled "New Energy ... Common Voice -- A Strategic Plan for Action 2014-2019," the revised mission statement affirms that CMSM "as the common voice," speaking "regionally, nationally and internationally, independently or in concert with other groups."

"As the primary common resource," the conference "serves major superiors and their councilors in their role of leadership in their own communities and in the conference as a whole, especially in promoting greater fidelity and more effective witness to the Gospel ideal, with special attention to issues of justice and peace."

Members also elected Franciscan Brother William Boslet, who is superior general of the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, New York, to a two-year term as CMSM vice president. Christian Brother Larry Schatz, provincial for the De La Salle Christian Brothers of the Midwest province, to a three-year term as an at-large board member.