The president of the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), Sister Ríonach Donlon, has spoken of "the most difficult period in religious life in Ireland that religious have ever faced".
Addressing CORI's general assembly, which opened in Rosslare yesterday, she said: "All of us here are aware that those who were the most supportive of disadvantaged young people in our society in the past are those who suffer most today. The outcome has earned us, in the eyes of some, reputations that we do not deserve. Yet we do not lose heart. The signs of energy, life and enthusiasm for our way of life are everywhere evident."
She said, however, that morale among religious had been "at the lowest possible ebb. Time and energy has had to go into dealing with matters we would prefer not to have to deal with, situations arising from the past, legal investigations, reconciliation, apologies, seeking justice, making amends".
While they faced "difficulties - make no mistake about that - we must strive to preserve the good work we do, the funding for social development, our work with refugees, the practical help we give to those who drop out of school, the adult and community education centres we set up, the work with addicts, the young and the old, our social housing agencies and our ecological projects.
"This work, done by the orders and religious congregations, which together comprise CORI, is part of our mission in 21st century Ireland.
"We must continue to do this even though our lives are challenged and made more difficult by the scandal of child sex abuse carried out by some religious and priests. We must not fail those who need us most."
The assembly was attended by 150 delegates yesterday. Over three days it will hear reports from the eight CORI commissions dealing with religious life, healthcare, education, child protection, the North of Ireland and justice issues. It will also be addressed by the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Lazzarotto.
Sister Donlon said the changed nature of religious ministry had confused many people. "Once people knew us by our habits, our wimples and veils, our Roman collars. Now our ministry takes into the streets and even the prisons. We walk among drug addicts and bring help to those slipping through the cracks in society."
After her address, she added: "We were associated with schools, hospitals and institutions. Now we go outside of them as there are so many needy people. We now deal with many projects including prisons, hospitals, and in the whole area of housing for the disadvantaged. When we established schools 150-200 years ago, they were needed. Trust boards continue to run many of these schools on behalf of the religious but we have now paved the way for the onus to be on other projects."