Data from the Center for Applied Research for the Apostolate (CARA), Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), and National Retirement for Religious Office (NRRO) support this. Each of these organizations give evidence that the number of vowed religious is declining, the median age is increasing, and some congregations are coming to fulfillment.
Elected leaders of religious congregations face a myriad of issues: implementing the Chapter Directions, care for the members, dealing with sponsored ministries, and the list probably goes on. In the past, there were programs to prepare sisters for future leadership.