Sister Barbara Mullen, CSJ, appointed in January as the archdiocese’s new Delegate for Religious, offers ongoing spiritual direction to Blaise Falbo, a hermit for the Archdiocese of Hartford. (Photo by Aaron Joseph)

Story by Shelley Wolf

Sister Barbara Mullen, CSJ, a Windsor Locks native who has spent 55 years in religious life, has one succinct message for other consecrated religious in the Archdiocese of Hartford: “I’m here to assist you.”

Sister Barbara was appointed in January by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair to serve as his Delegate for Religious. She began shortly after completing a term as provincial superior of the North American Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry in West Hartford.

“I’m the communication bridge between the archbishop and the religious communities, plus the consecrated virgins and the hermit,” she says. “If he needs to speak to the communities, I’m the bridge who can do it. Likewise, if I discover some challenges or some realities among communities that he needs to know about, I’m the bridge back to him.”

So far, Sister Barbara has called or visited nearly three-quarters of the communities in the archdiocese to introduce herself. In addition to serving as the archbishop’s liaison, she also sees herself as a possible facilitator when needed, assisting consecrated communities in meeting any challenges they may face.

“If I can assist a community to find its way forward, so to speak, and let them discover what their future is, then I’m excited being part of that,” she says. “Because I still believe that there’s a future for religious life, we just don’t know what it looks like.”

Sister Barbara brings a unique skill set to the position. In addition to having led a religious community, she was a registered nurse with an advanced degree in gerontology and administration, and completed master’s seminars in facilitating faith-based organizations.

That last bit of education led to a 16-year consulting career, offering facilitation services to religious communities – skills she can now bring to the communities of the archdiocese as part of her job. She has experience in long-range strategic planning, aging and healthcare initiatives, and leadership and team dynamics.

Consecrated religious are seeing fewer vocations and they are living longer themselves, with all of the challenges that both trends bring. For some communities, Sister Barbara says, the solution might be finding new ways to care for their community’s elders. For others it might mean training lay people to assist with part of their mission.

In her new role, Sister Barbara is also responsible for organizing archdiocesan-wide gatherings for religious, such as this month’s Consecrated Life and Jubilee Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 4 p.m.

The celebration for consecrated religious with major anniversaries – 25, 50, 60, 65, 70 and 75 years – will include a vigil Mass at St. Thomas Chapel in the Pastoral Center in Bloomfield, to be followed by a light dinner reception.

Since this annual event was delayed by the pandemic, a sizable turnout is expected. The event will cover significant anniversaries in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Sister Barbara says, “We never had a chance to applaud them for their years of consecrated life.”