The Conference of Major Superiors of Men of the United States is a national association comprised of leaders of Roman Catholic men’s “religious congregations, monastic communities, and other religious institutes.” The organization represents over 200 monastic communities throughout the United States that include over 16,000 priests and brothers across various Roman Catholic religious orders.

The organization was formed in the 1950s and operates alongside many other Catholic associations and institutions including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), representatives of the Holy See, and the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DICLSAL). The organization supports many left-of-center political policies around criminal justice, welfare spending, and immigration and is a member of the left-of-center Declaration for American Democracy coalition supporting left-of-center state and federal election administration laws. ¹

Background

The Conference of Major Superiors of Men was founded in 1956 following a request from Pope Pius XII for religious orders of men and women to form national associations. The organization acts as the national representative body of the leadership of “male religious institutes, monastic communities, and societies of apostolic life” in the United States. The CMSM represents the leadership of such institutions to national and international Catholic organizations including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Holy See. CMSM leadership also sits on the Interamerican Committee, which includes representatives of the Canadian Religious Conference, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and the Confederation of Religious of Latin America. ²

Activity

The Conference of Major Superiors of Men engages in a variety of charitable and advocacy-based projects that include both ostensibly nonpolitical charitable work and alliances with left-of-center social-policy organizations. Advocacy priorities of the organization include promoting left-of-center policies and rhetoric concerning climate change, immigration, and welfare. ³

In 2020, the CMSM released a statement supporting the Black Lives Matter movement that condemned “brutality that takes away breath” and calls “for reforms to policies and practices that have oppressed Black Americans.” ⁴

On criminal justice issues and immigration issues, the CMSM has joined multiple left-of-center campaigns and boycotts targeting “for-profit” prisons and detention facilities and joined a campaign to boycott banks including JP Morgan Chase, which provided financial services to private detention facilities. The organization also supported the DREAM Act and the DACA program, which grant amnesty to certain classes of illegal immigrants. Partners of the organization’s immigration advocacy work include the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the Hope Border Institute, the Interfaith Immigrant Coalition, Justice For Immigrants, and the Ministry for Immigrant Justice. ⁵

Regarding environmental issues the CMSM has partnered with the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the Catholic Climate Covenant, and the Franciscan Action Network to promote the adoption of wind-reliant and solar energy over traditional energy production sources, and hosted a webinar promoting Dayton University’s divestment from traditional energy companies. ⁶

Declaration for American Democracy

The Conference of Major Superiors of Men is a member of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral administration policy changes. The coalition supports Congressional legislation that would enact several left-leaning policy priorities surrounding elections including enacting automatic voter registration and placing restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. The organization is a project of Public Citizen Foundation, a left of center advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. ⁷

1. “Who We Are.” Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.cmsm.org/who–
   we–are/
2. ^[1] “Who We Are.” Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.cmsm.org/who-we-are/
3. “JPIC Priorities.” Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.cmsm.org/justiceandpeace/issues/
4. “CMSM Condemns Racism, Brutality; Calls for Authentic Change.” Conference of Major Superiors of Men. June 1, 2020. Accessed February 1, 2023.  https://www.cmsm.org/cmsm-condemns-racism-brutality-calls-for-authentic-change/
5. “Immigration.” Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.cmsm.org/immigration/
6. “Care for Creation.” Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.cmsm.org/care-for-creation/
7. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/about/