Founded in 1992 by eighty major superiors of women religious from across the United States and under the guidance of Cardinal James Hickey, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) serves as a channel for mutual support in sustaining among member communities the transcendent nature of religious life and the centrality of common life, common prayer, community-based apostolates, religious obedience and the witness to consecration and poverty by a garb that is both common and simple (cf. Essential Elements, May 31, 1983). The CMSWR primarily carries out its mission in the following ways:• Serving as an organization to facilitate effective collaboration among major superiors• Cooperating closely with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and with individual Bishops• Nurturing "a renewed appreciation of the deeper theological reasons for this special form of consecration."