Mutual relations among the various members of the People of God have attracted particular attention today. In fact, the conciliar doctrine on the mystery of the Church and continuing cultural changes have brought present conditions to such a point of development that completely new problems have arisen. A good number of these, though delicate and complex, are without doubt positive. It is precisely within the context of these problems that mutual relations between bishops and religious, which cause special concern, are situated. One cannot but be impressed if one considers the fact, the importance of which deserve to be studied more deeply that there are over one million women religious in the world, one sister, that is, for every 250 Catholic women, and that there are about 270,000 men religious, of whom the priest make up 35.6 per cent of all the priests in the Church. In some areas they account for more than half of the total as, for example, in Africa and in some parts of Latin America.