Mutual collaboration among religious

21. Within the setting of religious life the Holy See establishes Conferences of Major Superiors and of Superiors General, both on the local and on the universal level (cf. PC 23; REU 73, 5). Obviously, these differ from Episcopal Conferences in nature and authority. Their primary purpose is the promotion of religious life as it is inserted into the contexture of ecclesial mission, and their activity consists in offering common services, suggesting fraternal initiatives and proposals for collaboration, respecting, of course, the distinctive nature of each institute. This will undoubtedly contribute also to offering valuable assistance for pastoral coordination especially if a suitable examination of the operative statutes is made at fixed times, and if, above all, the mutual relationships between Bishops' Conferences and Conferences of Major Superiors are carried out according to the directives issued by the Holy See.