By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A new report on religious life in America released this month by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has once again confirmed that the thriving orders are those that espouse the habit and adherence to the Magisterium while those that do not are dwindling.
Writing for the Archdiocese of Washington website, Msgr. Charles Pope offers analysis of the report, which was conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), as well as a 2009 study that produced similar findings.
Simply put, ” . . . (R)eligious communities that preserve traditional elements such as the habit, common prayer, communal life, focused apostolates and strong affirmation of Church teaching, are doing well in comparison to orders that do not,” Msgr. Pope summarizes.
The CARA report, which includes data from 63 percent of all religious congregations in the U.S., found that 84 percent of all communities had no one profess solemn vows in 2010. Thirteen percent had one woman profess vows and only three percent had between two and nine women profess.
“While this is only a picture of one year it shows that a large number of communities are in very serious shape,” Msgr. Pope writes, adding that some data is obviously missing because he knows of one order where nine women entered in 2010.
Some of the more interesting findings in the study were:
1. 64 percent of new religious come from families of five or more children, which confirms the long-held notion that decreased family size is a significant factor in the decline of religious vocations.
2. 51 percent of newly professed sisters attended Catholic elementary school. “Catholic Schools had been an engine of vocations for sisters,” Msgr. Pope writes. “That seems a wash today and is likely due to the fact that most schools have few if any Sisters teaching.”
3. Almost two-thirds of the sisters had participated in parish youth ministry programs, Newman clubs or other young adult ministries.
4. 74 percent of new sisters participated in parish retreats; 65 percent prayed the rosary frequently; 64 percent participated regularly in Eucharistic Adoration; 57 percent had taken part in regular Bible study programs. “Hence parish life and traditional pious factors play an important role as does more more modern forms such as liturgical ministry and Bible Study.”
5. While 52 percent of new sisters reported being encouraged to enter religious life by another sister, a friend (44%) or a parish priest (39%), 51 percent said their parents and family members actively tried to discourage them from entering. “This is quite an awful statistic actually,” Msgr. Pope comments. “The very ones who should encourage are off message.”
Msgr. Pope then refelcts on a report conducted by CARA and commissioned by the National Religious Vocations Conference (NRVC) in 2009. This report uncovered some very eye-opening facts about younger members of religious orders which showed a significant generation gap between born between 1943 and 1960 (the “Vatican II” era) and Millennials (those born after 1982). Among those findings:
1. Younger respondents were much more likely than older respondents to say they were attracted to the religious life by a desire to be more committed to the Church.
2. Millennials also reported that their institute’s practice of wearing a religious habit attracted them.
3. Millennials were also much more likely to say that daily Mass, praying the Liturgy of the House, Eucharistic Adoration and other devotional prayers were “very” important to them.
4. Younger respondents expressed strong preferences for living with members of their institute in large community settings. In fact, findings from the survey of religious institutes suggest that that new membership is negatively correlated with the number of members living alone. That is, the higher the number of members who live alone, the less likely an institute is to have new members. “Here too we see that tradition is confirmed and the loose knit apartment style, dispersed living of many dying congregations is simply being rejected by younger people seeking religious life and to live, work and pray in community,” Msgr. Pope writes.
Thus, the data of this earlier CARA report confirms what most Catholics already know – that traditional religious orders are growing while those that cling to an erroneous notion of “Vatican II” are not.
“This has been clear for some time now and why some religious communities do not see the obvious and adapt is mystifying to say the least,” Msgr. Pope writes.
“The clear message of the Holy Spirit who inspires vocations, the clear admonition of Rome which has strongly requested the return to the habit and other reforms, and the obvious preference of the young people who vote with their feet, is a clarion call. Communities that follow these simple truths are growing, some are growing rapidly. Communities that refuse to follow these simple truths would appear to have a death wish.”
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