An opportunity lies right around the corner to help Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests who have served selflessly for decades without significant financial compensation.
The annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious is scheduled for Dec. 9-10 in parishes across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Last year alone, parishioners contributed $467,703 to the collection. Nationwide, the collection raised $27.6 million for 297 U.S. religious communities.
It makes a difference to those who have made a difference in so many lives, said Nicole Bettini, the delegate for consecrated life in the archdiocese.
“What would our country, our communities, look like without them?” Bettini said. “And thus, we help them in their need.”
Religious communities run hospitals and schools, work in parishes and other ministries. They are responsible for the support and care of all members, with income, earnings and expenses managed separately from parish and diocesan structures of the Church.
The need among the communities is great, with religious over the age of 70 outnumbering religious younger than 70 by nearly three to one, according to a news release about the fund from the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO), which coordinates the annual appeal and distributes financial assistance to eligible religious communities.
Only 6 percent of religious communities providing data to the office are adequately funded for retirement; 42 percent have 25 or fewer members, the NRRO said.
The NRRO is sponsored by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. U.S. Catholic bishops launched the fund in 1988 to address the lack of retirement funding. Since the first collection, U.S. Catholics have donated more than $975 million.
Almost $842 million has been distributed to support the day-to-day care of elderly sisters, brothers and religious order priests, the NRRO said. An additional $102.6 million has been allocated to projects initiated by religious communities, including health care facilities, the office said.
However, since 2009 the average annual cost to support senior women and men religious has exceeded $1 billion. Meanwhile, the average annual Social Security benefit for a religious is $7,679, compared with $21,902 for the average lay U.S. beneficiary, the NRRO said.
The director of the NRRO, John Knutsen, said in a statement that he looks forward to this year’s collection.
“We are privileged to support those who have dedicated their lives to tireless service, and we are immensely grateful for the continuing generosity of U.S. Catholic donors to this vital cause,” he said.
