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“Unshaken Faith: Fewer become nuns, but sisters see signs of change”
I’ve been working my way through my email Inbox and came across reference to this article about nuns in the Billings Gazette:
“Unshaken Faith: Fewer become nuns, but sisters see signs of change / Number of religious sisters drops from 180,000 in 1965 to 67,000 in 2006” by Diane Cochran (April 8, 2007).
What I like about this article is the attention to statistics and the reminder that large numbers of vocations is not the norm in religious life and therefore (in my humble opinion) should not be the criterion for the worth or viability or faithfulness of a community. There is aslo quite a number of comments on the article. Interesting. You can follow the link or read some clips below.
Nationwide, the number of women and men entering religious life has been declining for 40 years.
At St. Vincent, the number of SCLs, as they are called, is less than one-third what it used to be.
The plunging interest in religious vocation can be explained in a number of ways – including with one theory that suggests the soaring statistics of the 1950s and ’60s, and not today’s numbers, were the aberration – but it doesn’t really matter to the seven sisters at St. Vincent.
“I don’t worry at all about who’s coming behind us,” Sister Jean Casey said. “It’s up to God.”
“There will always be religious life,” said Sister Mary Lou Mendel. “It’s just how it’s going to look and what it will be.”
In 1965, when the eldest St. Vincent sister had already been a nun for 26 years and the youngest had put in eight, there were almost 180,000 religious sisters in the United States, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, or CARA.
By 2006, the number had plummeted to about 67,000, CARA statistics show.
Worldwide, the drop has been slightly less dramatic, from just more than 1 million in 1970 to about 776,000 in 2004.
In the ’50s and ’60s, women – and men – flocked to religious orders.
“It was a highly unusual period in religious life,” said Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference, a group that trains recruiters and leaders for religious communities. “Because many of us lived through that, it was our normal.”
But viewed in a broader context, the era when so many of today’s older members of religious communities began their ministries was probably an abnormal spike in a centuries-long continuum of interest in religious vocation.
“It’s cyclical,” said Sister Marie Damian Glatt, one of the seven sisters at St. Vincent. “We’ve had periods in the past four to five centuries when we’ve had large influxes of people. … Then it slows down again and goes up again.”
“We’re living at one of those in-between times, which is not unusual in the history of the church,” Damian said.
This in-between time can be partly explained by a fading presence of nuns, priests and other religious figures in everyday life, the sisters said.
“Most of us grew up in the presence of sisters or in the presence of parishes. That was modeled for us,” Damian said. “Today, because there are fewer sisters for people to come into contact with, now they have to seek it out on their own.”
“It’s just not part of people’s radar screens anymore like it used to be,” Mendel said.
Meanwhile, the decadeslong decline in people entering religious life could be slowly reversing.
Official statistics aren’t available yet, but anecdotal evidences indicates an upswing in interest.
Today’s teenagers and twentysomethings appear to be considering religious vocations more seriously than did the previous generation, said Bednarczyk, of the National Religious Vocation Conference.
“They seem to be much more open to the possibility of religious life where we would not have seen that 10 years ago,” he said.
“The interest is beginning to grow. Whether or not that interest actually translates into actually entering a community, that we’ll have to wait and see.”
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{ 6 comments }
I’ll jump in first here.
I think the thoughts expressed in the article; that the number of vocations is somewhat cyclical, is pretty much accurate. I don’t know whether the rest of the article goes on to paint a more precise portrait or not.
The radical falloff during the last half century is abnormal by any gauge…almost of plague proportions. One cannot avert their eyes and pass on indifferently with a casual shrug. My belief is that the number of religious vocations is directly tied to the overall economic condition and standard of living within society… tied up with that famous indictment “rich, increased in goods, having need of nothing”. This past 50 years had by and large been the most prosperous, progressive, successful, wealthy, era to date in the West judged by strictly material criteria: the Baby Boom; the economic boom where a burgeoning middle class could afford 2 cars, a boat, a cottage, recreational vehicles in multiple, lengthy vacations, and on and on; the powerful influence of television and other mass media and the dissipation it promotes. Really, my lifetime has been like no other lifetime on earth from a secular viewpoint. We have worshipped at the shrine of ME and MY NEEDS, to the exclusion of other gods, and God Himself.
I’ve spent the past few years wrestling with my own spirituality, and this has involved a total shift in my worldview as a natural outgrowth of the former. The switch from “Protestant Striver” to something else is like moving from darkness to light…to a place where efficiency and profit and achievement take second place to love, mercy, kindness, sacrifice, humility, etc. I find that my desires for the things in life I once delighted in and dreamed about are so diminished as to be forgotten mostly. Modern life seems so empty, shallow, purposeless, fruitless, and simply consumes a life without imparting even the slightest blessing or virtue. Conforming one’s whole being into the likeness of Jesus becomes the only passion one wants to pursue.
So perhaps a reason for the decline in vocations is simply the spiritual fog that enshrouds this generation of young people, and a confused meaning of what life is all about and our purpose as created beings? If one’s theology and view of the world and the Church could be realigned and formed according to pre-1950′s-70′s accumulata, perhaps some headway might be realised in inspiring young people to consider vocations to the religious life or the priesthood? I don’t know .
Another negative influence is the periodic scandals that make the news. The orders who openly defy the Magisterium in print and in the MSM are a blot on the whole picture. It would seem to me that if we religious are to live as symbols, signs, (and “legible” ones at that), then a rank and rebellious spirit cannot serve in that way at all. There must be perfect humility and submission to at least the outward demands of obedience [insert Habit discussion here]. In a world full of militant marchers and protesters, angry men and women standing up for their “rights” and screaming to be noticed; it is the place for religious to live as an exact contrast: a model of humility, unselfishness, quietness, reverence, obedience, servitude, asking nothing of this world in terms of validation. Our identity must be first and last of all in Christ.
Monastic life will never be popular, but we do ourselves no good service by cluttering that life up with the trappings of secular philosophies, e.g. professed monks and nuns openly advocating FOR abortion, female priests, and on and on, it looks so sad to see written diatribes against the Church in journals and newspapers with the writer identified as Dr. so and so with their Order initials following. It may be trendy and cool, and ego boosting for the writer, but it simply confuses the questioning layman or nonchristian. The good work done by many faithful religious very seldom receives mention; so it is a disproportionate exposure the rebels receive.
The dearth of nuns and monks involved in teaching, nursing, and parish life is, as mentioned, likely a cause in the decline of vocations. I like the “radar screen” reference. If we interact with a group of individuals, then we tend to absorb a sense of who they are what they are about. The lack of this contact is regrettable. How can we turn the vortex around?
I hope nothing I’ve said here has offended anyone. I simply wish to express my view that I think society as a whole needs to leave off their angry militantism, and that we as religious ought to lead the way by example of beating our swords in to ploughshares and pruning hooks and being peacemakers; starting in our own lives, then our family/cloister/community, then the larger Church, and finally all of society. I’ll shut up now
Br. Dominic-Michael OHS
Good article. I’m especially glad to hear that the orders involved in hospital ministry are passing their spirituality on to lay leaders. This is very important.
Br. Dominic mentioned that the “scandals” that hit the Church deter vocations. He then elaborated by discussing obedience to the Magisterium. That is not one of my personal pet pieves but what came to mind when reading his initial comment was “scandals” such as the sex abuse scandal and some of the financial scandals that are beginning to hit the newspapers. This sort of behavior on the part of clergy greatly weakens the Church and her credibility. If people have little regard for the institution, and may even feel the desire/need to leave, vocations will not grow in quality or quantity.
donna
Quote From Br. Dominic…
Our identity must be first and last of all in Christ.
I find it interesting that you equate acting with humility and quietness with how Christ acted. As I remember, he tore down a few money lenders and argued with his far share of religious authorities in his time.
In a strange way, I think I agree with him. If you willfully join a group which has rules and guidelines and makes it clear that one is taking vows to this group *because* of this tradition, you should stand by your tradition. However, any tradition needs to be re-examined from time to time. Things which constituted perfectly sound judgement 50 years ago (1957) are abhorrent now.
Unfortunately, the only solution I see is that the person needs to choose what symbol they are going to stand for. In my humble and horridly over-reaching opinion, if one does not believe in the symbol one is actively portraying then they need to know why that isn’t hypocritical.
Speaking as someone who grew up Christian and now is not, just because I do not practice your religion does not mean that I do not seek or long for contact with the Deity. From my vantage, I think that there are as many people who are interested in the vision of monastic orders but no longer have the belief in the Church. Possibly this is the reason for the rise in communities which live in a monastic setting but are not regimented in their views about how the Deity is honored.
Please know this is said in good faith and I am not trying to raise a hue and cry. I have seen several posts which seem to ask the rhetorical question of why would non-conforming people have anything to do with an institution like the Church with traditions entrenched so deeply.
Hi redheadedcyclone,
Jesus was a radical, yes. If one thoughtfully and studiously examines the context of Jesus “cleansing the Temple” and the rest of His scathing indictments against the Pharisaical system, it is obvious that a clear link exists between the substitution of a lesser and manmade tradition in the place of a divinely mandated commandment, and Jesus’ degree of irritation. For instance, the place where they money changers bought and sold was known as “the Court of the Gentiles”, a place where God fearers could approach and worship Yahweh safely. If the court is cluttered up with mongers and merchants hawking their wares and crowding out those who rightfully belonged there, is it any wonder He was angry?
Communal life has been common in every religion since time immemorial, in this you are right on as regards the desire of some to live in what you term a “monastic setting” while rejecting a specifically Christian mandate. What I think any Christian monastic would say is that while solitude and contemplation, the virtues inculcated by forced enclosure, etc, are good, there is a far greater dimension when one allows for the transcendant work of the Holy Spirit in their midst. How this is implemented varies from House to House, but we believe it is a much “fuller” and robust communal experience in being grounded in the experiences and Traditions of the past 2 millennia of Christian life and teaching.
So, yeah…go sit on a mountain top and commune with nature. But don’t expect to work our your own salvation that way; that’s a gift of God’s grace, and to reject the Church is to reject grace.
fwiw.
Br. Dominic-Michael OHS
I find it hard to believe that “to reject the church, is to reject grace.” I believe God is bigger than that. I believe God can grant grace to whoever God so chooses.
It is much more important to follow the teachings of Jesus and work on that relationship with Jesus than than it is to worry about crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s of church doctrine, be it Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, etc…
There are far too many people blindly following the teaching of one minister or priest than are following the example and teachings of Jesus.
However, it is true that without community, [be it a formal monastic community, or a church family, or a group of people who form an informal community sharing their thoughts or beliefs] it is much harder. Church, (my definition of church is the people, not buildings or institutions), exists to help people.
I want to say more, but need more time.
Well this thread has certainly gone in directions I couldn’t have imagined when I first wrote this post! Normally I would let a thread continue on but in this case I am going to end it with my comment (blogger’s perogative to have the last word).
If you’d like to continue the conversation, Brother Dominic-Michael has graciously invited folks over to his blog at http://www.xanga.com/BR_DM_OHS where you can comment and chat with him about this topic.
I think it is very important to have such conversations provided they are done with the utmost respect and to seek first common ground, especially when we each profess our faith and belief in Jesus Christ. We must trust that the Spirit of God is at work in each one of us and we must trust that each person is coming out of a place of goodness.