Wall Street is not a pretty place to be these days. Like many of you, Catholic nuns and sisters (as well as other religious communities) have been keeping an eye on the stock market and economic crisis. The ups and downs of the marketplace can have a profound affect on our finances as well.
It may be surprising to some to think of nuns having Wall Street savvy. It is not only true but it is absolutely necessary in order for us to continue our mission and care for our sisters, especially those who are older. Although many of us nuns are good wage-earners, we also have to have smart and ethical investments. Some have asked me why nuns have to be concerned about finances when “nuns are supported by the Church”. Well, there in lies the problem. Although many parishes and individual Catholics have been very supportive and generous, overall most religious communities do not receive automatic financial support from the Catholic Church. (I think an exception is diocesan congregations — anyone know?) The Church is not responsible for our pensions, retirement, costs of living, bills, etc. It’s up to each congregation to take care of itself and find it’s own sources of income and financial security.
Aside from sisters’ salaries, congregational assets (land and buildings), and investments, we rely on the generosity of our friends and benefactors. A significant fund-raising campaign is the Retirement Fund for Religious which helps many congregations support and care for our retired sisters, brothers, and religious order priests. Catholic News Service recently published an article about how the slide in Wall Street stocks is affecting the Retirement Fund for Religious.
In addition to national fund-raising, each congregation has to do its own fund-raising. Sometimes its through raffle tickets or golf outings or a straight-up, humble request by a sister during a mission appeal.
So while we sisters must always keep an eye on Wall Street and make good choices regarding our investments, we also rely on folks like you to help us out so that we can care for our retired sisters and continue the liberating mission of Jesus Christ.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Deb 10.08.08 at 9:01 pm
This irks me..for the past 14 years in NH and Mass The christmas collection was for the Retired clergy etc. …and it was not given too them. Church Auditors are stumped.. Where did the money go? Lawsuits and more lawsuits for the victims. The Priests don’t appreciate being asked not to retire. The sisters? Now I know from your blog..you sisters don’t really get much of what we give. We can’t trust that our donations will get to you. PLUS we don’t realise you all are on your own. Maybe..a fund set up just for Nun’s and Sisters would solve this crisis all the orders are going through/ I’d give..others would give..
It needs and should be examined! We all just watched our 401K’s dive this week. Baby-boomers will not be able to retire. But..know what? I wouldn’t mind cutting down more..like soup 3 times a week..if I knew the money I gave went directly to the sisters!
Hope you pass this on..
Washington is corrupt..here in New England we still don’t know which Church or School will be closed next..at least no Victims in the news these days. To fork over my hard earned money each sunday…
Nope..I and others are fed up.
Sister Julie 10.09.08 at 4:31 am
Hi Deb, I know it’s hard to know exactly where your money is going to. I am the type who will always buy the pink ribbon stuff to support people with breast cancer — but God only knows how much of it makes it to the research and care. So I know a bit of what you mean.
You can always donate directly to religious communities. Each congregation has a finance nun and often a development director. If you have concerns about where money is going, I would suggest that you contact a local community of nuns or ones that taught you or whatever and give directly to them. If you need suggestions, let me know. Thank you for your concern and care for sisters.
deerose 10.09.08 at 7:28 am
I had no idea how corrupt this retired religious fund could be. In any case, it usually is better just to give straight to the source. From my understanding, years ago, communities of sisters/nuns did not contribute to social security but now they do. So I guess part of the problem is solved - that is - if social security doesn’t dry up! My husband’s cousin, for example, never gives to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. Instead, she identifies 2-3 families in her community that are struggling financially. She then goes out and buys gift certificates for the local grocery store and hands them over to them as a gift.
Another topic regarding nuns and finance is HOW they invest and WHY. I once attended a presentation at a Dominican motherhouse where they spoke about how the congregation sometimes buys stock in “marginally” ethical corporations which entitles them to go to shareholders meetings and speak up against any injustices they see. Let’s not also forget about those sisters that manage (CEO, CFO, all sorts of executives) hospitals, entire healthcare systems and universities. Their financial expertise and activity goes far beyond raising money for elderly nuns.
dee
Sister Julie 10.09.08 at 10:23 am
Hi dee, I think that Deb was talking about a different fund. The Retirement Fund for Religious is just for religious sisters, religious brothers, and religious priests, not clergy in general. So just to clarify, the Retirement Fund for Religious is NOT corrupt! and in fact they do very good work on behalf of religious.
Many sisters/nuns do now contribute to social security — I think we all had to “buy into” the program in order to participate. For many of us it was a huge chunk of change, an investment that is good but that depleted (or greatly reduced) many of our bank accounts! So it’s good we are part of it, and now like the rest of the country we worry about what will happen to us when we retire.
Investments are a tough subject because companies are so inter-connected. We try always to do our due diligence when investing.
Deb 10.09.08 at 9:47 pm
Sister Julie,
To clarify: I WAS talking about the (Retirement Fund for Religious).
I got my information from the Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and follow-up in local Church Bulletions. A meeting was held in Boston to explain to the Priests and now I understand it wasn’t the nuns too..(They just have a paperwork problem of sorts and can’t really explain in detail where the money has been spent for the last 14 years). Cardnal Bernard Law got promoted and sent to Rome..He was in charge of Boston. This was not a small news article..it made front page news for quite sometime. Even the Jay Leno Show/Jokes!
Stocks are going lower and lower each day, we are all hurting..but it sure irks me that the (OLD-TIMERS) nuns especially..go without.
I’m not being dramatic..I know they will be fed..The house that holds retired Priests up here in NH is pathetic..and most convents are filled with heating and ancient abestis insulation..I know because I worked at a convent. The sisters I worked for..sure were old..60’s,70’s and up.
But they never complained..They were proud to support there own.
I saw and sat with them at many mealtimes. In my heart..they should of been eating better and had better trained nurses.
Sr.Julie..I have never forgotten that experience. I was trained to care for the sisters cematary. I dug the graves and saw a simple funeral when I wanted the biggest send off..as civilians get. But the nuns wanted nothing grand. But those of us looking in from the outside ..
understand?
Sister Julie 10.10.08 at 4:57 am
Thanks for the clarification, Deb. So are you saying that it was how the diocese used the funds which was corrupt?
I appreciate you writing back and sharing more of your experience. Even though sisters choose to live a simple life we strive to take care of our older women and those who are sick. I’ve never been involved in health care, but from what I gather, it can get pretty complex and costly especially when dealing with various government regulations. Some of us are just not set up for stuff like that or we don’t have the internal expertise/resources to make the transition. We are always trying to do better. At the same time we value our simple life and our common life. We hold our sisters very close to us even beyond death. One of our IHM songs refers to our sisters who are “dwelling now in light yet ever near” … and that feeling is palpable across our community.