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A
concrete way to say 'thank you' to religious
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
It started in 1988 when the Catholics of the United States became aware
that many women religious faced a huge problem. Catholic schools,
operated primarily by religious orders, were educating more than 10
percent of the student population in the United States. Catholic
hospitals were becoming the largest group of not-for-profit hospitals in
the nation. But the salaries and stipends to religious were earmarked
primarily for good works, new ministries, and training and education
that would insure adequate staffing and administration for ministries
rather than retirement.
The care of elderly members of religious congregations and orders had
been assured for generations by younger members who entered religious
life. Few noticed that elderly religious, whose compensation had been
sent to and helped support their religious communities but who no longer
were able to engage in full-time ministry, far outnumbered wage-earning
religious. Church and diocesan pension plans did not include religious
institutes, which were autonomous entities. Health-care costs
skyrocketed as the number of elderly religious in assisted living or
nursing facilities rose dramatically. Some religious institutes, faced
with the need of providing for the elderly and infirm, were forced to
sell their motherhouses to meet retirement needs.
In 1988, the Retirement Fund for Religious was inaugurated. It is
sponsored by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), the
Council of Major Superiors of Religious Women (CMSWR), the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), and the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The collection you will be asked to support
the weekend of Jan. 15 will be the 18th in the ongoing effort to help
religious provide adequate care for their elderly members. The money
raised is being used to care for the more than 38,000 Catholic sisters,
brothers and religious order priests who are now past age 70. In the
United States, there are 69,963 women religious and 20,037 men
religious: 14,520 priests and 5,517 brothers.
My brother priests each year urge me to make a clear distinction between
religious and diocesan priests. The distinction may be rudimentary, but
warrants repetition.
Religious life is open to both men and women. Religious embrace vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience and live the particular charism of their
founder. Non-ordained men religious are called brothers, the women are
called sisters. Some male religious are ordained to the priesthood.
There are 539 institutes of religious life (women) in the United States,
16 of whom are represented in our own Local Church. At the same time,
there are 162 institutes of men, brothers and priests. Priests religious
are distinct from diocesan priests who are wed to a specific territory
and diocesan bishop. Diocesan priests have their own pension program.
Thanks to the great generosity of the people of our Local Church who
responded to a capital fund drive in the year 2002, that pension fund is
well funded. The Retirement Fund for Religious does not apply to
diocesan priests.
In our diocese, there are two monastic institutes: the Monastery of the
Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood in Lafayette and the Monastery of
the Poor Clare Nuns in Kokomo; and one institute of apostolic life: the
Sisters of St. Joseph of Tipton, Ind. There is also an emerging
community, the Sisters of Notre Dame of Joyful Hope, sited in Kokomo.
None of these have asked for grants from the Retirement Fund for
Religious. That acknowledged, many communities of the United States are
in dire straits.
Of the 696 religious institutes that provide data to the National
Religious Retirement Office, almost 24 percent (164 institutes) have the
capacity to pay less than 20 percent of projected retirement costs.
Of the 528 institutes that receive grants from the retirement fund, 91
are monasteries for contemplative prayer. Earnings are less than 50
percent of expenses.
As noted above, religious institutes must provide for their own
retirement costs, separate from diocesan structures. While the average
cost of skilled nursing care in the United States averages $145 per day,
religious institutes have kept the average cost of skilled care for
frail elderly to $126 per day.
The average Social Security benefit for women and men religious is
approximately one-third of that paid to the average U.S. beneficiary.
Almost 33,000 women religious in the Retirement Fund for Religious
database are past age 70.
Women and men religious generally work long past the age of 65 in
compensated ministries that help support their communities and only
“retire” in the sense that compensated work ends. For as long as they
are physically able, they visit the sick, tutor children, and volunteer
in parishes and among refugee populations. Not to be overlooked is the
fact the infirm and elderly maintain a ministry of prayer.
The cost of skilled nursing care and assisted living for almost 12,000
Catholic religious women and men currently exceeds $1 million each day.
The actuarial projected retirement liability of the nation’s religious
institutes stands at $8.1 billion.
Last year the fund collected more than $28 million, with the Archdiocese
of Chicago collecting more than $1 million. In our own Local Church, the
collection totaled $121,237. Since 1988, donations have totaled more
than $460 million nationally. However, the cost of living for all
elderly religious exceeded $910 million in 2004 alone. Escalating
health-care costs, along with lower return on investments, have
dramatically affected the capacity of religious institutes to fund
retirement.
While it is unrealistic to fantasize that the Catholics of the United
States can match the $8.1 billion retirement liability for the nation’s
religious institutes, the money collected since the fund was inaugurated
back in 1988 has made a tremendous difference. It has given religious
communities hope where they had very little. While it has forced them
and those to whom they minister to take a realistic look at a serious
problem, it has told our religious, men and women, how much their
contribution to the quality of life in the United States is appreciated.
In one form or another, most of us, directly or indirectly, have been
enriched by religious. They gave of themselves with minimal financial
return. They now need our help. The response of the people of this
diocese has always been superior. In a time when many admittedly have
cash flow problems, it is hoped the collection results again this year
will be as outstanding as they have been in the past. It is a noble
cause. |
