Frustrated by how few friaries and other active communities are West of St. Louis

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foolishmortal

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Why are so many healthy new communities for brothers (for priests, there’s no problem finding them, but they may have you be examined elsewhere) seem to be in the Northeast or few West of St. Louis? St. Louis is only 4 hours from me, but the FI, Friars of the Renewal, the FPO, etc. seem to be there. I did a VISION vocation survey and got all these communities and about 90% of ones that answered back were in the East–at least the male ones. Maybe KC, Nebraska and Oklahoma, Wyoming, Nevada, Iowa, etc. don’t have many impoverished people to get a branch of more than maybe one or two men’s active communities. Maybe only nuns operate in the very mid of the Midwest to the West. In both KCs, it seems to be mostly the Benedictines, according to another vocations website, with 2 more active ones on the Missouri side and maybe one on in Ks, but their discernment people might be in another state. Benedictines are good too, but if they’re not for me, it’s hours of traveling for me, which can be difficult if I’d get a job while I wait.

Yes, it’s a lot about me, but when I think of it, we do have inner-cities in the heartland.

Maybe I missed something, but I think the new communities you see on EWTN should get out to Kansas, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska, etc.
 
It most likely has to do with how Catholicism developed in the United States via the major cities of the Northeast and Midwest, along with California missions. So, even when you have renewal groups springing up, they’ll tend to be related to where the spirit of the order was originally existent.
 
I can buy that, but communities open new mission locales and migration does happen, so more can leapfrog several hours to another state like Kansas, Nebraska or Oklahoma, I think.
 
I would imagine that we will start to see new communities in some of the growing areas of Catholic population (such as the South.) Still, a lot depends upon the charism of a community and how that fits within a practical, concrete environment.
 
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