Increase in associates of religious orders

[Digitonomy]

Saw an interesting NY Times article about a trend in this direction. Here’s an excerpt:
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A variant of a medieval tradition of third orders, associates generally go through some of the education and prayer requirements of fully vowed members and contribute to the order’s mission, like education or charitable works, in a serious but scaled-down fashion. They do it all, however, from the outside: remaining in their own station in life, often married, owning a home and working for a living in the secular world…

A 2002 study put the number of religious order associates at nearly 30,000, an increase of almost threefold since 1995. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, which conducted the study with the North American Conference of Associates and Religious, publishers of an associate newsletter, found that female associates outnumbered male associates seven to one.

 

[puzzleannie]

digitonomy:

Saw an interesting NY Times article about a trend in this direction. Here’s an excerpt:
(Free signup required to read that link)

Our Benedictine Oblates have grown to about 60, evenly divided between men and women, about half are married couples (two romances have developed through this association as well with marriages planned in the near future). We have started a children’s branch too. We have 12 candidates in formation this year, up from 8 last year.