Young nuns? It's a trend

[_Abyssinia]

Washington D.C., Jun 9, 2016 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- There is a young and vital presence of religious sisters, novices and postulants in U.S. Catholic life, a new survey has found.

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious has released its latest survey of its 120 member communities in 137 U.S. dioceses.

Mother Mary Agnes Donovan, S.V., council chairperson and superior general of the Sisters of Life, said the council is “blessed” to have both older and younger institutes in its membership.

catholicnewsagency.com/news/young-nuns-its-a-trend-46685/

 

[AKDee]

Thank God for it. We need more young Religious to build up the ranks again.

 

[Usige]

Some interesting stats in the article. It is interesting that we now consider late 20s to early 30s to be “young nuns”. When I saw that I was thinking more along the lines of a young woman at a Carmelite cloister who made her temporary vows at 23 or 24 (I think she became a novice in the 1st year after highschool).

What would be interesting is to see which orders are attracting younger women. I have heard anecdotal evidence that traditional orders that maintain the habit are attracting more young women, and many of the more… err… progressive orders are aging away. I am just curious if the religious call for young people is partially driven by a world weariness brought on by the trajectory of western society.

 

[ctb95]

Confused.

The article says the average age of the nuns is 57.
And the average age of a “postulant” is 27. But a postulant is not a nun, right?

Then it says the largest group of “women religious” is in the 30-39 age bracket. Are “women religious” nuns?
If so…I think the article is saying most nuns within the group they checked are aged 30-39.

Is this age considered a “young nun”?

As per the other poster, I also thought there were much larger groups of much younger nuns in the past.

So…not understanding…how the CNA is saying young nuns are currently a “trend”?

.

A postulant is a person who is living the life of a religious community, but is not a member yet. He/she is discerning a life as a member of the community.

The article states that the average age of novices is 29. That is quite young. Novices are people who have just joined a religious community. They remain novices for a year or two before they begin taking vows. I would definitely call a nun in her thirties a young nun.

All nuns are women religious, but not all women religious are nuns. Let me explain: A nun lives a cloistered life where they spend their lives working and praying. They almost never leave their monastery or convent. Many other groups of women religious have ministries outside their convent, many times teaching or working with the poor. In other words, they are not cloistered, but active. This means they are technically not nuns, but simply “religious sisters” or “sisters.” But most people just call them nuns anyway.

 

[KildareBrigid]

Some interesting stats in the article. It is interesting that we now consider late 20s to early 30s to be “young nuns”. When I saw that I was thinking more along the lines of a young woman at a Carmelite cloister who made her temporary vows at 23 or 24 (I think she became a novice in the 1st year after highschool).

I think part of the reason that more early 20 year olds aren’t joining is because they have student loan and/or credit card debt that they need to pay off.

 

[Usige]

I think part of the reason that more early 20 year olds aren’t joining is because they have student loan and/or credit card debt that they need to pay off.

That is certainly probably a large part of it. I think many people encourage their daughters to go to school and experience the world before committing to religious life. They want them to “keep their options open”. That’s obviously not universally true, but I seem to have meet more male religious that entered shortly after highschool than young women. Then again my area has so few religious of either sex that my experience can in no way be considered common.

 

[KildareBrigid]

That is certainly probably a large part of it. I think many people encourage their daughters to go to school and experience the world before committing to religious life. They want them to “keep their options open”. That’s obviously not universally true, but I seem to have meet more male religious that entered shortly after highschool than young women. Then again my area has so few religious of either sex that my experience can in no way be considered common.

We had a seminarian speak at the end of Mass a couple of weeks ago regarding a fund that is set up for people to donate to that helps pay off potential candidates to religious life’s debts. Even though the debt that gets racked up is a hinderance, I think it is worth the life experience before committing to religious life. Actually the same statement goes for married life too!

 

[Usige]

Even though the debt that gets racked up is a hinderance, I think it is worth the life experience before committing to religious life. Actually the same statement goes for married life too!

It really depends on the type of community a man or woman is going to enter. Having a degree or other life experiences can certainly be helpful (or even necessary) if the community is an active order (e.g. nurses, teachers, etc), but if it is a cloistered contemplative order then those experiences might be of less value.

I freely admit that I think the US wastes money on pushing people through the “college experience.” I also reject the philosophy that people need “life experience” before they can make adult decisions. If my wife and I had followed conventional wisdom (4-5 years of college, a couple years of work, marriage after 25) then our two oldest children would never have been born. 20+ years and 7 kids later, I’m glad we thumbed our noses at conventional wisdom.

Yes, it might be necessary for some kids to grow up, but if a young girl has talked about becoming a cloistered nun for years and has actively sought guidance towards religious life then I think it is simply a bad idea to stand in the way of that calling. If she is unsuited for religious life then she can always leave before final vows and go to college and experience life a little wiser and hopefully spiritually strengthened. The parents I’m thinking of that encourage exploring the world first are generally talking about making sure their daughters don’t “miss out” on experiences. Is experience really better in life then entering into intimacy with Christ?

 

[Usige]

So…just to clarify: The “women religious” who are not technically nuns and are not cloistered…they did not take vows to be nuns, right? And yet most people call them nuns anyway??
(that seems odd…like calling a priest a priest when he is not one).

All religious (to the best of my knowledge) take vows based on the three evangelical counsels (chastity, poverty, and obedience). I don’t know if the division between solemn and simply vows is still recognized. In the past a nun took solemn vows where as a sister took simple vows. Nuns and sisters can even exist in the same religious order.

Some of the differences is that simple vows allow a person to own property, but solemn vows do not. Someone under simple vows could validly, but illicitly marry, but under solemn vows no marriage is valid. Atleast that is what it was like in the past. I don’t know that the new canon law makes those distinctions anymore.

All religious sisters are called Sister, but not all religious women are nuns. Rather than thinking in terms of priests it is better to think of religious men. They are all Brothers (or Friar, etc), but not all religious men are monks. Monks and nuns set themselves apart from the world to focus on praying. The cloister is meant to remove them from worldly concerns so that they can focus on contemplative prayer.

Can this kind of “nun” get/be married? (since she’s not technically a nun and has not taken vows to be one). And would most people still call her a “nun” even if she’s married?

Religious cannot marry licitly because of vows of chastity. See above.

Can non-Catholic, non-religious women join these “religious sisters” and also help them in their sisterhood to be active and teach, work with the poor, etc?

Anyone can help religious in active orders. These are normally either oblates or secular third orders, but often people start by simply volunteering to help in the orders mission.

And if so…would people still call these non-Catholic, non-religious women who work with them a “religious sister” or a “nun”?

Neither. Those who do not take vows are not counted among the religious.

 

[abucs]

After so many setbacks, it is good to see the eternal invitation to man being accepted again by so many young sisters.

 

[twf]

Some interesting stats in the article. It is interesting that we now consider late 20s to early 30s to be “young nuns”. When I saw that I was thinking more along the lines of a young woman at a Carmelite cloister who made her temporary vows at 23 or 24 (I think she became a novice in the 1st year after highschool).

What would be interesting is to see which orders are attracting younger women. I have heard anecdotal evidence that traditional orders that maintain the habit are attracting more young women, and many of the more… err… progressive orders are aging away. I am just curious if the religious call for young people is partially driven by a world weariness brought on by the trajectory of western society.

I think it’s pretty well established that the more progressive LCWR congregations are aging and for the most part not attracting vocations. This news story concerns the alternative to the LCWR- the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. This organization was explicitly set up with the intention of shielding and fostering more traditional congregations - and for years the data has been coming in: their sisters are younger and their ranks are growing. Much like data that shows an increase in priestly vocations in dioceses with a focus on more traditional liturgy.

 

[gardenswithkids]

:nun1: :nun2:

 

[dochawk]

For several years, I have advocated a program in which those discerning such a vocation would be placed in a plan where they would earn a teaching MA degree and work for some period in Catholic schools, while living with the host order and being exposed to several others–with no “expectation” that they would stay beyond the term (5 years or whatever).

Some would go on, some would not. Some with the host order, some with other orders.

Those that did not go on would return to laity life with that experience.

But I’m not a bishop (which is probably a good thing, but that’s another issue

hawk