Welcome
The National Religious Retirement Office coordinates the annual national appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious and distributes grants to eligible religious institutes.
By 2023, religious orders may face more than $20 billion in unfunded retirement liabilities.
Visit www.retiredreligious.org to learn more about who we help and why they need our help now.
If you need support materials for a campaign that you are coordinating or assisting in your diocese, please click on the 2007 Annual Appeal link.
If you are a member of a religious institute seeking information about grants or other NRRO resources, go to the Grants and Resources links.
"A lot of people ask 'what happened to the nuns,' 'what do we owe the nuns.' People under 40 don't know what we're talking about. It's like missing Christopher Columbus and George Washington. We have to tell them why and how that school building came to be there, let people know the history of the institutions that they drive by every day. Sisters built those. Catholics have come into the middle class thanks to nuns. Lots of good-hearted people have benefited.
"These (nuns) gave not only a good education but a loving education. They gave 24 hours a day. They didn't get paid much, many did it gratis.
"It's up to us to protect them now. People who can step up to the plate ought to. Donors can focus on this as an estate planning tool. It's time for big gifts. If you are looking for worthy causes, boy, do we have some for you.
"Where are the nuns? In one sense, we're the nuns. We have to carry on their mission with dignity and build a community rather than watch it break into little pieces."
John J. Fialka
Founder and Board Member, Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR),
Writer, The Wall Street Journal (Washington Bureau)