Annual Collection Benefits 34,000 Catholic Sisters, Brothers, Priests In Religious Orders

WASHINGTON—The 25th nationalcollection for the Retirement Fund for Religious will be held in most U.S.Catholic parishes December 8-9. The annual, parish-based appeal is coordinatedby the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) and offers financial supportfor the day-to-day care of over 34,000 senior Catholic sisters, brothers, andreligious order priests.

Thecollection, which was initiated in 1988 by the U.S. Catholic bishops, asksCatholics to share in the care of elderly religious. Proceeds are distributedto eligible religious communities to help underwrite retirement and health careexpenses. Nearly 95 percent of donations directly support senior religious andtheir communities.

Contributionsto the 2011 appeal totaled $27.4 million and enabled the NRRO to distribute $23million in financial assistance to 453 religious communities. Additionally,nearly $2.9 million was disbursed to assist religious communities with thegreatest needs and to support ongoing education in retirement and elder-caredelivery.

Sincethe collection began, U.S. Catholics have donated over $671 million to supportsenior religious. "Words cannot express our gratitude," said NRRO ExecutiveDirector and Precious Blood Sister Janice Bader. "We are humbled by thegenerous and prayerful support that people share with our elder religious eachyear."

Despitethe unparalleled generosity to the collection, religious communities continueto face significant challenges in meeting the high costs of care. Last year'sdistributions amounted to approximately $907 per eligible religious. Yet theaverage annual cost of care for a senior religious stands at $37,200 perperson, while skilled care can exceed $56,000. In 2011 alone, the total cost ofcare for women and men religious was over $1.1 billion.

Religious communities are financially autonomous and thusresponsible for the care and support of their senior members. Traditionally,senior religious worked for small stipends, and any surplus income was oftenreinvested in community ministries. As a result, many religious communities nowlack adequate savings for retirement and elder care. Annual distributions fromthe Retirement Fund for Religious offer religious communities supplementalretirement funding to meet the costs of such necessities as prescriptionmedications and nursing care.

"Our goal is to help religiouscommunities develop retirement strategies that will enable them to care fortheir senior members today and in the years to come," said Sister Bader.

A backgrounder on the ReligiousRetirement collection can be found at www.usccb.org/about/national-religious-retirement-office/upload/RFR-Backgrounder.pdf

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Keywords:retirement, Religious Retirement Collection, National Religious RetirementOffice, NRRO, U.S. bishops, retirement,priests, religious brothers, nuns, Sister Janice Bader, Cokie Roberts, JohnFialka, Archbishop Harry Flynn, Father James Martin

NOTE: ABC'sCokie Roberts, writer John Fialka, Archbishop Harry Flynn and Jesuit FatherJames Martin of America magazine willblog about their experiences with religious the week of Nov. 26, on https://USCCBMEDIA.blogspot.com

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