Religious Retirement Office Distributes $23 Million In Funding

WASHINGTON—The National ReligiousRetirement Office (NRRO) distributed $23 million in financial assistance inJune to 453 religious communities to aid in the care of their senior members.The funds were made possible by the annual collection for the Retirement Fundfor Religious, which benefits elderly Catholic sisters, brothers, and priestsin religious orders. The most recent collection raised over $27 million and washeld in the majority of U.S. Catholic parishes in December 2011.

The funding disbursed in late Juneis known as Direct Care Assistance and represents the majority of financialassistance distributed by the NRRO. Additional funding will be allocated forreligious communities with the greatest needs and for ongoing education inretirement planning and elder-care delivery. Ninety-five percent of donationsaid elderly religious, while five percent are used for administration.

"Thegood our office is able to do is in direct measure to the good we have beengiven," said NRRO Executive Director Sister Janice Bader, a member of theSisters of the Most Precious Blood of O'Fallon, Missouri. "We continue to behumbled and overwhelmed by the generosity of Catholics across the nation whofaithfully support our senior religious each year."

TheCatholic bishops in the United States launched the Retirement Fund forReligious in 1988 to address the significant lack of retirement funding amongreligious communities. The NRRO, formerly the Tri-Conference Retirement Office,was established to coordinate the annual collection and to distribute theproceeds to religious communities in need. Today, the organization is sponsoredby the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), the Conference of MajorSuperiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), the Leadership Conference of WomenReligious (LCWR), and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Traditionally, Catholic sisters,brothers, and religious order priests, known collectively as women and menreligious, served for small stipends that did not include retirement benefits.As a result, many religious communities now lack adequate savings forretirement and elder care.

Religiouscommunities are financially autonomous and thus responsible for the care oftheir senior members. Most support elder care through their own income andsavings, and many also participate in government programs such as Medicare,Medicaid, and Social Security. Annual allocations from the Retirement Fund forReligious supplement these funds and help underwrite a variety of immediate andongoing needs, such as prescription medications and nursing care.

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Keywords: National Religious Retirement Office, NRRO,Leadership Conference of Women Religious, LCWR, eldercare, Conference of MajorSuperiors of Men, CMSM, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Conferenceof Major Superiors of Women Religious , CMSWR, Retirement Fund for Religious

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