CV NEWS FEED // The 2023 report from a USCCB-commissioned survey shows that religious vocations in the United States are more important than ever, and that they thrive more among stable families.
Each year, the USCCB’s Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations (CCLV) commissions a study through the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
In reference to the 2023 report, Committee Chairman Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing said that “[c]onsecrated persons advance the mission of the Gospel in the Church today by bringing the light of the Gospel to those they encounter.”
“In their work, ministry, and community, men and women in consecrated life make a direct and tangible contribution to building up the body of Christ,” he stated in a recent USCCB press release.
“Whether it be serving the poor, teaching, providing medical care, or assisting with professional administration, consecrated men and women, in the rich array of their vocations, bring the light of the Gospel into the hearts of all those they encounter,” he continued.
To conduct the 2023 survey, CARA contacted 737 major superiors of men and women religious institutes throughout the U.S., asking for the contact information of any religious professing perpetual vows that year. Only 508 major superiors responded, and 438 of that number answered that they had no one professing perpetual vows in 2023.
Among the responses to the survey, CARA only received confirmation of 144 newly perpetually professed religious members last year, of which the average age is 36.
CARA found that those who made perpetual vows last year tended to be white (67%), followed by Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian (12%), Hispanic/Latino (9%), African/African American (7%), and mixed race (5%).
Almost all of the respondents (99%) said that they were raised by their biological parents, and 88% also said that their parents were married. The majority (90%) said that they have been Catholic since birth, and 94% reported that they had at least one parent who was Catholic.
Proving that support from a community is influential in considering a vocation, 82% of respondents said that someone encouraged them to discern religious life. Many (45%) said that a priest encouraged them to discern, while others said their encouragement came from a religious sister or brother (44%) or a friend (41%).
