Religious Retirement parish collection set for December

The 14th national collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious will be taken up in most Catholic parishes nationwide December 8-9. The theme of this year’s collection is "Share in the Care."

The annual appeal helps retired members of religious orders -sisters, brothers and priests - who spent their lives in church ministries such as education, health care, and social services.

There are an estimated 35,000 sisters and 5,000 brothers and priests religious over the age of 70 in the United States. The unfunded retirement liability of the nation’s religious orders is estimated at $6.1 billion, down from the record high of $7.9 billion. Last year the fund collected $32.6 million and provided assistance to almost 500 religious orders.

Of more than 70,000 women religious in the country, 53 percent are now past 70; of the more than 15,000 men, 35 percent are past 70. Total cost of care for them last year in independent, assisted living and nursing homes was $716 million. The annual Social Security benefit received by an individual religious is less than $4,000.

Since the appeal was established in 1988 by the US. bishops and leaders of national associations of religious orders, the religious retirement collection has collected more than $351 million, making it the most successful regular collection in the history of the church in the United States.