(ZENIT News / Washington, 01.26.2024).- “The Women and Men Professing Perpetual Vows in Religious Life: The Profession Class of 2023” survey, commissioned annually since 2010, provides valuable information about the demographics, family backgrounds, educational history, professional and ministerial experience, and vocational discernment of religious individuals who professed perpetual vows in the United States in the last year.
In preparation for the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, which the Catholic Church observes on February 2, the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations (CCLV) of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a study on the religious men and women who professed perpetual vows in 2023 through the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
Some of the main findings from the report are:
– The average age of the surveyed religious individuals is 36 years. Half of the respondents are 33 years old or younger. The youngest is 24 years old, and the oldest is 78.
– Two-thirds of the respondents (67%) are Caucasian, Euro-American, or white, followed by Asian/Pacific Islanders/Hawaiian natives (12%), Hispanics/Latinos (9%), African/African Americans/Blacks (7%), and biracial/others (5%).
– Almost all respondents (99%) were raised by their biological parents during the most formative part of their childhood. Additionally, one out of sixteen (7%) claims to have been raised by their grandparents during the most formative part of their childhood.
– The majority of respondents (84%) had engaged in at least one ecclesiastical ministry before entering their institute. The most common ministerial experiences were serving as an altar server (51%), youth/campus ministry (50%), faith formation, catechetical ministry, RCIA (48%), and lector (46%).
– Approximately eight out of ten respondents (82%) state that someone encouraged them to consider religious vocation. The most common sources of encouragement were the parish priest (45%), a religious sister/brother (44%), and a friend (41%).
The complete CARA report and profiles of the Profession Class of 2023 can be found here.
Bishop William A. Wack, CSC, of Pensacola-Tallahassee, a member of the CCLV committee, recently spoke about his experiences as a bishop and how being a priest of a religious order has influenced his ministry:
