No perpetual vows in most US Orders in 2023

Feb 10, 2024

By John Lavenburg
Of the 508 American religious communities which responded to a new survey on the number of men and women who professed perpetual vows in 2023, a total of 438, representing 87 per cent, reported that they didn’t have a single member who did so, and only 23 reported that they had more than one.

That tally reinforces other recent data confirming declines in the number of men and women religious in the United States, including a recent projection from the US bishops’ conference that the total will drop 50 per cent over the next decade, from 33,000 in 2023 to approximately 17,000 in 2033.

Aside from declines, the new survey also profiles the new men and women making perpetual vows today.

The survey found that the average age of new religious professing perpetual vows is 36, with half of the responding individuals being age 33 or younger.

The most unanimous finding was that nearly all, or 99 per cent, of those 101 men and women who were surveyed were raised by their biological parents during what the survey calls “the most formative part of their childhood.”

Women and Men Professing Perpetual Vows in Religious Life: The Profession Class of 2023, was researched and published by the Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. It was publicised by the US Bishops’ Conference, January 26. To compile the survey, researchers contacted 737 religious institutes, of which 508 responded.

Professing perpetual vows is considered a milestone moment in a religious order, because it signifies the point at which membership in the community becomes permanent.

A news release from the USCCB publicising the report notes that the study — commissioned annually since 2010 — was done in preparation for the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life by the Catholic Church on Feb 2.

In a statement, Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, on behalf of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations for the US bishops, highlighted the contributions these men and women make.

“In their work, ministry, and community, men and women in consecrated life make a direct and tangible contribution to building up of the body of Christ,” said Bishop Boyea.

“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 said. --Crux Now