World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life to Be Celebrated February 2

Instituted by St. Pope John Paul II in 1997, World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life is celebrated in conjunction with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas Day, which commemorates through the blessing and lighting of candles that Christ is the light of the world.  So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples.
 
Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations invites the faithful to renew their gratitude to Christ for the gift of consecrated life. “The faithful witness of religious and other consecrated men and women living out their vocation is powerful. By their prayers and apostolates, those in consecrated life provide for us an example of Christ’s merciful love, and especially during these uncertain and difficult times, they point us to the reality that Christ is our ultimate goal.”

As it does every year, the CCLV Committee commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) to conduct a survey of the religious Profession Class of 2020. The survey polled women and men religious who professed perpetual vows in 2020 in a religious congregation, province, or monastery based in the United States. CARA received a response from 549 of 747 major superiors for an overall response rate of 73% among religious institutes. Of the 172 identified men and women religious who professed perpetual vows in 2020, 55 sisters and nuns and 57 brothers and priests responded to the survey for an overall response rate of 65%.

Some of the major findings of the report are:

• On average, responding religious report that they were 19 years old when they first considered a vocation to religious life. 
• The average age of responding religious of the Profession Class of 2019 is 38. Half of the responding religious are age 34 or younger. The youngest is 24 and the oldest is 71.
• Seven in ten (71%) responding religious report their primary race or ethnicity as Caucasian, European American, or white. One in ten (13%) identifies as Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian. Fewer than one in ten identifies as African/African American/black (7%) and one in twenty (5%) identifies as Hispanic/Latino(a).
• Three-fourths of responding religious (76%) were born in the United States. Of those born outside the United States, the most common country of origin is Vietnam. 
• On average, the respondents who were born outside the United States were 24 years old when they first came to the United States and lived here for 13 years before perpetual profession. 
• Nine in ten (89%) responding religious report that someone encouraged them to consider a vocation to religious life. Respondents are less likely to report that they received encouragement from their family members than from parish priests, friends, or from a religious sister or brother.
• Three-fourths (74%) of the Profession Class of 2020 have more than one sibling. A quarter (25%) has one brother or sister. A third (35%) report having two or three siblings. Two-fifths (39%) have four or more siblings.
• Three quarters of the respondents (75%) are from families where both parents are Catholic. Just over four in five (84%) have been Catholic since birth. Among the 16% of respondents who became Catholic later in life, the average age at which they entered the Church was 20 years old.
• Nearly half of the responding religious (45%) attended a Catholic elementary school, which is higher than that for all Catholic adults in the United States (16%).  These respondents are also more likely than other U.S. Catholics to have attended a Catholic high school (38 of responding religious, compared to 8% of U.S. adult Catholics) and much more likely to have attended a Catholic college (38% of responding religious, compared to 5% of U.S. adult Catholics).

The entire CARA survey, information on the members of Profession Class of 2020, Prayers of the Faithful, and a bulletin quote for World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, can be accessed at: Profession Classes | USCCB.

Prayers of the Faithful

For those consecrated to God by the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience that they may seek to live their baptismal promises more intensely and have the grace to persevere in their commitment to the Lord and serve with open hearts and willing spirits. We pray to the Lord…

For those who have responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to be a consecrated person that they may experience the support of the Church as they continue their growth in holiness. We pray to the Lord…
 

Meet the Profession Class of 2020

We asked some of our newly professed men and women religious to share something about themselves that others may find surprising. Their answers below provide some insight into how each discovered their vocational call. Congratulations to the Profession Class of 2020! 

REV. MR. EDOH ADOLPHE ANATOSOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD (CHICAGO PROVINCE)

"I am a religious today because I was open to consider it as an option for life. Up until I finished graduate study at the University, I did not have a religious vocation on my radar. It came through working in youth ministry and I think it is the right choice."

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SR. KATE FITZGERALD
CONGREGATION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF SAN ANTONIO

"Although I first began to consider a religious vocation in my teens, I did not actively discern until I was in my thirties. When I, finally, began pursuing my vocation, I noticed how God led me to places I never wanted to go, yet as I followed the path opening before me, my life and joy grew richer as I became more and more me."

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BR. WILLIAM GABRIEL

ORDER OF ST. AUGUSTINE (PROVINCE OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA)

"I coached high school basketball before entering religious life and have been blessed to integrate coaching in various pastoral assignments. I always loved the work of ministry, but knew something was missing in my way of life until I entered the Order. Being an Augustinian friar nourishes my relationship with God, inspires my ministry, brings joy, and enables me to love best in the world."

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SR. M. GEMMA KISSEL
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS OF THE MARTYR ST. GEORGE

"I ran a half marathon prior to entering religious life."
 

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BR. JOSEPH MARIE KRILICH
FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE THIRD ORDER REGULAR OF ST. FRANCIS OF PENANCE (PROVINCE OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS)

"While beginning to discern religious life, I completed a degree in chemistry and played four years of collegiate soccer at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Afterward, I spent a year serving as a volunteer in a Catholic mission in Belize before I began my journey of formation with the Franciscan TOR community."

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REV. MR. GEOFFREY MOONEY
CONGREGATION OF HOLY CROSS (UNITED STATES PROVINCE OF PRIESTS AND BROTHERS)

"I taught math and helped coach cross country at a Catholic high school for five years before entering the seminary. I owe a lot to my students, my coworkers and their families for helping me hear God's call and inspiring me to respond." 

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REV. BR. PIER GIORGIO PACELLI
DISCALCED CARMELITE FRIARS (WASHINGTON PROVINCE OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY) 

"In college, I was extremely busy as a varsity athlete and president and rush chair of my college fraternity. As a Discalced Carmelite, I spend 4+ hours a day in silent prayer. Even though God has changed me through Grace, I'm still the same man as before."

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SR. MARY AMATA REIFSNYDER
SISTERS OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY (EASTERN PROVINCE)

"I rode a bus for 26 hours one way to attend a 24 hour vocation retreat!"

 

 

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SR. M. JOAN ROEDER
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS OF PERPETUAL ADORATION (IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY PROVINCE)

"I was a first generation college student. While at college, the small inkling of religious life grew stronger until I knew it was just a matter of time. The ability to pray at any time of day in our beautiful college chapel provided me with the quiet to reflect and pray more about God's call for me."

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REV. MR. FRANSISKUS SANTOSO
SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD
(CHICAGO PROVINCE)

"I come from a Buddhist family and from the country which has the largest Muslim population in the world."

 

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SR. MALIYA SUEN
RELIGIOUS SISTERS OF MERCY OF ALMA, MICHIGAN

"I had a background in pharmacy and medicine. The Lord is full of surprises and Religious Life is everything I imagined and much much more!"

 

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SR. LAURIE SULLIVAN
FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF PERPETUAL ADORATION

"I have worked many years in accounting, but my heart and spirit is drawn to simplicity, radical poverty, solidarity with the poor and service to others."

 

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BR. JOHN WINKOWITSCH
DOMINICAN FRIARS (PROVINCE OF THE MOST HOLY NAME OF JESUS)

"I am my father's Godfather. My first year in formation my father - at 88 years old - became Catholic and I was his sponsor, exactly 20 months before he entered his eternal reward. Now, as a religious, I want to be there for those who have no one to be there for them."