VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Christians must let go of the God they think they know and convert every day to the God Jesus presents in the Gospel — the God who is the father of love and compassion, Pope Francis said.

When the faithful discover “the true face of the Father, our faith matures: we no longer remain ‘sacristy Christians’ or ‘parlor Christians,’ but rather we feel called to become bearers of God’s hope and healing,” he said Feb. 4 before reciting the Angelus prayer with about 15,000 visitors in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis greets visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the recitation of the Angelus prayer at the Vatican, Feb. 4, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

During his greetings after the noonday prayer, he also marked the celebration in Italy of the Day for Life.

“I join with the Italian bishops in hoping that ideological visions can be overcome so as to rediscover that every human life, even those most marked by limitations, has an immense value and is capable of giving something to others,” he said.

And he greeted the many young people from different countries who were in Rome to mark the World Day for Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking, which is celebrated Feb. 8.

“Many brothers and sisters are deceived with false promises and are then subjected to exploitation and abuse. Let us all join to counter the dramatic global phenomenon of human trafficking,” he said.

In his main Angelus address, the pope reflected on Jesus being continually on the move in the Gospel accounts of his ministry and how that “challenges us with some questions on our faith.”

“The Gospel lets us see that Jesus, after teaching in the synagogue, goes out, so that the word he has preached may reach, touch and heal people,” he said.

“He reveals to us that God is not a detached master who speaks to us from on high; on the contrary, he is a father filled with love who makes himself close to us, who visits our homes, who wants to save and liberate, heal from every ill of the body and spirit,” the pope said.

“God makes himself close to accompany us, tenderly, and to forgive us,” he said. “Do not forget this: closeness, compassion and tenderness.”

Jesus’ journeying reminds the faithful “that our first spiritual task is this: to abandon the God we think we know, and to convert every day to the God Jesus presents to us in the Gospel,” he said.

Christians should reflect on whether they have “discovered the face of God as the father of mercy, or do we believe in and proclaim a cold God, a distant God? Does faith instill in us the restlessness of journeying or is it an intimist consolation for us, that calms us? Do we pray just to feel at peace or does the word we listen to and preach make us go out, like Jesus, toward others, to spread God’s consolation?” he said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said it continues to receive reports of Catholics, including priests, finding out all the sacraments they have received are invalid because they were baptized years earlier with a formula that was not approved.

When a priest or other minister changes the words, gestures or material prescribed for the celebration of the sacraments, he can “rob” the faithful of what they deserve and make the sacrament invalid, the dicastery said in a note published Feb. 3.

Pope Francis baptizes a baby during Mass in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 7, 2024, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The note, “Gestis Verbisque” (“Gestures and Words”), passed unanimously by members of the dicastery during their plenary assembly Jan. 25 and was approved by Pope Francis Jan. 31, said the document, which was signed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, and Msgr. Armando Matteo, secretary of the dicastery’s doctrinal section.

Presenting the document, Cardinal Fernández wrote that in 2022 the cardinals and bishops who are members of the dicastery already had “expressed their concern for the multiplication of situations in which they were forced to acknowledge the invalidity of sacraments celebrated.”

As an example, the cardinal cited baptism ceremonies where, instead of saying, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” the minister will say, “I baptize you in the name of the Creator…” or “In the name of dad and mom, we baptize you.”

In 2020, the then-doctrinal congregation issued a note saying baptisms celebrated with the formula, “We baptize you …” also were invalid, setting off a large-scale effort in several dioceses, including in the United States, to trace people who were invalidly baptized.

The sacraments they subsequently received, including first Communion, confirmation and even ordination also were invalid since only a baptized Catholic can validly receive the other sacraments.

Cardinal Fernández said the situation is particularly painful for priests who not only find out their ordinations were invalid, but so were all the sacraments they subsequently celebrated for others.

A priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, who had been baptized with the wrong formula 30 years earlier, started over when the 2020 document was issued. He was baptized, confirmed, received the Eucharist, was ordained to the diaconate and to the priesthood in the space of 10 days. The archdiocese set up a webpage for people who thought they had received the sacraments from him prior to 2020.

“Modifying the form of a sacrament or its matter is always a gravely illicit act and deserves exemplary punishment, precisely because such arbitrary acts are capable of producing serious harm to the faithful People of God,” the cardinal wrote.

While the document did not specify a punishment, it explained the importance of using the prescribed words, exact matter — such as water, wine or oil — and gestures like anointing, laying on of hands and the sign of the cross.

“While in other areas of the Church’s pastoral action there is ample room for creativity,” the cardinal wrote in the foreword, “such inventiveness in the area of the celebration of the sacraments becomes a ‘manipulative will’ and cannot be invoked.”

“Because of their rootedness in Scripture and Tradition, the matter and form never depend nor can they depend on the desire of the individual or of the particular community,” the document said.

“Instituted by Christ, the sacraments are actions that realize, by means of sensible signs, the living experience of the mystery of salvation, making possible the participation of human beings in the divine life,” the document said. “They are the ‘masterpieces of God’ in the New and Eternal Covenant, forces that come forth from the body of Christ, actions of the Spirit working in his body which is the Church.”

“This is why the Church in the Liturgy celebrates with faithful love and veneration the sacraments that Christ himself has entrusted to her so that she may preserve them as a precious inheritance and source of her life and her mission,” the document said.

A priest celebrates the sacraments not only “in persona Christi” — in the person of Christ — but also in “nomine Ecclesiae” — in the name of the church, it said, which is why he must follow exactly the church’s approved liturgical texts, which indicate when and where local adaptations or variations are permitted.

The doctrinal note said that it applies to the entire church, although it asked the Eastern Catholic churches to draft their own versions of the document, using their particular theological language “where it differs from that used in the text,” and to submit it for approval to the dicastery before publication.

 

Over the past several months, a handful of senators have negotiated behind closed doors to reach an agreement on potential changes to U.S. immigration law. This is in response to calls by some members of Congress to condition the enactment of supplemental funding on the inclusion of extraneous policy provisions for which there is no precedent in the appropriations process. These proposed changes have been included in the Senate’s version of H.R. 815, the “Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024″. 

In a February 6 letter to Senate leadership, Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, expressed no position on the overall measure but stated that “this effort to make sweeping changes to immigration law—particularly in the context of this supplemental funding bill—is flawed, both in terms of substance and form. Rather than sustainably reducing migration to the U.S.-Mexico border, consistent with the common good and the good-faith intentions of many lawmakers, several changes proposed in this bill would unjustly undermine due process and pave the way for avoidable and potentially life-threatening harm to be inflicted on vulnerable persons seeking humanitarian protection in the United States.” 

In his letter, Bishop Seitz addressed several specific provisions that warranted concern, including those that would severely limit due process for noncitizens, make it even more difficult than it already is under current law for those with bona fide asylum claims to pursue protection in the United States, and create the opportunity for harmful, arbitrary, and counterproductive treatment of vulnerable persons.

At the same time, the USCCB has expressed support for several aspects of the bill, including supplemental funding for humanitarian relief efforts, refugee resettlement, the Shelter and Services Program, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and related efforts to address the root causes of conflict and migration, as well as long-term relief for Afghans relocated to the United States and improved access to protection for at-risk Afghans abroad, increased opportunities for family reunification and employment-based immigration, expanded access to work authorization for newcomers, and ensuring vulnerable children have assistance navigating their immigration proceedings.

Complete this action alert to join with the U.S. bishops in opposing harmful and counterproductive changes to immigration law as a condition for supplemental funding.

You can also learn more about the changes contained in H.R. 815 by reading this policy brief from the American Immigration Lawyers Association and viewing these recent resources from the USCCB, which address two different mechanisms that would be employed extensively under H.R. 815’s changes: 
Rapid Expulsions at the U.S.-Mexico Border and their Consequences
Expedited Removal of Noncitizens in the United States

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/SLc-dYpQkXLkObhndujDEA

 

 

 

Front row left to right Doreen Gilbride, Ellen Perry, Nori Conner, Lynn Walsh, Eucharistic minister; Patty Gaughan, Amanda Gavin, Mary Ann Abdo, Lector; Maureen Wallace, Nancy Earyes, Kathy Connor, Karen Savage. Second row Judy Krell, Kathy McDonnell, Mary Jane Sears, Terese Pelligrino, Pat Savitts, Deacon Paul Jennings, Father Richard Fox, Sister Kathleen Smith, Sister Terese Marques, Carolynn Wahl, Nancy Yavoroski  Third row Jeff Sears, Paul Hart, Conal McHugh, Mary Anne McAndrew,  Gennette  Rotherforth, Mary Claire Kingsley, Mary Connor, Mary Ellen Richards

On Saturday January 27th members of the Lackawanna County Mens and Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians celebrated the Feast of Saint Brigid, at the Parish Community of St Patrick Church in Scranton.

LAOH County Board Officer, Maureen Wallace was our Lector at St. Brigid’s Mass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Symbols associated with Saint Brigid of Ireland were carried up the aisle with the Gifts by members of the LAOH and presented to Father Fox who placed them on the altar.

 

 

HAZLETON  – After serving more than 11,000 people in the greater Hazleton area in 2023, Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton is looking for the support of its community to keep its mission going locally.

Donations to the ‘Century Club 2024’ are now being accepted. This year’s theme is Caring Hearts, Stronger Communities. Since 1982, the annual membership campaign has solicited support for the programs of Catholic Social Services of Greater Hazleton.

“We are grateful for the response from the community to this campaign which is so vital to the support and continuation of the services offered through Catholic Social Services of Greater Hazleton,” Sue Farley, Advisory Board President, said.

A community agency and member of the Greater Hazleton United Way, Catholic Social Services reaches out to those in need, providing basic needs and programs supporting young adults with mental health concerns.

In 2023, Catholic Social Services in Hazleton served the community through the following programs:

  • Saint Joseph’s Food Pantry provided assistance to 5,369 individuals
  • Divine Providence Emergency Shelter helped house 229 individual clients
  • Relief Assistance Program helped 5,610 individuals experiencing emergencies
  • Maternal Health Programming had 200 appointments providing young families with material assistance for their babies but also emotional and educational support
  • Bridge to Independence Program assisted 10 young adults with a mental health diagnosis (age 18-26) with life skills enabling them to live independently and attain self-sufficiency
  • Christmas Gifts for Kids Program helped 302 families with presents for the holiday season

Catholic Social Services opened in Hazleton in 1939 during the Great Depression to help alleviate insecurity of food and basic necessities and 89 years later it continues to address these concerns. For this reason, the ‘Century Club’ is an essential part of providing the funding necessary to serve the community.  Catholic Social Services serves all people in the community regardless of age, gender, race, economic situation, or religious affiliation.

“Poverty continues to grow in the Hazleton area and Catholic Social Services could not do what we do for those in need without the community support,” Danielle Matarella, Director of Catholic Social Services of Greater Hazleton, explained. “We are so grateful to be located in a strong community with so many caring hearts.”

Membership in the ‘Century Club’ may be at any level or one may choose among the following designations: Diamond – $1,000; Platinum- $750; Gold- $500; Silver – $250; Century – $100. All contributions are tax deductible and will remain in the Hazleton community to help meet the needs of those who seek services. Gifts may be designated as a memorial or in honor of a friend and loved one.

For more information regarding Catholic Social Services’ programs or ‘Century Club’ 2024, please contact us at (570) 455-1521 or visit us online at www.dioceseofscranton.org.

 

Ashes are pictured in a display on the altar during Lent at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church in Dunkirk, Md., April 7, 2022. (CNS photo/Bob Roller, Reuters)

Message of the Holy Father

Through the Desert God Leads us to Freedom

Dear brothers and sisters!

When our God reveals himself, his message is always one of freedom: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:2). These are the first words of the Decalogue given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Those who heard them were quite familiar with the exodus of which God spoke: the experience of their bondage still weighed heavily upon them. In the desert, they received the “Ten Words” as a thoroughfare to freedom. We call them “commandments”, in order to emphasize the strength of the love by which God shapes his people. The call to freedom is a demanding one. It is not answered straightaway; it has to mature as part of a journey. Just as Israel in the desert still clung to Egypt – often longing for the past and grumbling against the Lord and Moses – today too, God’s people can cling to an oppressive bondage that it is called to leave behind. We realize how true this is at those moments when we feel hopeless, wandering through life like a desert and lacking a promised land as our destination. Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life. Like a bridegroom, the Lord draws us once more to himself, whispering words of love to our hearts.

The exodus from slavery to freedom is no abstract journey. If our celebration of Lent is to be concrete, the first step is to desire to open our eyes to reality. When the Lord calls out to Moses from the burning bush, he immediately shows that he is a God who sees and, above all, hears: “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:7-8). Today too, the cry of so many of our oppressed brothers and sisters rises to heaven. Let us ask ourselves: Do we hear that cry? Does it trouble us? Does it move us? All too many things keep us apart from each other, denying the fraternity that, from the beginning, binds us to one another.

During my visit to Lampedusa, as a way of countering the globalization of indifference, I asked two questions, which have become more and more pressing: “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) and “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9). Our Lenten journey will be concrete if, by listening once more to those two questions, we realize that even today we remain under the rule of Pharaoh. A rule that makes us weary and indifferent. A model of growth that divides and robs us of a future. Earth, air and water are polluted, but so are our souls. True, Baptism has begun our process of liberation, yet there remains in us an inexplicable longing for slavery. A kind of attraction to the security of familiar things, to the detriment of our freedom.

In the Exodus account, there is a significant detail: it is God who sees, is moved and brings freedom; Israel does not ask for this. Pharaoh stifles dreams, blocks the view of heaven, makes it appear that this world, in which human dignity is trampled upon and authentic bonds are denied, can never change. He put everything in bondage to himself. Let us ask: Do I want a new world? Am I ready to leave behind my compromises with the old? The witness of many of my brother bishops and a great number of those who work for peace and justice has increasingly convinced me that we need to combat a deficit of hope that stifles dreams and the silent cry that reaches to heaven and moves the heart of God. This “deficit of hope” is not unlike the nostalgia for slavery that paralyzed Israel in the desert and prevented it from moving forward. An exodus can be interrupted: how else can we explain the fact that humanity has arrived at the threshold of universal fraternity and at levels of scientific, technical, cultural, and juridical development capable of guaranteeing dignity to all, yet gropes about in the darkness of inequality and conflict.

God has not grown weary of us. Let us welcome Lent as the great season in which he reminds us: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:2). Lent is a season of conversion, a time of freedom. Jesus himself, as we recall each year on the first Sunday of Lent, was driven into the desert by the Spirit in order to be tempted in freedom. For forty days, he will stand before us and with us: the incarnate Son. Unlike Pharaoh, God does not want subjects, but sons and daughters. The desert is the place where our freedom can mature in a personal decision not to fall back into slavery. In Lent, we find new criteria of justice and a community with which we can press forward on a road not yet taken.

This, however, entails a struggle, as the book of Exodus and the temptations of Jesus in the desert make clear to us. The voice of God, who says, “You are my Son, the Beloved” (Mk 1:11), and “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3) is opposed by the enemy and his lies. Even more to be feared than Pharaoh are the idols that we set up for ourselves; we can consider them as his voice speaking within us. To be all-powerful, to be looked up to by all, to domineer over others: every human being is aware of how deeply seductive that lie can be. It is a road well-travelled. We can become attached to money, to certain projects, ideas or goals, to our position, to a tradition, even to certain individuals. Instead of making us move forward, they paralyze us. Instead of encounter, they create conflict. Yet there is also a new humanity, a people of the little ones and of the humble who have not yielded to the allure of the lie. Whereas those who serve idols become like them, mute, blind, deaf and immobile (cf. Ps 114:4), the poor of spirit are open and ready: a silent force of good that heals and sustains the world.

It is time to act, and in Lent, to act also means to pause. To pause in prayer, in order to receive the word of God, to pause like the Samaritan in the presence of a wounded brother or sister. Love of God and love of neighbour are one love. Not to have other gods is to pause in the presence of God beside the flesh of our neighbour. For this reason, prayer, almsgiving and fasting are not three unrelated acts, but a single movement of openness and self-emptying, in which we cast out the idols that weigh us down, the attachments that imprison us. Then the atrophied and isolated heart will revive. Slow down, then, and pause! The contemplative dimension of life that Lent helps us to rediscover will release new energies. In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers. This is God’s dream, the promised land to which we journey once we have left our slavery behind.

The Church’s synodal form, which in these years we are rediscovering and cultivating, suggests that Lent is also a time of communitarian decisions, of decisions, small and large, that are countercurrent. Decisions capable of altering the daily lives of individuals and entire neighbourhoods, such as the ways we acquire goods, care for creation, and strive to include those who go unseen or are looked down upon. I invite every Christian community to do just this: to offer its members moments set aside to rethink their lifestyles, times to examine their presence in society and the contribution they make to its betterment. Woe to us if our Christian penance were to resemble the kind of penance that so dismayed Jesus. To us too, he says: “Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting” (Mt 6:16). Instead, let others see joyful faces, catch the scent of freedom and experience the love that makes all things new, beginning with the smallest and those nearest to us. This can happen in every one of our Christian communities.

To the extent that this Lent becomes a time of conversion, an anxious humanity will notice a burst of creativity, a flash of new hope. Allow me to repeat what I told the young people whom I met in Lisbon last summer: “Keep seeking and be ready to take risks. At this moment in time, we face enormous risks; we hear the painful plea of so many people. Indeed, we are experiencing a third world war fought piecemeal. Yet let us find the courage to see our world, not as being in its death throes but in a process of giving birth, not at the end but at the beginning of a great new chapter of history. We need courage to think like this” (Address to University Students, 3 August 2023). Such is the courage of conversion, born of coming up from slavery. For faith and charity take hope, this small child, by the hand. They teach her to walk, and at the same time, she leads them forward.[1]

I bless all of you and your Lenten journey.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 3 December 2023, First Sunday of Advent.

FRANCIS

MENSAJE DEL SANTO PADRE FRANCISCO PARA LA CUARESMA 2024

 

Online child exploitation threatens the safety and well-being of our young people and destroys families and communities.  In recent years, these abuses have increased exponentially, in large part due to the Internet and mobile technology. 

Catholics are sadly familiar with the grave consequences of a culture that fails to give adequate attention to the problem of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and we have a responsibility to act to ensure children and the vulnerable are safe. 

Thankfully, members of both parties in Congress are putting forward various pieces of legislation that would address and help prevent the destructive effects of online child exploitation.  Your voice is needed to urge Congress to use their authority to protect children and vulnerable people online.

Join USCCB in asking your member of Congress to protect children online today!
To learn more, read the USCCB’s letter outlining three moral principles Congress can use to protect children online.

Messages in your own words can be more effective. Please consider customizing the message to Congress with your own story.

Take Action Now

 

 

SCRANTON – After gathering together hundreds, if not thousands, of faithful parishioners last year during Lent for a series of Holy Hours, the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, is hoping for an even bigger showing this year!

Bishop Bambera plans to once again visit each of the 12 deaneries in the Diocese of Scranton to celebrate a Holy Hour this Lent.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which takes place this year on Wednesday, Feb. 14, and lasts for 40 days.

In conjunction with the National Eucharistic Revival that has been taking place in our country since Corpus Christi Sunday in 2022, each Holy Hour will feature exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers, and a homily on the Most Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Hours this Lent will begin at Holy Family Parish in the Kingston deanery on Thursday, Feb. 15, and will end at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in the Scranton deanery on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

A three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops, the National Eucharistic Revival is nearing its midpoint. The first year focused on diocesan revival, inviting bishops, priests and diocesan leaders to deepen their relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. The Year of Parish Revival began in June 2023, with emphasis on reaching Catholics in the pews.

The coming calendar year will include the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that begins in mid-May and the National Eucharistic Congress in July, two large-scale efforts that lead into the revival’s final year, the Year of Going Out on Mission, which ends on Pentecost 2025.

Revival leaders hope the 10th National Eucharistic Congress – the first national congress in 83 years – which will take place in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024, can help cultivate a Eucharistic life in the tens of thousands of Catholics expected to attend.
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, said Revival leaders had a private audience with Pope Francis last June.

“He spoke very powerfully of both our National Eucharistic Revival and our congress,” Bishop Cozzens said. “It was really an incredible moment for us!”

Every parishioner in the Diocese of Scranton is encouraged to make attending a Holy Hour a priority this Lent. The faithful do not have to attend the Holy Hour in their specific deanery if it does not fit into their schedule.

The full listing of 2024 Lenten Holy Hours is available in the graphic below:

 

SCRANTON – In advance of National Disability Awareness Month in March, the Diocese of Scranton will hold its annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

All people, including those with special abilities, have gifts to contribute to the life of the Church. The Diocese of Scranton embraces and welcomes the talents of all individuals in building up the Kingdom of God.

The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will serve as principal celebrant and homilist at this special Mass.

The Mass is open to everyone. It will be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton. The Mass will also be livestream on the Diocese of Scranton website, YouTube channel and links will be provided on all Diocesan social media platforms.

Partners in the annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities include Saint Joseph’s Center in Scranton, The Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Order of the Alhambra.

(OSV News) – A new report shows a continued decrease in the number of permanent vocations to consecrated life in the U.S. — but key factors such as family life, devotional practices, Catholic education and personal encouragement can positively impact those numbers.

“Women and Men Professing Perpetual Vows in Religious Life: The Profession Class of 2023” was released Jan. 26 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, ahead of the church’s World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life on Feb. 2.

Members of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tenn., are pictured in a file photo preparing for Mass at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, where they made their final profession of religious vows. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register)

The study – annually commissioned since 2010 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations – was written by CARA researchers Jonathon Wiggins and Sister Thu T. Do, a member of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi.

The 101 religious members (53 sisters, 48 brothers and priests) who participated in the survey represented 70% of the 144 potential members of the profession class of 2023, as reported to CARA by 69% of the nation’s religious superiors.

Of the participating religious superiors, 87% reported their orders had no member profess perpetual vows in 2023, up from 82% in the 2022 report. In 2023, one in 10 institutes had one perpetual profession, while 4% reported between two to 15 members professed perpetual vows.

“We are finding that there’s a continuous decline in the number of men and women making a final profession to religious life each year,” Jesuit Father Thomas Gaunt, CARA’s executive director, told OSV News.

He also noted the length of time from entrance into religious life to perpetual profession can vary from “seven to 20 years,” with the Jesuits, or Society of Jesus, having a particularly long span.

The average age of the 2023 profession class is 36, with half of the survey participants age 33 or younger.

More than three quarters (76%) were born in the U.S., and 67% listed their primary race or ethnicity as Caucasian, European American or white. One in 10 or less identifies as Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian (12%); as Hispanic or Latino (9%); as African, African American or Black (7%); and as mixed race or other (5%).

An overwhelming majority, 94%, said that as children they had at least one parent who was Catholic, with 86% of the respondents stating both parents were Catholic. Almost all survey participants (99%) were raised by their biological parents during the most formative part of their childhood. Close to nine in 10, or 88%, were raised by a married couple.

Just over half of the class, 51%, attended a Catholic elementary school, and respondents were more likely than other Catholics in the U.S. to have attended both a Catholic high school (46%) and college (43%). About 14% reported being homeschooled at some point, with the average length of time being nine years.

“Generally, the more Catholic education, (the more) you increase the likelihood that someone will consider a religious vocation,” said Father Gaunt. “And it gets stronger often enough, if (that education extends) to Catholic high schools or colleges. Part of that is you’re just more exposed to a Catholic environment, and the consideration of a religious vocation will not be as countercultural, in one sense, as if you had not attended those Catholic schools. It makes (religious life) a little more thinkable.”

The report described the 2023 profession class as “highly educated,” with 62% entering their respective religious institutes after earning at least a bachelor’s degree, and 20% after obtaining a graduate degree.

At the same time, educational debt did not delay most survey participants from entering religious life; the 9% who reported educational debt experienced less than a year of delay as they cleared just under $37,000 in student loans, assisted by friends and family members.

While respondents said they were on average 18 years old when they first considered a vocation, some 82% had prior work experience before entering religious life – more than half (55%) had worked full time – with business, education and health care the top fields.

Respondents reported that Eucharistic adoration (82%), the rosary (72%) and retreats (72%) were among their most common formative prayer experiences, with four out of five respondents regularly practicing adoration prior to entering religious life.

Father Gaunt also highlighted the need to pay “attention to the cultural differences in devotions and practices” — such as processions, home altars, family prayers and other forms of popular piety — which are informing the one quarter of foreign-born religious aspirants to religious life in the U.S.

The study found that participation in religious programs and activities also correlated highly with vocations, as more than 93% of the respondents cited experience in ministries such as lector (55%), altar servers (54%), and youth ministry or youth group (45%).

“That’s a key element, and a piece of the invitation,” said Father Gaunt. “It’s just placing younger people in a ministerial role.”

Personal interactions also helped to foster consecrated life, with 82% of the respondents noting that they had been encouraged to consider a vocation by a priest (45%), religious sister or brother (44%), friend (41%), teacher or catechist (27%) or parent (mother, 26%; father, 23%).

At the same time, more than 55% reported that one or more persons had discouraged them from pursuing a religious vocation, with women more likely than men to report this experience.

Just under one third of the respondents (31%) said they first became acquainted with their respective religious orders through a sponsored institute, such as a school or hospital. Another 26% said they learned of their institute through print or online promotional material.

Almost all (94%) of the respondents said they had taken part in some form of vocational discernment program, particularly “come and see” experiences.

In many respects, creating a culture of religious vocations involves consistently doing “simple things … that are very important for us to keep in mind,” said Father Gaunt.

Young people are “getting a lot of reinforcement going in the other direction,” away from religious life, he said. “What’s the positive reinforcement that they find or experience? That would be the key.”