The annual Retirement Fund for Religious collection will take place in parishes throughout the Diocese of Columbus on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 9-10.
In 2022, parishioners contributed $125,695.39 to the collection.
“We are privileged to support those who have dedicated their lives to tireless service,” said John Knutsen, director of the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO), “and we are immensely grateful for the continuing generosity of U.S. Catholic donors to this vital cause.”
Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests – collectively known as women and men religious – have selflessly served for decades without significant financial compensation. However, due to escalating health-care costs, numerous U.S. religious communities face a substantial gap between their elderly members’ needs and the financial resources available for their care.
And members of many religious orders currently experience insufficient retirement savings.
The 2022 appeal demonstrated Catholics’ tremendous generosity by raising $27.6 million nationwide. These funds from the Retirement Fund for Religious collection provided financial assistance for retirement needs for 297 U.S. religious communities.
The NRRO coordinates the annual national appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious and distributes financial assistance to eligible religious communities to help care for their aging members.
To address the deficit in retirement funding among U.S. religious orders, the Catholic bishops of the United States initiated the Retirement Fund for Religious collection in 1988.
The NRRO is sponsored by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
For more information, visit retiredreligious.org, or contact Robin Cabral, campaign director, at (508) 685-8899 or robincabral@retiredreligious.org.