8
COMMUNITY
November 20, 2018 | The Valley Catholic
National Appeal Supports Elderly Catholic Sisters,
Brothers and Religious Order Priests
The annual Retirement Fund for
Religious collection will be held De-
cember 8-9 in the Diocese of San Jose.
Coordinated by the National Religious
Retirement Offi
ce (NRRO) in Washing-
ton, the appeal benefi ts 31,000 elderly
Catholic sisters, brothers and religious
order priests.
The Diocese of San Jose donated
$220,954.12 to last year’s collection.
Almost 94 percent of donations aid
senior religious and their communi-
ties, with the remaining funds used
for administration and promotion of
the national appeal.
The 2017 collection raised just over
$28 million, and the NRRO disbursed
$25 million to 360 religious commu-
nities for the direct care of elderly
members. Communities combine these
funds with their own income and
savings to help furnish necessities
such as medications and nursing care.
Throughout the year, additional fund-
ing is allocated for congregations with
critical needs and for retirement plan-
ning and educational resources.
Religious communities apply an-
nually for fi nancial support from the
national collection, and distributions
are sent to each eligible community’s
central house. Although women and
men religious often minister outside
their home dioceses, they may benefi t
from the allocations disbursed to their
individual orders.
“Donations to the Retirement Fund
for Religious have a far-reaching im-
pact,” said Presentation Sister Stephanie
Still, the NRRO’s executive director.
“Most importantly, they help com-
munities care for aging members, but
they also underwrite initiatives aimed
at addressing the underlying causes of
the funding shortages.”
Religious orders are fi nancially au-
tonomous and thus responsible for the
support of all members. Traditionally,
Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious
order priests–known collectively as
women and men religious–served
for little to no pay. Today, hundreds
of orders lack sufficient retirement
savings. Of 547 communities provid-
ing data to the NRRO, only 4 percent
are adequately funded for retirement.
Compounding the fi nancial crisis are
the rising cost of care and the increas-
ing number of those needing care.
Catholic bishops of the United States
initiated the national collection in 1988
to help address the defi cit in retirement
funding among U.S. religious communi-
ties. Since the collection was launched,
U.S. Catholics have donated $844 million
to the appeal, helping many communi-
ties stabilize their retirement outlook.
“We are overwhelmed by the ongo-
ing generosity toward the annual ap-
peal and by the love and thanksgiving
for the service of our elder religious,”
said Sister Still. “Our offi
ce is commit-
ted to stewarding these funds in ways
that help religious communities care
for older members while continuing to
serve the People of God.”
For mor e i n f or m at io n , v i s it
retiredreligious.org.
Fourth Annual Saints in the City
Recognition Banquet Held
On Friday, November 9, 2018 at
Saint John Vianney Parish, the dioc-
esan community gathered together
for its fourth annual Saints in the City
banquet where we acknowledge and
honor the youth of our communities
who are living out their Christian
disciplesh ip in exemplar y ways.
This year, we celebrated 30 honorees
representing from 24 parishes and all
6 of our Catholic high schools. Each
youth was nominated by the leaders
of their respective communities to
receive one of four following awards
based on the four pillars of formation:
Saint Maria Goretti Award (Human),
Saint Teresa Award (Spiritual), Saint
Thomas Aquinas Award (Intellec-
tual), and the Saint Francis of Assisi
Award (Pastoral).