Two religious communities in Hawaii last year received more in combined financial support from the national Retirement Fund for Religious than Hawaii parishioners contributed that year.
In 2022, parishioners contributed $101,261.18 to the national collection. From this fund, Hawaii’s Carmelite Monastery and the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts received a combined total of $112,682.99.
This year, the National Religious Retirement Office’s (NRRO) annual collection is scheduled in parishes throughout the Diocese of Honolulu Dec. 9-10.
John Knutsen, director of the NRRO, looks forward to this year’s collection. “We are privileged to support those who have dedicated their lives to tireless service, 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, many U.S. religious communities face a substantial gap between their elderly members’ needs and the financial resources available for their care.
Many religious orders currently experience insufficient retirement savings.
The 2022 appeal demonstrated Catholics’ tremendous generosity by raising $27.6 million. These funds from the Retirement Fund for Religious collection provided financial assistance for retirement needs for 297 U.S. religious communities, including the two in Hawaii.
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, by phone at (508) 685-8899 or by email at robincabral@retiredreligious.org.
