Local parishes to seek donations for Retirement Fund for Religious

YOUNGSTOWN -- Parishes in the Diocese of Youngstown will conduct the 18th annual national appeal Nov. 26-27 for the Retirement Fund for the Religious.
Last year, the donations from the Diocese of Youngstown totaled $298,000, and the appeal was the most successful in its history.
The appeal, sponsored by the National Religious Retirement Office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., has distributed more than $21 million in basic grants to 528 of the nation's Catholic institutes.
Among grant recipients were the Ursuline Sisters in Canfield, Oblate Sisters in Hubbard and the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration in Canton.
The overall appeal, which has raised $460 million during its history, has ensured appropriate care for the more than 38,000 Catholic nuns, brothers and priests who are past the age of 70.
Previously, the care of elderly religious had been a duty of younger members who entered religious life. The salaries and stipends that the elderly had earned during their careers went for new ministries, training and education and support of their religious communities.
Now, the elderly religious outnumber the wage-earning religious. Church and diocesan pension plans did not include such religious institutes because they were organized separately.
Church officials launched the Retirement Fund for Religious in 1988 to address the situation. The Web site is www.usccb.org/nrro.