Anybody wonder what they’re doing right?
This won’t be news to most Catholics who have been paying attention. But the AP is sitting up and taking notice:
A handful of Roman Catholic convents are contradicting the decades-long slide in the number of women choosing to devote their lives to the sisterhood. And at least two of them are doing it by sticking to tradition, including the wearing of habits.
The number of nuns in the U.S. has dropped dramatically over the last several decades as more women in religious life approach retirement and are not replaced with younger sisters.
But the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville have remained an exception for years. The order has 27 postulants entering the convent this fall, likely the largest group of new nuns in training in the U.S., according to religious scholars.
Sisters at St. Cecilia’s and other thriving U.S. orders typically are younger, which makes them closer in age to potential newcomers. These orders also emphasize traditional practices, like wearing long, flowing black-and-white habits, and educating students.
After joining the convent, nuns are limited to a great degree in their contact with the outside world. They can’t always use cell phones, are only allowed to visit family certain times of the year and must share the use of items like cars with other sisters in the convent.
“Initially when you enter you think you’re giving up so many treats: going out to Starbucks whenever you want in your car or going out to eat,” said Sister Scholastica Niemann, 31, who just entered her third year at St. Cecilia’s. She’ll take her final vows in five years.
“The reality is, through God’s generosity and generosity of people, you have more than you could ever want,” she said. “You don’t have to own things to use them. You realize material possessions sometimes, because of our human nature, they can possess us.”
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