A Georgetown University Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate study has found that a smaller group of more racially and ethnically diverse recruits attracted to traditional prayer rituals and habits is replacing an aging, mainly white generation of priests and nuns.The study found that the graying of American nuns and priests was even more pronounced than many Catholics had realized, The New York Times reports.
Ninety-one percent of nuns and 75 percent of priests are 60 or older, and most of the rest are at least 50.
The new study, being released on Tuesday, was conducted for the National Religious Vocation Conference, which is looking for ways for the church to attract and retain new nuns and priests.
"We've heard anecdotally that the youngest people coming to religious life are distinctive, and they really are," said Sr Mary Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
"They're more attracted to a traditional style of religious life, where there is community living, common prayer, having Mass together, praying the Liturgy of the Hours together. They are much more likely to say fidelity to the church is important to them. And they really are looking for communities where members wear habits."
Of the new priests and nuns who recently joined religious orders, two-thirds chose orders that wear a habit all the time or regularly during prayer or ministry, the study found.
The study also showed that whites account for 94 percent of current nuns and priests but only 58 percent of those in the process of joining orders.
Asians and Pacific Islanders are disproportionately represented among the newcomers, accounting for 14 percent, far above their 3 percent share of the Catholic population in the United States, Sr Bendyna said.
Hispanics are 21 percent of the newcomers, compared with only 3 percent of the current priests and nuns.
Of women who recently entered religious orders, the average age is 32; for men, it is 30.
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