America's nun population in steep decline, 1% are under age 40, avg age is 80

[Demovictory9]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/americas-nun-population-steep-decline/story?id=87426990

According to a recent study, less than 1% of nuns in America are under 40 and the average sister is 80 years old.

In 2022, there were reportedly fewer than 42,000 nuns in America, which is a 76% decline over 50 years. At the rate sisters are disappearing, one estimate said that there will be fewer than 1,000 nuns left in the United States by 2042, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.

[Throck]

1. At this rate, in the future, there will be none.

The Catholic church and associated ideology have been outdated for years. Bad leadership has pointed the church to extinction.

[Skittles]

3. cannot come soon enough

they can never make up for the damage they have caused

[Sanity Claws]

4. The nuns pushed back against the Vatican and a lot of the Church's misogyny

I have worked with nuns who were social workers, teachers, immigration counselors, and charity workers. I was always impressed with them and their work.
One of our board members is a nun. She told us that the Second Vatican Council determined that the nuns were laity, not clergy. (News to me.)
While I won't miss the Catholic Church and its demise, I will miss the nuns -- a bunch of women who are motivated to do good.

[Shermann]

8. They can always switch to doing good secular work

All the good work, none of the hocus pocus and unusual dress codes.

Heck, they may even be able to work from home sometimes.

[llmart]

14. +1

That's what I was going to post. Nothing is stopping them from continuing the good work without the church affiliation.

This is such an outdated "occupation" that I'm glad it's disappearing. It was just another way for men to control women.

[Demovictory9]

5. Nuns were their low cost labor force..teachers administrators program directors

Without that low-cost female workforce Catholic church will be 🤕

[Sneederbunk]

10. No nuns? None?

[Tetrachloride]

2. No nuns know noon No

Nuns know Noh.

Nuns know no noon Noh a no-no

No No a No

No no a Noh

Nouns now None Nuns nowt

my nun in grade school was very pretty. i was 7

If she is alive , then about 80 years old.

i missed noon lunch on 2nd day.

[DFW]

6. They just don't make 'em like they did back in 1489:

Start at about 5:27

[uponit7771]

11. +1,

[Emile]

7. Hell in Indiana nuns without driver licenses are

not allowed to vote

[malaise]

9. We had a standard joke at school

Why do nuns always walk together - so none can get none.😀😀

[hunter]

12. It's okay to be a single woman now. You don't have to be married to anyone, not even the church.

In the bad old days if you didn't want to be married, if you didn't want to get pregnant, if you didn't want to have sex with men, etc., there weren't a lot of socially acceptable options.

[maxsolomon]

13. right before Covid, I finished a project with an order of sisters

remodeling their main campus building. new finishes, new lighting, new commercial kitchen.

they're all in their late 70s to 90s, social-justice catholics to the core - my favorite kind. they have younger sisters come from vietnam to do residencies, but they're all very aware that their lifestyle is fading away, and are planning for their legacy.

we'd done a senior-care building on the campus 10 years ago - the sisters pass away there, often in their late 90s or over 100.

what happens to their gorgeous mid-century modern campus filled with massive conifers, i don't know. it's beautiful enough to be a state park.

[niyad]

15. You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Demovictory9]

19. Heh heh..

[Handler]

16. I'm ok with this. Hope priest are soon to follow.

[mathematic]

17. The AVERAGE is 80? How in the world is that possible?

And to get 1000 nuns in 20 years you're looking at less than 1000 nuns under 60? With maybe another 1000 in their 60s?

These numbers just seem incomprehensibly low for a country with so many Catholics. With 70 million Catholics and 1000 nuns, I think a random Catholic would be more likely to be a current or former major league baseball player than a nun.

Though I can't say I blame anybody for not wanting to be a nun.

[Goodheart]

18. That's too bad. Where are trump aides going to hide from the mob?