Retirement Fund for Religious

An older religious order priest and two religious sisters.

Please give to those who have given a lifetime.

On the weekend of December 13 and 14, parishioners and community members in the Diocese of Portland will have the opportunity to give to those who have given a lifetime. A special collection will be held during Masses in Maine churches for the Retirement Fund for Religious. The fund benefits more than 20,000 elderly Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests.

Traditionally, Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests served for stipends that did not include retirement benefits. As a result, today, hundreds of religious communities are struggling to meet the retirement and health-care needs of aging members. Only four percent of the religious communities that provided data to the National Religious Retirement Office are adequately funded for retirement. Nearly half of them have 25 or fewer members, and many of these small communities are struggling to care for elder members.

The Catholic bishops of the United States initiated the Retirement Fund for Religious in 1988. Since the launch of the collection, more than $1 billion has been distributed to religious communities. In 2025, 266 communities received assistance.

Rising Costs

The average annual cost of care for women and men religious past age 70 is estimated to be roughly $56,600 per person. Skilled care averages $96,000 per person. The total cost of care for senior women and men religious in the United States has exceeded $1.1 billion annually.

Aging population

During the early and mid-twentieth centuries, the Catholic Church in the United States experienced a surge in vocations to religious life, with numbers peaking in the mid-1960s. Care for elderly members was provided largely by younger ones. Over time, however, the number of vocations decreased while lifespans increased. The result is far fewer younger members available to support the retirement and eldercare needs of senior members. Today, religious past the age of 70 outnumber religious younger than 70 by nearly three to one.

How are donations used?

Each year, hundreds of U.S. religious communities receive financial assistance from the Retirement Fund for Religious. Communities can use that money for immediate expenses to invest it for future needs. Since the collection began, $900 million has been distributed to support the day-to-day care of elderly sisters, brothers, and religious order priests. An additional $103.7 million has been allocated toward self-help projects initiated by religious communities, including collaborative health-care facilities