Profession Class News Today

A new report shows a continued decrease in the number of permanent vocations to consecrated life in the U.S. — but key factors such as family life, devotional practices, Catholic education and personal encouragement can positively impact those numbers.

Of the 508 American religious institutes that responded to a survey on the number of men and women who professed perpetual vows in 2023, 438 – 87 percent – reported that they had none, and only 23 reported that they had more than one.

Sometimes, in religious life, we feel discouragement, fear, and insecurity about the future. But Sarah, Elizabeth and the prophetess Anna, old women with barren "wombs," are signs of hope for religious life today, centuries later.