On Friday, it was announced that Our Lady of Peace Monastery will be closing after establishing itself in Columbia in 1969.
In their final newsletter, the sisters cite its aging membership and lacking new membership as the main factors for closing the monastery. Because of these two reasons, the affect on the monastery’s finances and the ability to function as necessary have worsened. The monastery will remain open until all the sisters successfully transfer to a new monastery and join a new Benedictine family.
Back in October, the Missourian published a piece on the declining interest in the Catholic sisterhood. The article mentions that a decline in interest is occurring worldwide, not just the United States. Some statistics show the percentage of women wanting to become nuns has decreased by 50 percent in the last 50 years. The article adds that, today, there are approximately 68,000 nuns in the United States.
In our article, Sister Agnes Schlereth of Sacred Heart Catholic Church attributes different and changing approaches of churches as the key to sustaining interest among the youth in religious vocations.
For decades, the Catholic church has seen a dwindling of interest in the sisterhood, and the reality of the changes are now apparent in mid-Missouri. You have to wonder whether it’s modern society and culture that is the main reason for what’s happening or whether the church should hold some responsibility for what is happening. Or maybe both?
