we have several RCC-founded hospitals (our closest one and another I can think of are going out of business unless the taxpayers pick up the check now...alas!)
in addition, some other religious groups have built, funded, or run a number of hospitals (Seventh Day Adventist, Jewish, and you can find some Lutheran Methodist and Presbyterian hospitals too, probably more kinds also)
speaking of nuns, it is a crying shame they appear to be dying out .... we have a local college that used to have many classes taught by sisters.... and then after the years went by only a handful of very elderly ones... and now I am told there are near Zero.... also, they were not provided any retirement funding the last I heard a few years ago... maybe it got fixed but at that time it was pretty dire sounding
why there aren’t more young nuns and young priests ?
it is a shame
why there aren’t more young nuns and young priests ?
it is a shame
There are many but only in the orthodox orders, they don't want to throw their lives away on lukewarm Catholicism.
I’m not Catholic, but I think the selfishness of baby boomers on down, is the reason. When I was a kid, I had a rather romanticized idea of nuns. They were always looked up to, and treated with deference on tv and in movies, and usually in real life. I would hear some stories of mean teaching nuns, but as one person told me, the nuns would stay after school for any amount of time necessary, to help the kids who were having trouble with their schoolwork. It was their vocation, and, not having a husband or children to care for, they had plenty of time. I saw a patient at a local convent, the order of which, was cloistered, and had taken vows of poverty. They also took a vow of silence, except were allowed to speak at meal times. One Sister was designated to speak to the outside world. I asked her how many Sisters there were in the convent. There were about 17, if I recall. I was surprised at that, because it was a large convent. She explained that they often get young women, who think they want to be nuns, but will then back out, after a while, due to the hard road this particular order followed.
I remember one young nun at the hospital, who absolutely loved her life as a nun. She was very outgoing and upbeat, gregarious, and very pretty, as well. I wondered then, what motivates a young woman in today’s world, to give up the prospects of family and children, to sacrifice that. But she was happy with that sacrifice. It was very humbling to me.