Oddball? Protestants generally reject monasticism, but there have been excepts such as the Shakers (?). But, why you do say “Catholics” when the Greeks and Russians put more store by classic monasticism than we Latins do. The first monk was St. Anthony, a Coptic Christian, and he started the movement in the 3rd and 4th centuries. A kind of John the Baptist redux.
And with good reason. We are not allowed the option of cloistering ourselves in little enclaves while the world goes to hell. That is unscriptural.
Jesus' own commands.....
Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mark 16:15 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Acts 1:6-8 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”