It wasn’t until after college that Kendra Baker began thinking about becoming a nun. She had been raised Roman Catholic, and after her father fell from the roof of their house and sustained life-threatening injuries, her family called a priest to come and pray with them. A few hours later her father opened his eyes.
“He’s learned to walk, talk and drive again – he can eat normally,” said Ms Baker, 25. “And the doctors had told us to prepare for a funeral.”
That wasn’t the only experience that spurred Ms. Baker, who moved to Seattle after graduating from Western Washington University in 2021 and felt a “gentle stimulation” toward religious life. “Not God’s booming voice saying, ‘Kendra, go to the monastery now.’ But just very gentle,” she said.
After much thought and research, Ms. Baker found a religious community that she felt matched both her interests in contemplative spirituality and active service, and she was soon accepted as a candidate with the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. Only one thing stopped her from joining: her student loan debt.
People who wish to enter religious life in the Catholic tradition typically have to pay off all of their debts in preparation for the vow of poverty, and others who live in religious communities typically earn no income and have no assets, which prevents them from paying any debts that they have accumulated as laypeople. If you are among the 20 percent of Americans with a bachelor’s degree who have student loan debt, this can create significant challenges.
A report from the National Religious Vocation Conference sounded alarm more than a decade ago with data confirming that “educational debt has become a deterrent for many who choose a religious vocation,” citing factors such as skyrocketing college tuition and stagnant wages . Since then, the average student loan debt in the United States has steadily increased, averaging about $30,000 in 2023.
Several organizations have emerged to help religious candidates with this problem. Ms. Baker was put in touch with the Labouré Society, a nonprofit Catholic group that has helped more than 400 people pursue religious education since its founding in 2003.
The average student loan amount of Labouré candidates or aspirants is almost $100,000, and they are typically given a goal of raising $60,000 in a six-month cycle during which Labouré agents train them on how to make phone calls, letters writes and attends meetings with potential donors in their communities. Donations from a retired widow who felt inspired to donate the proceeds from the sale of her home ranged from a few thousand to $130,000.
Ms Baker said she was uncomfortable sharing the full amount of her debt, but that it would have taken her five to 10 more years to pay it off had she not found help from the Labouré Society. Instead, she achieved her goal within six months and will join her religious community in Los Angeles this summer.
Jake Smith had already completed three years of medical school when he decided to enter the priesthood. The second eldest of 12 children in a Catholic family he described as “salt of the earth, light of the world,” he recalls being inspired to pursue a religious vocation at an early age at age 14.
Having grown up hoping to one day marry and raise a family, Mr. Smith, 31, felt conflicted and tried his best to avoid the idea of entering the priesthood as long as possible.
“When I got accepted into medical school,” he said, “I felt like I threw my acceptance letter in front of God and thought, ‘Okay, God, there’s no way you’re ever going to get this.’ me now. I’ll be the best doctor you’ve ever had. I will be the best father in the whole world. So just leave me alone with all this work stuff.’”
But three years into medical school in Denver, after a day spent rotating in family medicine, his thoughts turned back to the priesthood and what he might include in his first sermon.
“I realized this was never going to go away,” Mr. Smith said. After consulting with a priest at his church and speaking with a vocation director in his diocese, he began to realize that his student loan debt — in the low six figures — was a significant obstacle.
Diocesan priests, unlike those who live in religious communities, typically receive a modest salary and are sometimes allowed to carry a small amount of debt before entering a seminary. But for people like Mr. Smith, heavy student loan debt can delay entry into the priesthood for years or even indefinitely.
Mr. Smith hopes to pay off his student loans in the next 12 to 18 months through the Labouré Society and has already raised nearly $60,000 by asking local Catholics for donations and speaking to people involved in religious support Interested in vocations.
For those who may not have such a widespread Catholic network, fundraising could take a different form.
Kristen Chenoweth converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism in her mid-20s and had no long-standing ties or family ties to the Catholic Church. After completing a bachelor’s degree in family work and a master’s degree in nonprofit administration, Ms. Chenoweth, now 30, had about $80,000 in student loan debt. She was accepted into the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Province in Illinois, but was unable to take her first steps into religious life until these debts were paid.
She had begun paying off her loans by working, living frugally, fundraising at her diocese in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and selling rosaries on Etsy.
Ms. Chenoweth earned about $5,000 through her Etsy shop and raised $23,000 on GoFundMe with the help of the Dominican Sisters. She recently received word that another Catholic student debt relief organization, the Fund for Vocations, would pay off the remainder of her loans and that she would be joining their religious community this summer.
Unlike the Labouré Society, the Fund for Vocations does not ask prospective students to raise money, but instead directly pays their monthly student loan for the entire period of their training with a religious community.
Established in the early 2000s, the Professions Fund has grown significantly in recent years to meet demand. The organization was able to award 28 grants last year totaling approximately $900,000, with amounts ranging from approximately $5,000 to more than $75,000 depending on applicant needs.
Young prospective students often have to contend with a drastically shortened repayment period for their loans. Age limits for applicants, which in some orders are already 30 years old, create additional pressure. And although many religious communities and seminaries do not require applicants to have a college degree, others encourage or require it, especially if members of the community provide health or educational services.
Once they take perpetual vows, those who enter religious life also enter an entirely new financial reality. For Sister Gianna Casino, life as a religious sister in the community of the Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and taking her final vows in 2020 has given a sense of financial freedom.
Sister Gianna, 30, a former biochemistry student, graduated with more than $20,000 in student loan debt. She began her religious training under the agreement that her family would cover her monthly payments and that they would be paid off before her final vows. When her family ran into financial difficulties a few years after she began her training, the Fund for Vocations agreed to pay off the rest of her loans.
Now she was able to continue her education again, this time without fear of further debt, as her religious community covered her costs, including tuition fees. Sister Gianna is a clinical mental health counselor at Divine Mercy University and completed training in mental health at Harvard Medical School. Although earning the degree is free, any income she earns after graduation will be shared with her religious community.
While many religious communities finance themselves through donations or businesses, for example through the sale of chocolates and candies by members of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Mississippi in Dubuque, Iowa, some pool the income that members such as nurses or educators earn through part-time jobs.
“I can learn without fear or worry,” said Sister Gianna. “I can focus on prayer and focus spiritually, emotionally, physically and intellectually on the people I will serve in the next few years and even now because my community supports me financially in this way.”
Although the sacrifices can be significant, religious life can also provide a rare form of relief from the typical financial constraints and stressors that dominate most people’s lives.
“It brings me back to the Gospel of Luke,” Sister Gianna said. “Jesus says, ‘You cannot serve two masters.’ “You can’t serve God and money.”
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2024-04-04 09:04:07
www.nytimes.com
