To St. Joseph Sister Rose McDermott, the annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious is a wonderful reflection of how the Body of Christ in America remembers its own.

Sister Rose, the diocesan delegate for religious and institutes for consecrated life, said that every year when the totals and disbursements are announced, she’s uplifted by the generosity of men and women nurtured by generations of religious women and men.

This year, parishes throughout the United States will take up the appeal the weekend of Dec. 13 and 14.

Last year’s appeal resulted in more than $24 million in financial assistance being distributed according to need among 424 religious orders in June and July from the collection taken last December. Overall, the collection raised nearly $28.4 million and benefits some 35,000 senior Catholic sisters, brothers and priests in religious orders.

The collection, Sister Rose said, shows that a real sense of community exists in caring for the generations of religious who cared for so many generations of faithful.

The Catholic bishops in the United States launched the Retirement Fund for Religious in 1988 to address the profound deficit in retirement funding in religious communities.

Traditionally, Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests – known collectively as women and men religious – served for small salaries that did not include retirement benefits. As a result, many religious communities lack adequate savings for retirement and eldercare.

In a brief interview, Sister Rose shared what a Godsend the collection is for elderly religious, most of whom worked for years for small stipends and without retirement plans.

The NRRO coordinates the annual collection and distributes the proceeds to eligible communities throughout the nation. In the Trenton Diocese, the 13 cloistered sisters of the Poor Clares of Chesterfield received $11,222.30.

The Poor Clares of Chesterfield receive several thousand dollars every year from the collection and use the money to supplement the cost of medical expenses that fall outside of insurance safety nets.

The majority of the funding disbursed is known as Direct Care Assistance, which furnishes support for such day-to-day needs as prescriptions and nursing care.

Sister Janice Bader, the NRRO’s executive director, spoke of the gratitude felt by the religious to the “donors whose generosity to the Retirement Fund for Religious makes the assistance we provide possible. With this support, many religious communities have been able to transform their deficits into manageable concerns.”

The response in the Trenton Diocese where the collection totaled $326,106 has traditionally been generous, said Anthony Mingarino, diocesan Chancellor and Chief Administrator. The monies were sent to the NRRO for distribution.

The Trenton Diocese reports representation of 25 religious communities serving in the diocese with a total of 350 members.

“There are 12 collections taken at most parishes throughout the year for worthy Catholic Causes both here and abroad,” Mingarino said. “Of those 12, the Collection for the Retired Religious is the largest and is actually more than double the next highest.”

He said the response likely stems from so many Catholics with a direct experience of those in religious communities.

“I think those of us who are products of Catholic education and were taught by religious men and women can attest to the value they brought to education and, more importantly, the impact they had on our faith life,” Mingarino said.

“These men and women are held in high esteem by Catholics throughout the diocese and the country. Faithful want them to have the care in their golden years that they earned and deserve.”