Could The Pillar do a more detailed analysis of the impact of student loan debt on vocations, especially how it affects men’s and women’s vocations differently? Anecdotally, it seems like there are more opportunities for men to start formation with debt, while it’s more common for women to be required to be debt free and pay a kind of “d…
Could The Pillar do a more detailed analysis of the impact of student loan debt on vocations, especially how it affects men’s and women’s vocations differently? Anecdotally, it seems like there are more opportunities for men to start formation with debt, while it’s more common for women to be required to be debt free and pay a kind of “dowry” when they enter religious formation to cover the cost of health insurance, etc. Not sure if the data actually bears this out though. Obviously there are material realities to religious life that can’t be ignored, but I do worry that religious vocations are increasingly being limited to the financially privileged, which has to impact ministry down the line. As a friend of mine in college once said, “Taking a vow of poverty is very expensive.”
The problem is that The Laborite society & similar organizations who help young adults fundraise already have most of the publicity. I’ve yet to see media cover the issue in a more comprehensive way. What about individuals who spend years in formation, then earnestly discern out and are left to foot the bill entirely? E.g., my sister had a friend who left after 8 years with the Jesuits and then was held responsible for the entire cost. There’s also a huge difference between being able to start seminary with a student loan balance (and many dioceses fully cover the cost of graduate formation) and having to wait years to enter a religious order while eliminating debt. Plus, indebtedness drastically affects the discernment process to begin with. How many people don’t even consider a religious vocation because of the financial realities? Being poor isn’t a formal barrier to marriage, despite the popular notion that more people are delay marriage in part due to the cost of weddings. Not to mention a good chunk of people in the pews who receive fundraising pitches from religious communities are already struggling to support their own families. The loan balances of lay people affect whether they can even participate in supporting religious communities financially. The issue of student debt affects the life of the church in much larger ways than I’ve seen most people acknowledge.
Could The Pillar do a more detailed analysis of the impact of student loan debt on vocations, especially how it affects men’s and women’s vocations differently? Anecdotally, it seems like there are more opportunities for men to start formation with debt, while it’s more common for women to be required to be debt free and pay a kind of “dowry” when they enter religious formation to cover the cost of health insurance, etc. Not sure if the data actually bears this out though. Obviously there are material realities to religious life that can’t be ignored, but I do worry that religious vocations are increasingly being limited to the financially privileged, which has to impact ministry down the line. As a friend of mine in college once said, “Taking a vow of poverty is very expensive.”
The Laboure Society helps solve this problem you are addressing and might have resources or comment. https://rescuevocations.org/
The problem is that The Laborite society & similar organizations who help young adults fundraise already have most of the publicity. I’ve yet to see media cover the issue in a more comprehensive way. What about individuals who spend years in formation, then earnestly discern out and are left to foot the bill entirely? E.g., my sister had a friend who left after 8 years with the Jesuits and then was held responsible for the entire cost. There’s also a huge difference between being able to start seminary with a student loan balance (and many dioceses fully cover the cost of graduate formation) and having to wait years to enter a religious order while eliminating debt. Plus, indebtedness drastically affects the discernment process to begin with. How many people don’t even consider a religious vocation because of the financial realities? Being poor isn’t a formal barrier to marriage, despite the popular notion that more people are delay marriage in part due to the cost of weddings. Not to mention a good chunk of people in the pews who receive fundraising pitches from religious communities are already struggling to support their own families. The loan balances of lay people affect whether they can even participate in supporting religious communities financially. The issue of student debt affects the life of the church in much larger ways than I’ve seen most people acknowledge.
Wait if you leave Jesuit formation...you have to pay for it? That can’t be right.