Office for Religious

The collection for our Retired Religious is held annually each December.

• The upcoming collection will be on the weekend of December 7-8, 2024
• News release for the Collection
• Fact sheet for the Collection
• Images and more to assist with promotion of this Collection
• More at retiredreligious.org
• Please donate at your local parish or by mail at:

Office for Religious
One Cathedral Square
Providence, RI 02903
Please make check payable to Diocesan Service Corporation with the memo: Religious Retirement Fund.

About the annual collection for our Retired Religious

At the annual collection to benefit the Retirement Fund for Religious, we get an opportunity to express concretely our thanks to senior Religious Sisters Brothers and Priests for their service over many decades. It is an opportunity to show we do not forget them or their service, particularly in their later years.
Back in 1975 when Pope Paul VI proclaimed St. Elizabeth Ann Seton a saint to be honored by the universal church, he said, "May the dynamism and authenticity of her life be an example in our day - and for generations to come - of what women can and must accomplish, in the fulfillment of their role, for the good of humanity. And finally we must recall that the most notable characteristic of our Saint is the fact that she was, as we said, the foundress of the first Religious Congregation of women in the United States.” 

In a similar way, at the canonization of St. John Neumann CSSR in 1977, the Holy Father said, "John Neumann’s pastoral zeal was manifested in many ways. Through faithful and persevering service, he brought to completion the generosity of his initial act of missionary dedication. He helped children to satisfy their need for truth, their need for Christian doctrine, for the teaching of Jesus in their lives."

These two saints exemplify for all of us the power of the Holy Spirit working through individual human beings and through the charisms of women and men gathered together in religious communities to give witness to the Gospel of Jesus.

Many active members of the religious orders, religious Sisters, Brothers and Priests, have served and continue to serve in the Diocese of Providence throughout its history. They have given witness in classrooms, in caring for the sick and abandoned, and in a multitude of apostolates geared to continually changing times and circumstances. 

The lives of other contemplative religious' lives of prayer also have been a spiritual resource for the whole church. 

The appeal for aging religious funds the National Religious Retirement Office, set up by the bishops of the United States to work with the many religious communities of men and women. 

Consultants for the NRRO are trained treasurers, elder care specialists and leaders of religious orders who work with institutes giving expertise, ideas and recommendations. They are also able to recommend financial awards to assist the religious institutes.

Elder care specialists provide peer reviews and assist religious institutes in planning for and evaluating care of theirelder members. This service is available to religious institutes whether or not they are seeking financial assistance. 

It is meant to ensure a secure retirement for those who have led such generous lives. Certainly, we can do no less.

Worshiping the Lord means giving Him the place that He must have; worshiping the Lord means stating, believing – not only by our words – that He alone truly guides our lives; worshiping the Lord means that we are convinced before Him that He is the only God, the God of our lives, the God of our history." – Pope Francis

The Office for Religious in the Diocese of Providence provides support and services to the hundreds of religious men and women who reside within the Diocese of Providence.

Religious Orders in the Diocese of Providence

A number of religious orders perform critical ministry throughout the Diocese in service of Christ and the faithful. 

Below, please find a list of some of the orders active in the diocese. Please click on the name of the order below to visit their website:

• Brothers of the Sacred Heart
• Daughters of St. Mary of Providence
• The De La Salle Christian Brothers
• The Foundation of the Society of Saint Ursula by Anne de Xainctonge
• Franciscan Missionaries of Mary
• The Holy Union Sisters
• The Institute of the Religious Teachers Filippini
• Little Sisters of the Poor
• Missionary Society of St. Columban (Columban Fathers) 
• The Sisters of St. Chretienne
• The Secular Institute for the Obate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate
• Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, SAB
• Sisters of the Presentation 
• Sisters of Mercy
• Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus
• Dominican Sisters of Nashville
• Carmelite Sisters
• Daughters of Our Lady of the Garden
• Religious Sisters of Jesus and Mary - US Province; Convent at St. Timothy's Mission Center, Warwick, RI
• Missionary Sisters Servants of the Word, HMSP
• Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, FFSP
• Legionaries of Christ, LC
• Order of Saint Benedict, OSB
• Servants of Charity, SdC
• Sisters of Divine Providence (Marie de la Roche Province)