U.S. observance of World Day for Consecrated Life set for Feb. 6

Published: 2005-01-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life will be held Sunday, Feb. 6, across the nation. The Vatican-sponsored event, instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1997 to pay tribute to religious men and women around the world, is observed in Rome Feb. 2, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which recalls how Jesus was presented as an infant to the high priest at the Temple in accordance with Jewish law. According to the latest Vatican statistics, the number of men and women members of religious orders totals about 986,000, with 792,300 nuns and 193,600 priests and brothers. Men and women religious number approximately 442,000 in Europe, 167,000 in Asia, 164,000 in Latin America, 128,500 in the United States and Canada, 70,000 in Africa and 15,000 in Oceania.

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