There exist 565 women's convents in Austria, 33 of them are convents with enclosure where 459 sisters live.
The main concern of the sisters is the annunciation of the Gospels. Therefore a lot of sisters still work in the hospital or pastoral care in the parishes despite having reached retirement age. Prayer life - liturgical and personal prayer - is given the priority as far as possible.
For their work in hospitals, retirement homes, and schools, the sisters are searching for solutions to secure continuity, even if there will not be enough sisters available for the administration in the future.
The cooperation with competent laypersons has proved to be useful. Also the possibility to combine work areas of the same congregation into holdings or school associations is a positive and trend-setting development which shows that the sisters feel responsible and also want to spiritually support the places they work in.
The orders and, in consequence, the sisters bear responsibility for: 25 hospitals and 221 schools
Total number of sisters: | 4.955 |
Younger than 40 years: | 228 sisters = 5% |
Between 40 and 65 years: | 1.285 sisters = 26% |
More than 65 years: | 3.442 sisters = 69% |
Total number of novitiates | 37 |
Total number of postulants/candidates | 24 |
Sr. Dr. Maria Elisabeth Göttlicher, OSU
President of the Association of Female Orders in Austria