“In 2019, The New York Times published an article about a curious project called ‘Nuns and Nones’ in which millennial ‘nones’ — young people who don’t ascribe to a religious tradition — moved into a convent for six months…. ‘You will never guess what the millennials want to talk about: the vows,’ Sister Patsy Harney told the reporter…. Poverty, chastity, and obedience.
“Why were [they] so attracted to the vows? By their own admission, they felt their values too amorphous, their lifestyles too free; they craved a spirituality and sense of ritual so much they were able to overlook the stickier aspects — like the fact that chastity, as defined by the Church, would automatically and unequivocally preclude sex outside marriage or nonstraight sex — and latch on to the aspects that seemed more zeitgeist friendly. And they aren’t alone in their attraction: though the vows seem anathema to contemporary values, chastity and poverty are on the verge of making a comeback (obedience, not so much).”
