Why monks outlive other men: Inside a 30-year study of European monasteries

The lifespan gap between monks and nuns almost disappears inside the cloister, and community life with a rule of life, scheduled prayer, and purpose contributes to successful aging.

These are some of the findings of “The German-Austrian Cloister Study” conducted by Marc Luy of the Vienna Institute of Demography at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The research project to study health, aging, and life expectancy investigated the factors of health and longevity that revealed the so-called “successful aging” — that is, a long and healthy life.

The research has drawn fresh attention in Europe this month after Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast marked his 100th birthday on July 12, as CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, reported.

It started in 1997 with a focus on the members of menʼs and womenʼs religious orders, as they have a very similar life and are easy to study. They resemble one another in daily regime, nutrition, living conditions, faith, and many other aspects that influence health and longevity, the study explains.

Around 16,600 order members participated (more than 9,000 nuns, with the rest monks) in Germany and Austria — with a few members living in Switzerland and Italy. The investigation included anonymous self-conducted questionnaires sent to more than 1,100 of the religious but went back as far as 1890 to consult the archives of numerous religious communities, which are helpful in providing data. Somewhat surprising results emerged.

About one year of difference in life expectancy between the two sexes is attributed to biological factors, according to the study. The bigger sex differences in life expectancy in the population are caused by non-biologically caused mortality of men and not by the low mortality of women, as is often believed.

The research also questioned the well-known saying that “women are sicker, but men die quicker.”

Luy set out two hypotheses at the start of the project. The first is that “the overall reversal in sex morbidity and sex mortality differentials occurs because conditions that figure importantly in morbidity are not very important in mortality, and vice versa.” The second is that it is “very likely that longevity is directly related to the absolute number of life years in ill health,” which means that “women show higher morbidity rates not because they are female but because they are the sex with higher life expectancy.”

Men in religious orders live on average about five years longer than men outside the cloister, and monastic life seems to reduce some of the risks that shorten life. Such communities provide an ordered daily routine and a structured schedule for work, eating, and prayer, long-term relationships, shared purpose, and the like. Therefore, one has ideal conditions for well-being both mentally and physically.

What is more, in a monastic community, people take care of one another, and physical or mental decline is usually recognized sooner. Likewise, chronic stress is reduced and prayer helps with emotional stability.

The main person behind the project, German social scientist Luy, who has been working in Austria since 2008, told EWTN News that it would be “interesting” to include religious orders from other countries. However, “this is a matter of resources,” he said.

“Nonetheless, I would not expect different results than those we have obtained from several orders in Germany and Austria,” he added.

Yet “being a monk or a nun does not necessarily mean living an easy and peaceful life,” Slovak religious Sister Cecília Kasanová told EWTN News.

The Dominican sister has been living for six years in the Monastery of St. Dominic and Sixtus of Our Lady of the Rosary in Rome, which safeguards the ancient Marian icon known as the “Advocata,” carried across Rome by St. Dominic.

Although she admitted that a balanced lifestyle can influence longevity, “famous long-lived monks or nuns went through suffering, war, persecution because of their religious beliefs, or imprisonment.” Sister Cecília said she thinks it is “amazing” that those monks and nuns “had the strength to persevere and not give up.”

She acknowledged the good of a day proportionally divided into moments of silence: personal prayer, study, work, daily Mass, regular confession, and common meals. There are moments, too, when they talk, such as community meetings and celebrations, as well as time to relax and to receive visitors at the entrance.

Furthermore, consecrated life in a community of nuns may improve the life of visitors, Sister Cecília observed. It is “a great gift for me personally, for the Church and for the world,” as “we live exclusively for the Lord” and pray for those who come. Those faithful “often feel better because they are listened to, accepted, knowing that they are not alone in what they are experiencing, because we accompany them with prayer,” she stressed.

A monastic life thus shows that we should “put God first,” as he “gives meaning to everything we do and to who we are. He is our God and at the same time a faithful friend,” the Slovak nun said.

In a letter dated July 16 and published by the Vatican on July 22, Pope Leo XIV wrote to mark the 70th anniversary of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the United States. He encouraged them to consider community life “as a place of sanctification and a source of inspiration, witness, and strength in your apostolate.”

According to the pontiff, who is a member of the Augustinian order himself, “it is precisely through sharing everything in common, including material goods, spiritual experiences, apostolic ideals, and charitable service that the hidden presence of the risen Lord is made manifest among you.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/europe/why-monks-outlive-other-men-inside-a-30-year-study-of-european-monasteries