Canadian nuns seek recruits through ads

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A Canadian order of nuns has turned to the popular media for advertisement, calling young women who might feel inclined toward its religious life, a nun said.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, hired Terry O'Reilly, the host of Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio's The Age of Persuasion, for its ad campaign that will begin early next year, The Toronto Star reported Sunday.

Sister Bonnie MacLellan, the superior general of the Catholic order, said the ads, which will consist of radio sports and notices on buses, will not get into details about the nuns' vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

"We are just trying to create a door, or a touch point where people get a message about the sisters and a way to channel it. ...We are tapping into women who already feel these stirrings, who are already considering that kind of life," MacLellan said.

MacLellan anticipates questions about living without sex. "You live without sex, but not without love. I don't feel unfulfilled. I feel I have a love relationship with God," she said.

Fewer women are entering religious orders. There were 24,000 nuns in Canada in 1988, but by 2004, there were only approximately 18,000, the Star reported.