NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Less than 1% of Catholic nuns in the United States today are 30 or younger. Seyram Adzokpa and Zoey Stapleton are two of the young women who have made the rare decision to join a religious community and begin the long process to become nuns. Here are their stories.
From Ghana to Texas to a New Orleans convent
The first time Sister Seyram Mary Adzokpa felt pulled toward religious life was walking in a Texas Walmart, at the age of 25, with her mother.
Born in Ghana, Adzokpa had never encountered a nun. Her family attended the Catholic church faithfully, but she knew nothing of the religious life and always thought marriage would be her path.
“I wanted a husband like my dad. With three kids. I had the names of my two girls picked out,” she said.
Eleven years after moving to the United States she was introduced to this new possibility as she watched two Dominican sisters enter the store.
“I still cannot describe the feeling,” she said remembering how perfectly pressed their habits were. “My heart just — I can’t explain what it felt like — but it was a pull.”