An order of nuns that has been in Tucson for more than 80 years has decided to close their monastery and leave the state. The order isn’t lacking money, but members.

There are16 Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Tucson, including  Sister Joan Ridley, the monastery’s local superior.

“You know, I’m only in my late 60s, so I’m one of the younger ones, you might say,” she said, with a chuckle.

She said her order, like many, is aging and dwindling in number. That’s why the congregational leadership has chosen to close the monastery within two years, and move many – if not all – its nuns to Clyde, Missouri, where the rest of the order is based. 

For generations, they’ve been providing people in Tucson a place of peace and prayer, “whether it’s private prayer or prayer with us in our communal services,” Ridley said, “They find it means a lot to them. So we don’t want to have to shut that down and leave. We sure don’t want to.”

But she said they’ve decided it’s what’s best for the order.