Cardinal Robert Prevost appears on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, choosing the name of Pope Leo XIV, at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
It is (expressed as a percentage) one of the fastest-growing religious movements in America: there’s a new Shaker! The last active Shaker community in the United States has had just two remaining members for some time now. The sect was founded in 1747, prioritizing the confession of sin, the community of goods and celibacy — the last of which is generally considered to be a key cause of the religious order’s diminished numbers. Until recently, there were just two remaining full members of the Christian sect: an 87-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man, the latter of whom joined in 1978. A new convert — a 59-year-old woman who previously lived in an episcopal convent for four years — came to live at the village this spring, and has since joined formally, bringing the number of Shakers up to three.
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