CARA gets many inquiries from Church agencies and the media about the numbers for vocations, seminary enrollments, priests and vowed religious, parishes, Mass attendance, schools and the Catholic population. Below are some comparative statistics from 1965. Generally, these data reflect the situation at the beginning of the calendar year listed. The sources for this information include The Official Catholic Directory (OCD), the Vatican's Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (ASE), and other CARA research and databases. All data are cross checked as much as possible. For the U.S, the numbers reported here include only figures for those 195 dioceses or eparchies who belong to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and all U.S. military personnel stationed overseas. This page also includes links to other areas of the CARA website that provide answers to frequently asked questions.
For more information about CARA research and statistics, including our national and parish surveys, demographic studies, trend analyses and projections, and focus groups visit CARA Services. For more information about CARA's beginings read the following Review of Religious Research article from 1967 by Francis X. Gannon entitled, "Bridging the Research Gap: CARA, Response to Vatican II."
Follow up-to-the-minute updates about CARA research here:
United States data over time:
1965 |
1975 |
1985 |
1995 |
2000 |
2005 |
2010 |
|
| Total priests | 58,632 |
58,909 |
57,317 |
49,054 |
45,699 |
42,839 |
39,993 |
| Diocesan priests | 35,925 |
36,005 |
35,052 |
32,349 |
30,607 |
28,702 |
27,182 |
Religious priests | 22,707 |
22,904 |
22,265 |
16,705 |
15,092 |
14,137 |
12,811 |
| Priestly ordinations | 994 |
771 |
533 |
511 |
442 |
454 |
459 |
| Graduate-level seminarians | 8,325 |
5,279 |
4,063 |
3,172 |
3,474 |
3,308 |
3,483 |
| Permanent deacons | na |
898 |
7,204 |
10,932 |
12,378 |
14,574 |
16,649 |
| Religious brothers | 12,271 |
8,625 |
7,544 |
6,535 |
5,662 |
5,451 |
4,690 |
| Religious sisters | 179,954 |
135,225 |
115,386 |
90,809 |
79,814 |
68,634 |
57,544 |
| Parishes | 17,637 |
18,515 |
19,244 |
19,331 |
19,236 |
18,891 |
17,958 |
| Without a resident priest pastor |
549 |
702 |
1,051 |
2,161 |
2,843 |
3,251 |
3,400+ |
| Where a bishop has entrusted the pastoral care of the parrish to a deacon, religious sister or brother, or other lay person (Canon 517.2) |
na |
na |
93 |
314 |
447 |
553 |
517+ |
| Catholic population | 45.6m |
48.7m |
52.3m |
57.4m |
59.9m |
64.8m |
65.6m |
Percent of U.S. population | 24% |
23% |
23% |
23% |
22% |
23% |
21% |
| Catholic elementary schools |
-- |
8,414 |
7,764 |
6,964 |
6,793 |
6,122 |
6,889* |
| Students in Catholic elementary schools | -- |
2.557m |
2.005m |
1.815m |
1.800m |
1.559m |
1.508m* |
| Catholic secondary schools | -- |
1,624 |
1,425 |
1,280 |
1,297 |
1,325 |
1,205* |
| Students in Catholic secondary schools | -- |
884,181 |
774,216 |
638,440 |
653,723 |
653,226 |
611,723* |
| Mass Attendance CARA Catholic Poll (CCP): Percentage of U.S.adult Catholics who say they attended Mass once a week or more (i.e., those attending every week). For more background information on measurement, see: The Nuances of Accurately Measuring Mass Attendance. |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
22% |
23% |
22% |
*Most recent estimates of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). School data for previous years is from the ASE. +Data are for 2009. |
|||||||
World data over time:
1970 |
1975 |
1985 |
1995 |
2000 |
2005 |
2008 |
|
| Total priests | 419,728 |
404,783 |
403,480 |
404,750 |
405,178 |
406,411 |
409,166 |
| Diocesan priests | 270,924 |
259,331 |
253,319 |
262,418 |
265,781 |
269,762 |
274,007 |
| Religious priests | 148,804 |
145,452 |
150,161 |
142,332 |
139,397 |
136,649 |
135,159 |
| Diocesan priestly ordinations | 4,622 |
4,140 |
4,822 |
6,444 |
6,814 |
6,614 |
6,726 |
| Graduate-level seminarians | -- |
-- |
43,476 |
54,154 |
55,968 |
58,538 |
58,959 |
| Permanent deacons | 309 |
2,686 |
12,541 |
22,390 |
27,824 |
33,391 |
36,539 |
| Religious brothers | 79,408 |
70,388 |
65,208 |
59,515 |
55,057 |
54,708 |
54,641 |
| Religious sisters | 1,004,304 |
968,526 |
917,432 |
837,961 |
801,185 |
760,529 |
739,068 |
| Parishes | 191,398 |
200,116 |
212,021 |
220,077 |
218,196 |
217,616 |
218,865 |
| Without a resident priest pastor |
39,431 |
46,074 |
55,343 |
60,705 |
55,729 |
52,509 |
49,631 |
| Where a bishop has entrusted the pastoral care of the parrish to a deacon, religious sister or brother, or other lay person (Canon 517.2) | na |
na |
1,635 |
3,278 |
3,373 |
3,122 |
3,106 |
| Catholic population | 653.6m |
709.6m |
852.0m |
989.4m |
1.045b |
1.115b |
1.166b |
| Percent of world population | 18% |
17% |
18% |
17% |
17% |
17% |
17% |
| Catholic elementary schools | 89,112 |
79,424 |
78,160 |
85,043 |
89,457 |
91,480 |
93,315 |
| Students in Catholic elementary schools | 20.396m |
19.584m |
22.390m |
25.246m |
26.097m |
28.084m |
30.520m |
| Catholic secondary schools | 25,552 |
27,542 |
30,404 |
33,349 |
35,559 |
39,096 |
42,234 |
| Students in Catholic secondary schools | 7.667m |
9.522m |
12.066m |
13.232m |
14.027m |
16.232m |
17.758m |
| Notes on International Mass Attendance | -- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
- |
Additional Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Catholic Mass attendance becoming less frequent? Graphic and Report (pgs. 20-22)
- How many Catholics go to Mass in any given week and how many go every week? Article
- Why do Catholics say they miss weekly Mass from time to time? Graphic and Report (pgs. 48-50)
- How often do Catholics receive Eucharist at Mass? Report (pgs. 44-45)
- What percentage of Catholics go to Confession frequently? Graphic and Report (pgs. 57-60)
- What percentage of Catholics give regularly to their parish offertory collection? Report (pg. 9)
- How many Catholics
consider a clerical or religious vocation? Graphic and Report (pgs.
69-75)
- How many Catholics receive ashes on Ash Wednesday or abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent? Article and Report (pgs. 84-88)
- What percentage of the U.S. adult population identifies as Catholic? Article
- How many people raised
Catholic stop considering themselves Catholic later in life? Article
- Who do Catholics vote for? Since 1952 and more specific articles for the 2008, 2004, and 2000 elections
- How many Latinos/Latinas
self-identify as Catholic? Article.
What are the differences
and similarities in the religious beliefs and practices of Latino/a
Catholics and non-Latino/s Catholics? Graphics
- How likely are Catholics to be married to a Catholic? How likely are they to divorce? Graphic and Report
- What percentage of
Catholics have celebrated their First Communion and have been confirmed?
Graphic
and Report
(pgs. 27-30)
