CARA
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caralogobr.jpg Frequently Requested Catholic Church Statistics

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, 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."
Catholic Ministry Formation Statistics
The Permanent Diaconate
Statistics on Religious Life
Trends in U.S. Mass Attendance
Global Trends in Mass Attendance
The Catholic Vote
The CARA Catholic Poll (CCP)
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U.S. Data 1965 1975 1985 1995 2000 2005 2008
Diocesan priests 35,925 36,005 35,052 32,349 30,607 28,702
 27,614
Religious priests 22,707 22,904 22,265 16,705 15,092 14,137 12,966
Total priests 58,632 58,909 57,317 49,054 45,699 42,839 40,580
Priestly ordinations 994 771 533 511 442 454 480
Graduate-level seminarians 8,325 5,279 4,063 3,172 3,474 3,308 3,286
Permanent deacons --  898 7,204 10,932 12,378 14,574 15,893
Religious brothers 12,271 8,625 7,544 6,535 5,662 5,451 5,001
Religious sisters 179,954 135,225 115,386 90,809 79,814 68,634 59,208
Parishes 17,637 18,515 19,244 19,331 19,236 18,891 18,479
Without a resident priest pastor
 549 702 1,051 2,161 2,843 3,251 3,141
Catholic population 45.6m 48.7m 52.3m 57.4m 59.9m 64.8m 64.1m
Percent of U.S. population 24% 23% 23% 23% 22% 23% 22%
Catholic elementary schools --
 		--
 		--
 		6,979
 		6,923
 6,574
 		6,165
Students in Catholic elementary schools --
 		--
 		--
 		1.991m
 		2.013m
 1.779m
 		1.634m
Catholic secondary schools --
 		--
 		--
 		1,238
 		1,221
 1,225
 		1,213
Students in Catholic secondary schools --
 		--
 		--
 		614,571
 		639,954
 640,952
 		656,581
CARA Catholic Poll (CCP): Yearly average percent of U.S.adult Catholics who say they attended Mass once a week or more (i.e., those attending every week) in CARA's telephone polls.

Comparisons: The Gallup Poll trend for the  yearly average percent of U.S.adult Catholics who say they attended Mass in the last seven days (i.e., those attending in any given week). International Mass Attendance: Population weighted  percentage of adult Catholics who say they attended Mass once a week or more (i.e., those attending every week) in the 38 largest Catholic population nations. 		-- -- -- --
33%

 35%
 36%
   
World Data 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Diocesan priests
270,924
259,331
257,409
253,319
257,696
262,418
265,781
 269,762
Religious priests
148,804
145,452
156,191
150,161
145,477
142,332
139,397
 136,649
Total priests
419,728
404,783
413,600
403,480
403,173
404,750
405,178
 406,411
Diocesan priestly ordinations
4,622
4,140
3,860
4,822
5,938
6,444
6,814
 6,614
Graduate-level seminarians
--
--
33,731
43,476
51,603
54,154
55,968
 58,538
Permanent deacons
309
2,686
7,654
12,541
17,525
22,390
27,824
 33,391
Religious brothers
79,408
70,388
73,090
65,208
62,526
59,515
55,057
 54,708
Religious sisters
1,004,304
968,526
960,991
917,432
882,111
837,961
801,185
 760,529
Parishes
191,398
200,116
206,503
212,021
215,805
220,077
218,196
 217,616
Without a resident priest pastor
39,431
46,074
50,469
55,343
57,664
60,705
55,729
 52,509
Catholic population
653.6m
709.6m
783.7m
852.0m
928.5m
989.4m
1.045b
 1.115b
Percent of world population 18% 17% 18% 18% 18% 17% 17% 17%


Frequently Asked Questions
  • How many Catholics go to Mass every week? Graphic and Report (pgs. 20-22)
  • 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? Articles for the 2008, 2004, and 2000 elections
  • How many Hispanics are Catholic? Article
  • 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)
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA)
Putting social science research at the service of the Church since 1964.

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