CARA's New Book Identifies Trends  in U.S. Catholic Church Catholicism USA Published by Orbis Books

   Despite tremendous changes in Catholic demographics and culture, and increasing upward mobility in education, income, occupation, and lifestyle over the 20th century, U.S. Catholics still reflect distinct patterns of religious behavior and social and political attitudes, argues Catholicism USA: A Portrait of the Catholic Church in the United States, a new book by Bryan T. Froehle, Ph.D., and Mary L. Gautier, Ph.D., of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. 

   Published by Orbis Books, Catholicism USA closely analyzes long-term trends in U.S. Catholic life, focusing on such topics as demographics, politics, education, personnel, and health care.  Features in the book include: graphs, maps, and tables that summarize more than 35 years of CARA data as  well as other contemporary Catholic research and available statistics. 

A sampling of statistics from the book include: 
 

     The Catholic Church has grown from one diocese and 35 parishes in 1800 to 192 dioceses and over 19,000 parishes today.  The least densely Catholic dioceses are Fairbanks and Juneau in Alaska; the most densely Catholic diocese is Brownsville, Texas, with about 85 percent of its population Catholic. 

     In the late 20th century, Catholics have come to be recognized as a critical swing vote that can determine the outcome of national as well as local elections.  Catholics are somewhat more likely to vote than other citizens, and have provided nearly 30 percent of the votes in recent national elections. 

     Eighty-five percent of self-identified Catholics report that their Catholic faith is "somewhat" or "very" important to them, and three in four say they are  "somewhat" or "very" satisfied with the way the Church meets their spiritual needs and with the leadership of the Church. 

     Since 1960, 147 new religious communities have been organized in the United States.  Two-thirds of these communities have been organized in the past two decades. 

     Of the approximately 47,500 priests in the United States today, about 30,500 are diocesan and 17,000 are religious priests.  The average age of active diocesan priests is 59, and that of active religious priests is 63. Fewer than one in five diocesan priests are under age 45. 

     In 1950, more than 75 percent of all teachers in Catholic elementary and high schools were religious sisters.  Today 93 percent of teachers are lay persons, and sisters comprise just 6 percent of all teachers. 

     The period of most rapid growth in vowed religious life was between 1945 and 1965.  The number of religious sisters peaked in 1965 at 181,421.  Religious brothers peaked the next year at 12,539, and religious priests reached a peak of 23,021 in 1967.  Today, there are some 103,000 vowed religious in the  United States.  Approximately 21,000 are men, half of them over age 61, and 82,000 are women, half of them over age 68.  See trends in religious life. 

     Emerging from the vision of the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, lay ecclesial ministry is a new and increasingly important personnel trend in the U.S. Catholic Church.  Today, more than 26,000 lay ecclesial ministers have become part of the formal leadership within parishes, dioceses, and Catholic organizations.  More than 30,000 lay persons are currently enrolled in formation programs for professional lay ecclesial ministers.  This figure illustrates the tremendous growth in lay ministry that has been developing for many years in parishes across the United States. 

     The first in a three-part series, Catholicism USA will be followed by a second book that examines worldwide trends in Catholic Church life since the1960s and a final edited volume of essays from major researchers on Catholic life who will discuss trends from the previous two books and what these trends portend for the future of the Church. 

     Catholicism USA (ISBN 1-57075-272-9, 224pp., paperback) is available from bookstores nationally for $30, or direct from Orbis Books.  To order direct using a credit card, call toll-free Monday through Friday 1-800-258-5838, or write Orbis Books, Department A99, Box 302, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0302.