CENTER FOR APPLIED RESEARCH IN THE APOSTOLATE
Placing Social Science Research at the Service of the Catholic Church Since 1964
Latest News
Talking About Your Generation
In 2026, we are finally at a point where we can confidently report survey findings about the youngest (and oldest) American Catholic adult generations. To do so we use the Pew Research Center’s generational year definitions. The youngest, Gen-Z were born between 1997 and 2012, however we can only “see” those born 1997 to 2006 in current adult survey data (i.e., ages 18 and older). It’s with these youngest Catholics that there seems to be the greatest interest in data. We heard a lot in 2025 about a possible religious revival and about Catholics outnumbering Protestants in this younger demographic. What’s in the numbers?
Latest News
Studies Commissioned by the McGrath Institute
CARA has completed three studies commissioned by the McGrath Institute at Notre Dame University. The first evaluated satisfaction and challenges among recently ordained priests in the U.S. The second assessed sexual harassment, abuse, and misconduct at U.S. seminaries. The third evaluated the Church’s practices in assessing the suitability of candidates for the priesthood. All three reports are available in CARA’s publications section of our website (click “Read More” below).
Latest News
The Impact of Marian Devotions on Vocations
This report presents findings from a survey of U.S. bishops, diocesan priests, permanent deacons, deacon directors, and major superiors of men and women about the impact of Marian devotion on their ecclesial vocations. The survey was designed by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in collaboration with the Diocese of Saginaw. Altogether there were 1,091 respondents.
Our
Mission
To increase the Church’s self understanding;
To serve the applied research needs of Church decision-makers;
To advance scholarly research on religion, particularly Catholicism.
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CARA can help you with surveys, focus groups, interviews, demographics, mapping, planning studies, trend analysis, projections and forecasting, program reviews, market research, data collection and database creation and maintenance, archival research, and pre-test/post-test experiments.
CARA's team includes researchers and staff with degrees in sociology, political science, city planning, education, communications, business, marketing, philanthropic studies, religious studies, and church ministry. We're here to help you solve problems, understand issues, plan for the future, and be more effective.
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