Our History

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) was founded on August 5, 1964 in response to the need for a national social science research center. CARA was created to help the Catholic Church better understand and navigate the rapidly changing society of the 1950s and 60s. CARA’s honorary first president, Richard Cardinal Cushing provided a $50,000 start-up grant (the equivalent of more than $500,000 today). Some of the founding board members included Archbishop John Cody and Archbishop Fulton Sheen. 

Upon announcing CARA’s creation, Archbishop Cody said, “Up to the present, there has been in this country no mechanism capable of aiding an integrated apostolic effort supported by careful study, evaluation and scientific research. CARA will represent a serious attempt to fill this need in a thoroughly professional and scientific manner.” Since then, CARA has focused on being a high-quality research source that provides data for Church decision-makers. In our 60 years, we have produced more than 2,400 research studies for Catholic organizations large and small.