So, is there a priest shortage?

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[american colleen]

So, is there a priest shortage?

It is fairly common for the press, Catholic or secular, to report about a shortage of Catholic priests that is usually described as a crisis for the Church. It is true that the number of priests in the US has been declining for over a decade. This has been a fairly small decline however, from 53,000 in 1991 to 46,000 in 2001. There has probably been a similar decline in the percentage of active Catholics during these same years, but this is harder to measure accurately. Keep in mind that there are less than 20,000 Catholic parishes in the US, far less than the number of priests. And just for example, if half of the parishes closed overnight, most Catholics would still have a shorter trip to Sunday mass than to their nearest shopping mall. (Thanks to a local bishop for that fact.) I live in an area where towns of less than two hundred people still have a priest serving their parish.

These statistics need to be interpreted in light of an important fact: The Catholic Church is an international, worldwide institution. Priests can and often do travel between nations to meet local needs. Some people think it a problem that the US has imported a few hundred foreign-born priests because our seminaries can't produce enough. Do these people realize that the US has imported half a million computer programmers because our schools can't produce enough?

You won't see much reporting about this, but worldwide the number of priests and seminarians is growing. Between 1990 and 2000, total priests worldwide increased from 401,000 to 405,000. Granted, this is slower than the percent growth in total Catholics, but remember that several other religions are shrinking in the modern, secularized world. In other words, "They wish they had our problems"! Add to this the number of permanent deacons, which exploded from 17,000 to 27,000 during these years. Permanent deacons are ordained clergy who perform baptisms, weddings and preach. They will play a growing role in the future of the Church, but they get very little publicity. The overall result is that the number of Catholic clergy has increased significantly in the last decade. And during those 10 years the number of worldwide Catholic major seminarians grew from 93,000 to 110,000, a very healthy increase. The lack of growth is mostly in the English-speaking nations. And even there the problem is more local than you might think.

Some US Dioceses are ordaining many more priests than others. By comparing the number of priests active in a diocese during 2001 with the same figure from 1991, we can see how the diocese is trending vocationally. The percentage figure represents the 2001 number divided by the 1991 figure. A higher percentage means the diocese is having more success attracting new priests. Compare these relatively successful dioceses:

Atlanta, GA. . . . 123%

Arlington, VA. . 121

Lincoln, NE. . . . 107

Fargo, ND. . . . 101

Rockford, IL. . . . 97

With these relatively unsuccessful ones:

Rochester, NY. . . 72%

Milwaukee, WI. . . 77

Albany, NY. . . . . . 79

New Ulm, MN. . . 79

Joliet, IL. . . . . . . . 80

I hate to use a cliche, but numbers don't lie. Anyone can see a huge difference here. Ultimately, the bishop of a diocese is responsible for vocations. I will leave it to you, gentle reader, to explore what many other Catholics have said about the men who were leading the Dioceses above during those years. I will say that if we had accountability in the Church like major business corporations do, Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester would have been forced to resign long ago.

Standard business management practice would suggest that we study the Dioceses that are succeeding, see what factors are helping them, and implement these factors in other places. Bishops that fail to do this should be held accountable in some way. This is an area where some new kind of lay empowerment may be needed. If any readers are curious about the percentage figure for your local diocese, contact me and I will calculate it for you. For now, this may be the best "power rating" available to evaluate the performance of Catholic Bishops.

[american colleen]

Found this on the web and thought some here might find it interesting.

[american colleen]

.

[american colleen]

PS. Is there a cooler name than "Kowalski"?

[Hermann the Cherusker]

There has probably been a similar decline in the percentage of active Catholics during these same years, but this is harder to measure accurately.

Some dioceses do keep track of this. On the Philadelphia Archdiocesean website, you can see statistics showing a decline in percentage participation in certain areas of the diocese (especially poorer neighborhoods).

[eastsider]

Albany, NY. . . . . . 79

Ping.

[eastsider]

Sorry, but #5 was supposed to be a ping to NYer.

[american colleen]

Do they or are they able to keep track of the (resultant?) increase in suburban parishes?

It's kind of a joke for us (media, lefty Catholic journals, and some dioceses) to measure Catholics by the numbers of baptisms and marriages in the parishes. Almost everyone I know was baptized and later married in a Catholic parish but almost all of them do not attend Mass at all.

[american colleen]

I figured that.

[Snuffington]

Oh well. Now we'll have to come up with some new reason why we need to dump clerical celibacy, ordain women, and all the rest of the bunk usually offered as a "cure" for our priest shortage. After all, the reason is beside the point. The important thing is to keep being "progressive." (removing tongue from cheek)

[B Knotts]

Yep. There's a priest shortage, but as Michael Rose argued, and this article concurs...it is artificial, and solvable.

Throw out the hetrodox bishops, replace them with orthodox bishops, and the priest "shortage" will evaporate.

[american colleen]

Yes. It's interesting that the "not so successful dioceses" came as no surprise and the "successful dioceses" didn't either. Now if the progressives are really serious about the "Eucharist Famine" that they keep insisting we are facing, they might start to look at the dioceses that are successfully retaining priests and attracting men with vocations and work from there. But I won't hold my breath.

I like facts... they are our friends!

[american colleen]

I guess we won't be seeing stuff like this in the NCReporter or America anytime soon. Might give the progressives a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

[JohnnyZ]

Nice post AC - BTTT

[xzins]

In our community they are consolidating the parishes and going from 3 to 2 priests in the entire county.

Contrary to this article, it is viewed by the people as a problem and not a victory.

They no longer have their community church and they have to drive 3 times as far to get there to be ministered to by someone who has to split his attention among far more people.

You can call a donkey a horse, 'cause it's sorta like a horse, but it just isn't, is it?

[NYer]

Albany, NY. . . . . . 79 ..... Hubbard Country!

Rochester, NY. . . 72% ...... Matthew C. Clark Country - Hubbard's classmate from seminary and dearest friend!

This might explain why Rochester ranks so low ...

Rochester Bishop Holds Mass For Homosexuals Amid Protest

DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER NEWS and VIEWS - Cathedral Denied Landmark status. Wreckovation may now begin.

Sanctuary of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Rochester, NY
The floor and all other elements will be demolished. The new 6' square altar will be situated in the nave (middle aisle) of the cathedral.

COMPLETE STORY

[presidio9]

Thanks for a great post.

[american colleen]

Contrary to this article, it is viewed by the people as a problem and not a victory.

The gist of this article is that the more orthodox dioceses are not experiencing a priest/seminarian shortage and the liberal/progressive dioceses are experiencing a shortage. Other than that, I am not sure I get your point?

We (in my area of the northeast) average one to two priests per parish (not including lay or religious pastoral associates & lay led ministries). But I can drive for 15 minutes in any direction and pass maybe 8 or 9 parishes. Maybe two of them are close to capacity at Sunday Mass.

The problem in my area is finding an orthodox parish.

[JohnnyZ]

Contrary to this article, it is viewed by the people as a problem and not a victory.

Did you read the article? 'Cause it sounds like you didn't read the article.

[xzins]

What part do you think I misunderstood?

There is a priest shortage except for a few areas where there isn't. That about sizes it up, right?

[xJones]

The good news in this is obviously that the conservative "true" Catholic dioceses are ordaining far more priests, percentage wise, to the liberal dioceses, but do you know what the actual number of priests ordained from these dioceses are? For instance, it's very telling that the Atlantic diocese saw a 123% increase in 2001 from 1991, and the Rochester diocese saw a 72% drop for that same time period. But how many priests does that equal in real numbers? IOW, gains or loses in percentages are even more impressive if we knew that, say, Atlanta had been ordaining large numbers of priests, even in 1991, and 123% was a really whopping increase.