- Feb 5, 2002
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The Catholic Church in the United States has been experiencing a steep, accelerating numerical/institutional decline for half a century, and all indications are that the decline will continue for the foreseeable future. Catholic lay people need to prepare now for the challenges that inevitably will bring.
Numbers for the country as a whole tell the story:
• In 1970 there were more than 59,000 priests in America, 37,000 of them diocesan clergy. Last year, the number was around 34,000, including 24,000 diocesans. About a third of the priests are retired.
• From 1970 to 2022 the number of U.S. parishes went from a little over 18,000 to around 16,400; those without resident pastors rose from 571 to 3,215. Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more often dropped from 54.9 percent to 17.3 percent.
• Parish closings and consolidations have become common occurrences in dioceses in the Northeast and Midwest. In the Southwest, where overall population is rising, Church numbers also continue to rise, but even there the priest shortage is a problem.
Now consider a few diocesan numbers – by no means the whole of the story but representative of what’s been happening generally.
In the mid-1980s the Archdiocese of Chicago had nearly 450 parishes. In 2016 it was about 350, and by next summer it will be 221. Over the last year the Archdiocese of New York whittled down 112 parishes (out of a total of 368) to 55. And similar shrinkage is happening in smaller sees like Madison, Wisconsin, which expects to have consolidated its 102 parishes into about 30 by next year, and Columbus, Ohio, with 97 active priests for 105 parishes as of late last year (and planning for a projected 80 priests by 2030).
Continued below.
www.thecatholicthing.org
Numbers for the country as a whole tell the story:
• In 1970 there were more than 59,000 priests in America, 37,000 of them diocesan clergy. Last year, the number was around 34,000, including 24,000 diocesans. About a third of the priests are retired.
• From 1970 to 2022 the number of U.S. parishes went from a little over 18,000 to around 16,400; those without resident pastors rose from 571 to 3,215. Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more often dropped from 54.9 percent to 17.3 percent.
• Parish closings and consolidations have become common occurrences in dioceses in the Northeast and Midwest. In the Southwest, where overall population is rising, Church numbers also continue to rise, but even there the priest shortage is a problem.
Now consider a few diocesan numbers – by no means the whole of the story but representative of what’s been happening generally.
In the mid-1980s the Archdiocese of Chicago had nearly 450 parishes. In 2016 it was about 350, and by next summer it will be 221. Over the last year the Archdiocese of New York whittled down 112 parishes (out of a total of 368) to 55. And similar shrinkage is happening in smaller sees like Madison, Wisconsin, which expects to have consolidated its 102 parishes into about 30 by next year, and Columbus, Ohio, with 97 active priests for 105 parishes as of late last year (and planning for a projected 80 priests by 2030).
Continued below.
Getting Ready for a Smaller Church - The Catholic Thing
Russell Shaw: Serious training and formation are needed to prepare lay Catholics for an expanded role in the smaller Church of the future.
www.thecatholicthing.org
