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The Catholic Church is looking for (more than) a few good men
What if you had a nice Catholic church, but couldn't find a priest to conduct services in it? That's a problem facing the RCC these days, and there doesn't seem to be a solution on the horizon.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/catholic-church-looking-more-few-good-men-n903041
The Catholic Church is looking for (more than) a few good men
The numbers of U.S. priests and seminarians have been plummeting for decades, and it's not just because of the church's sexual abuse scandals.
{snip}
In the last 50 years, the number of U.S. priests who serve as day-to-day leaders of parishes — known as diocesan priests, as opposed to those who join religious orders — has dropped by almost a third, from about 37,300 in 1970 to about 25,800 last year, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
{snip}
More worrying for the church is that enrollment in seminaries began falling even earlier, as soon as it reached its modern height in 1968, when more than 8,000 men were on track for ordination.
By 1974, the number of seminarians had fallen to about 5,000. It plateaued at about 3,100 in the mid-1990s, and since then, enrollment has remained stable.
The numbers of U.S. priests and seminarians have been plummeting for decades, and it's not just because of the church's sexual abuse scandals.
{snip}
In the last 50 years, the number of U.S. priests who serve as day-to-day leaders of parishes — known as diocesan priests, as opposed to those who join religious orders — has dropped by almost a third, from about 37,300 in 1970 to about 25,800 last year, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
{snip}
More worrying for the church is that enrollment in seminaries began falling even earlier, as soon as it reached its modern height in 1968, when more than 8,000 men were on track for ordination.
By 1974, the number of seminarians had fallen to about 5,000. It plateaued at about 3,100 in the mid-1990s, and since then, enrollment has remained stable.
More at link...
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