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CajunRick
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Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 11:39 am |
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The Catholic Church in the United States At A Glance
Laity
There are 69,135,254 Catholics in the United States1 (23% of the U.S. population), and 1 billion Catholics worldwide2.
New Church Members3
Infant Baptisms: 943,264
Adult Baptisms: 80,817
Received into Full Communion: 73,684
Dioceses and Archdioceses
In the United States, there are 195 archdioceses and dioceses:
145 Latin Catholic dioceses
33 Latin Catholic archdioceses
15 Eastern Catholic dioceses
2 Eastern Catholic archdioceses
Clergy and Religious
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is an assembly of the hierarchy of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cardinals
There are 14 U.S. Cardinals
- 7 Cardinals currently lead U.S. archdioceses
Cardinal William Keeler – Baltimore
Cardinal Francis George - Chicago
Cardinal Adam Maida – Detroit
Cardinal Roger Mahony – Los Angeles
Cardinal Edward Egan – New York
Cardinal Justin Rigali – Philadelphia
Cardinal Sean O'Malley - Boston
- 5 U.S. Cardinals are not currently diocesan bishops
Cardinal Avery Dulles – Professor of Theology, Fordham University
Cardinal James Stafford – Major Penitentiary
Cardinal Bernard F. Law – Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, Rome
Cardinal Edmund Szoka – President, Pontifical Commission for Vatican City
Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- 3 U.S Cardinals are retired
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua – Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia
Cardinal William Baum – Major Penitentiary Emeritus
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick - Archbishop of Washington
Bishops
There are 428 active and retired U.S. bishops in the United States (as of February 5, 2007) (note: not included in this number are three Cardinals serving the Holy See in Rome):
- 268 Active Bishops:
- 7 Cardinal Archbishops
- 28 Archbishops
- 1 Coadjutor Archbishop
- 153 Diocesan Bishops
- 79 Auxiliary Bishops
- 160 Retired Bishops:
- 3 retired Cardinal Archbishops
- 16 retired Archbishops
- 93 retired Diocesan Bishops
- 48 retired Auxiliary Bishops
Currently, 5 dioceses are vacant (sede vacante):
- Birmingham
- Great Falls-Billings
- Lake Charles
- Little Rock
- Pittsburgh
Priests4
There are 42,271 diocesan and religious-order priests in the United States.
- 28,538 diocesan priests
- 14,520 religious-order priests (Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc.)
Seminarians5
There are 5,642 seminarians enrolled in the United States.
- 3,929 enrolled in diocesan seminaries
- 1,713 enrolled in religious-order seminaries
Permanent Deacons6
There are 14,995 men who are ordained as permanent deacons in the United States. A permanent deacon is a man, either married or single, who is ordained to the order of deacons, the first of three ranks in ordained ministry. They assist priests in administrative and pastoral roles.
Vowed Religious7
- Sisters: 67,773
- Brothers: 5,252
Catholic Education8
- Elementary Schools: 6,148 schools educating 1,674,317 students
- High Schools: 1,354 schools educating 679,506 students
- Colleges and Universities: 231 institutions educating 763,757 students
- Non-residential Schools for Handicapped Persons: 79 schools educating 5,745 students
- Public School Students Receiving Religious Education:
- Elementary School students: 3,486,805
- High School students: 729,421
Catholic Health Care9
- Hospitals: 573 Catholic hospitals treated 84,723,272 patients
- Other Health Care Centers: 392 centers treated 6,054,544 patients
- Specialized Homes: 1,503 assisted 687,519 residents
- Residential Care of Children: 235 locations assisted 77,926 residents
Catholic Charities Social Services10
More than 1,789 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions provided services to 7,199,271 unduplicated individuals in need of help in 2004.
- Provided Services that Build Strong Communities to 3,415,271 people
Social support services 1,850,366
Education and enrichment 618,712
Socialization and neighborhood services 506,878
Health-related services 183,983
Services to at-risk populations 255,332
- Provided Food Services to 5,260,459 people
Food banks and food pantries 2,226,630
Soup kitchens 803,983
Congregate dining 1,463,718
Home delivered meals 307,901
Other food services 458,227
- Provided Services that Strengthen Families to 1,172,225 people
Counseling and mental health services 542,483
Immigration services 323,762
Addiction services 138,428
Refugee services 51,995
Pregnancy services 70,998
Adoption services 44,559
- Provided Housing Related Services to 544,039 people
Housing services 194,833
Temporary shelter 170,010
Supervised living 103,963
Permanent housing 34,344
Transitional housing 40,889
- Provided Other Basic Needs Services to 1,521,597 people
Financial Assistance (not rent, mortgage, etc.) 12%
Clothing Assistance 34%
Utilities Assistance 12%
Assistance with Purchase of Prescriptions 3%
Additional Other Basic Needs Assistance 39%
- Provided Disaster Services to 99,863 people
- The Official Catholic Directory 2006, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New Providence, NJ. 2006
- Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2004; population estimated as of June 30, 2002.
- The Official Catholic Directory 2006.
- The Official Catholic Directory 2006.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Catholic Charities USA 2004 Annual Survey At A Glance.
The above information is reposted from the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Media Relations. Recently, the Vatican estimated the world-wide Catholic population at 1.15 billion as of 2006. Catholic Charities figures are as of 2004, and do not include the massive Catholic relief effort after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.
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JillD
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 858 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 12:03 pm |
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Please forgive me if this is a really stupid question, but given the scarcity of priests, is there any thought to some of the religious-order priests serving in the parishes for a time? I was surprised to see how many of the total are religious-order. Again, if I am completely misunderstanding the picture here, I'm a newbie!! Open to education...
Jill
____________________
"I praise you, for I am wondrously made. Wonderful are our works! My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret." Ps 139
"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men." Ps 140
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CajunRick
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Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 02:53 pm |
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JillD wrote: Please forgive me if this is a really stupid question,
Remember, there are no stupid questions except the ones that don't get asked!
is there any thought to some of the religious-order priests serving in the parishes for a time?
Actually, a great many religious order priests do work in parishes, often in areas that are desparately underserved. Others serve in teaching capacities. For example, in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Jesuits operate a high school (called, not surprisingly, Jesuit High School), and Benedictines operate the seminary for the state of Louisiana.
Priests who belong to religious orders usually have initials after their name: SJ (Society of Jesus) is the Jesuits, TOR is Franciscans of the Third Order Regular, OFM is the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, CAP is Franciscan Capuchins, OP is the Dominicans (Order of Preachers), etc. in your diocesan directory (usually produced annually in your Catholic newspaper), priests who belong to religious orders will be listed with the initials of their order after their name.
There is sometimes a conflict between superiors of religious orders and diocesan bishops. I don't mean they fight or argue, but sometimes the priorities of the order are different from those of the diocese. If a religious order mans a parish, the priests are assigned by the order, which takes away the flexibility of the bishop to transfer priests, establish programs, etc., that might be different from what the order has in mind. A priest in a religious order takes vows of poverty, chastity, and obediance to the order, as well as obedience to the diocesan bishop. A bishop who is extremely conservative will not be happy with Jesuits, who tend to be more liberal, while a liberal bishop will most likely frown on certain Franciscans, who tend to be more conservative.
The order might assign a priest who is very pastoral but not a good business manager, who could drive a parish into debt, but the bishop becomes limited in his ability to deal with the problem because he cannot transfer the pastor and replace him with a better business manager.
So there really are lots of factors involved, but I would guess probably one-fourth to one-third of all religious order priests work in parishes. Most of the others are teachers, missionaries, or retired.
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roxyorthodoxy
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| Joined: | Tue Jan 16th, 2007 |
| Location: | New Jersey USA |
| Posts: | 46 |
| First Name: | Rox | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Revert |
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Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 04:08 pm |
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Hi, Rick,
You could probably add another 30 million with so many illegal immigrants from Mexico, etc. And another 30 million who used to be Catholic but left the church if albeit temporarily and/or permanently.
Thank you for the stats!
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