Justice for Women in the Catholic Church

FactSheet: Current State of Catholic Priesthood Church

Compiled by the Women's Ordination Conference

* 64% of U.S. Catholics support women’s ordination and 69% support married priests. ~ The Associated Press-Ipsos Poll, April 2005

* Only 29% of U.S. Catholics say a male, celibate clergy is “very important.” ~ Gallup Organization survey, September 2005

* Nearly half of the world’s parishes and missions do not have a resident priest. ~ Vatican statistics 2005

* In a massive survey of priests in 53 U.S. dioceses, many spontaneously commented that women’s roles should be discussed. ~Call to Action and FutureChurch, January-August 2004

*  Opening the Catholic priesthood to single and married women and men would alleviate the worldwide priest shortage crisis. Female lay ministers hold the church together in both the U.S. and the world.

* There is an acute worldwide shortage of priests. Between 1975 and 2002 the world’s Catholics increased by 52% from 709.6 million to 1.08 billion, but the number of priests stayed the same. In 1975 there were 404,783 priests compared to 405,058 priests in 2002. ~ Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Summer 2004

* There is also a severe national shortage of priests in the U.S. Between 1975 and 2003, the U.S. Catholic Church suffered a 22% decline of priests from 58,909 to only 45,699. In the same time period, the number of U.S. Catholics increased by 32% from 48.7 million to 64.3 million. ~ Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Summer 2004

* Worldwide, there are 783,000 women religious serving the church’s 1.07 billion Catholics compared to 405,000 priests. ~ Call to Action News, October 2004

* An estimated 82% of 65,000 chaplains and lay pastoral ministers are women. ~ 1997 National Pastoral Life Center Study