Catholic Church faces U.S. priest shortage as membership surges

With the number of priests in the United States decreasing, worshipers are forced to drive longer distances to attend Mass

Situation challenges clergy morale

June 18, 2000
Web posted at: 11:16 p.m. EDT (0316 GMT)

MILWAUKEE (CNN) -- The number of priests in the United States continues to dwindle while the number of U.S. Catholics is increasing, a study shows.

In 1999, more U.S. priests died than were ordained -- which left 2,334 parishes out of the approximately 19,000 without a resident pastor, according to the two-year study presented last week in Milwaukee at the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The rise in the number of U.S. Catholics is especially pronounced in the West and South among Hispanic and Asian-Pacific populations, the study found.

VIDEO CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports on how the priesthood is failing to attract young men Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Religion today

The priest shortage is forcing worshippers to travel longer distances to attend Mass, and parishes with limited access to a priest are holding fewer worship services as each priest's responsibilities are stretched by the shortage.

"The heavy burdens they have now, the increased burdens, I think cuts back on their time and as you know fatigues them immensely," said Chaplain Gerald Blaszczak of Fordham University.

As a result, 52 percent of U.S. dioceses reported using lay ministers for sacraments and liturgical duties that might otherwise have been performed by a priest, according to the study.

"The new picture challenges clergy morale," said a statement posted on the conference's Web site.

'Where are the Jesuits?'

The study highlighted age as another problem afflicting the priesthood. The average age of priests in the United States stands at 57, much higher than it was in 1900.

Of the approximately 27,000 active priests in the U.S., only 298 are under age 30.

"A school that had 30 to 40 Jesuits around in the past now has five or six," said Daniel Hendrickson, a Jesuit who is studying the priesthood at a Missouri seminary. "It can be easy to get wigged out and say, 'Where are the Jesuits?'"

Monsignor Christopher Maloney, of the Church of Notre Dame in New York, blamed the shortage on social trends.

"The problem with commitment to religious life and the priesthood may be part of this larger phenomenon in which young people are not encouraged to make the kind of commitment that priesthood entails," he said.

In fact, the study highlighted the church's required commitment to celibacy within the priesthood as a factor in the dwindling numbers, along with society's emphasis on materialism and secularism.

The study was conducted by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and was completed in the spring of 2000, according to the conference Web site.

Correspondent Deborah Feyerick contributed to this report.

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