In the last five years there have been more Catholic priests in the United States who have died, retired, or resigned than the total number of priests ordained. The Catholic Church has lost an average of 125 priests a year to death, retirement, or resignation. The Catholic priest population has plummeted from 35, 925 to 23,857 in the last 40 years, a 33 percent decrease. Over a quarter of the priests who have abandoned priesthood have come from the United States. In addition to the low number of priests the average age is 57. There are also more priests 90 years of age or older than there are priests under the age of 30. In concordance with these statistics, the Catholic population has grown from 47 to 65 million in the last forty years, a 38 percent increase. That leaves approximately one priest to every 2,600 Catholics, a number higher than that of the average parish (Miller). These discouraging statistics of the Catholic Church are strictly a representation of the problem in the United States and reflect a similar issue in Western Europe. .
It is no doubt that in the last forty years the Catholic Church has suffered from a lack of vocation. The number of priests is not only failing to grow, but it is decreasing. Fewer young men are making the commitment to become a priest. The major problem is the shortage of priests in the Catholic Church in the United States. The growing number of Catholics escalates the problem for there are not enough clergy to administer to the congregation. .
Since the problem has gone on for several decades there have been continuous efforts to solve the problem. The most popular of the solutions have been the allowance of clergy marriage, the acceptance of women as priests, and the performance of priestly duties by the laity. All these answers have proven to be insufficient and as a direct result have not been enacted. The key to looking at the problem is from a realistic standpoint.
