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Vocations Guide for Catholic Parents
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Women & Men Religious in the U.S. 
-- 1965 to 2000 
There has been a 30% decline in the number of religious priests.
There has been a 36% decline in the number of religious brothers.
There has been a 54% decline in the number of religious sisters.
There has been a 47% increase in the number of Catholics as a whole.
The number of Catholics to religious priests has increased 110%.
Source: CARA
 
Mass Attendance in the U.S.
-- 1957 to 2003 
In 1957, the number of Catholics attending Mass in any given week was 74%.
In 1965, just after Vatican II, the number of Catholics attending Mass in any given week was 67%.
In the Jubilee Year (2000), the number of Catholics attending Mass in any given week was 52%.
In 2003, the number of Catholics attending Mass in any given week was 40%.
 
Source: Gallup 
 
Diocesan Mission Status in the U.S. 
Approximately 90 of the 200 dioceses in the U.S. (45%) are unable to provide basic pastoral services (word, worship and service) on their own.
The USCCB's Subcommittee on Home Missions offers grants to the Home Missions for evangelization, religious education, ministry training and support for poor parishes.
Since its founding in 1924, the subcommittee on Home Missions has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the home missions in the U.S. and its territories.
 
The church needs to help young people hear the Lord in prayer, so they can recognize him in their lives.
 
     ~~ Fr. James Steffes, Executive Director of the USCCB Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations
recommended reading
Signs of the Times: Understanding the Church Since Vatican II
Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church, by Pope Benedict XVI
Christ Our Hope: Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Visit to the United States
Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism, by Scott & Kimberly Hahn

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