Priest shortage in the Catholic Church
In the years since World War II there has been a substantial reduction in the number of priests per capita in the Catholic Church, a phenomenon considered by many to constitute a "shortage" in the number of priests. From 1980 to 2012, the ratio of Catholics per priest increased globally, with the number of Catholics per priest going from 1,895 to 3,126.[1]
Shortage by area[edit]
Worldwide[edit]
Worldwide, the number of priests in 1970 was 419,728. In 2017, there were a total of 414,582 priests. While the total number of priests worldwide has therefore remained relatively stable since 1970, the Catholic population has nearly doubled, growing from 653.6 million in 1970 to 1.229 billion in 2012.[2] In 2012 the global number of candidates for the priesthood also showed its first decline in recent years.[6]
The number of parishes with no resident priest pastor has grown from 39,431 in 1970 to 49,153 in 2012.[2] The number of parishes without a priest does not include the thousands of parishes that have closed or merged due to a lack of priests.
North America[edit]
Mexico is facing a "crisis of vocation," according to Elio Masferrer, a religion expert at Mexico's National School of Anthropology and History. Over 85 percent of the population is Catholic, but one priest is expected to minister to approximately 7,000 followers. In the United States, where approximately one quarter of the population is Catholic, there is one priest per 2,000 Catholics.[7]
Consequences[edit]
The shortage is being dealt with in a variety of ways. A practice known as "linking" has emerged, where two parishes share the same priest but remain separate otherwise. Some parishes hire a lay administrator. Churches have given guidelines on lay-led services.[29] In some places, Mass at the local church is celebrated only every other week or less. Some countries are importing priests from other nations.[30] Priests in India have been saying Masses for people in the West and traveling to wealthier countries as temporary pastors to help relieve the priest shortage in the West.[31]
At the same time, however, there has been a growth in the number of men and women entering other forms of ministry in the church, such as deacons and lay ecclesial ministers. There has been a dramatic increase in the participation and activity of the laity in general. Often, this is not a matter of deacons or lay ecclesial ministers taking over priestly roles, but of priests no longer taking over diaconal or lay roles. Canon law (CIC 517) does allow for a deacon or lay ecclesial minister to be appointed as de facto pastor of a parish, under the supervision of a priest moderator, in the absence of a qualified presbyter.[32]
According to sociologist Dean Hoge, the number of Roman Catholics in the world has been growing, but "the growth in the number of priests has been zero." Wealthy western nations have a shrinking population of priests, while other countries are adding priests, "though not always fast enough." Hoge offered eight suggestions to offset the priest shortage in the United States: recruit more seminarians, incardinate more immigrant priests, ordain more married former Anglican clergy, permit marriage for diocesan priests,[b] incardinate more former Catholic priests who left the church for marriage, ordain more permanent deacons, employ more lay ministers, or ordain women.[33]