Statistics on the Catholic Church

Nationals Stadium during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America 2008
(And there's one.....two......three persons in one, at the old, ball, game!)

Today at work with the USCCB, I saw some statistics of the Catholic Church from our Web site.  Here's to the biggest combined charity, care provider, and educator in the country. Get big!

The Catholic Church in the United States At A Glance

(Figures Represent the U.S. Catholic Church Through 2009 Unless Otherwise Indicated)

Laity
There are 68,293,869 Catholics in the United States1 (22% of the U.S. population), and 1.1 billionCatholics worldwide2.

New Church Members³

• Infant Baptisms: 830,673
• Adult Baptisms: 42,335
• Received into Full Communion: 72,859

Clergy and Religious

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is an assembly of the hierarchy of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cardinals
There are 18 U.S. Cardinals

Bishops
There are 450 active and retired Catholic bishops in the United States:

270 Active Bishops:

Priests⁵
There are 40,271 diocesan and religious-order priests in the United States.

• 27,284 diocesan priests
• 12,978 religious-order priests (Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc.)

Seminarians⁶
There are 5,247 seminarians enrolled in the United States.

• 3,394 enrolled in diocesan seminaries
• 1,853 enrolled in religious-order seminaries

Permanent Deacons⁷
There are 17,436 men who are ordained as permanent deacons in the United States. A permanent deacon is a man, either married or single, who is ordained to the order of deacons, the first of three ranks in ordained ministry. They assist priests in administrative and pastoral roles.

Vowed Religious⁸
Sisters: 57,113
Brothers: 4,650

Catholic Education⁹
Total Catholic elementary and high school enrollment: 2,065,872
Elementary Schools: 5,774 schools educating 1,467,694 students
High Schools: 1,206 schools educating 598,178 students
Colleges and Universities: 235 institutions educating 804,826 students10
Non-residential Schools for Handicapped Persons: 61 schools educating 59,160 students

Catholic Health Care¹²
Hospitals: 554 Catholic hospitals treated 89,501,723 patients
Other Health Care Centers: 357 centers treated 5,535,260 patients
Specialized Homes: 1,541 assisted 1,031,215 residents
Residential Care of Children: 418 locations assisted 28,941 residents

Catholic Charities
Social Services¹³
In 2009, more than 2,391 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions provided services to9,164,981 unduplicated individuals in need of help.

• Provided Services that Build Strong Communities to 3,956,234 people
  Social support services 1,999,189
  Education and enrichment  730,645
  Socialization and neighborhood services 490,850
  Health-related services 305,287
  Services to at-risk populations 430,263

• Provided Food Services to 7,216,379 people
  Food banks and food pantries 3,281,135
  Soup kitchens 1,1,484,735
  Congregate dining 1,609,935
  Home delivered meals 264,731
  Other food services 575,843

• Provided Services that Strengthen Families to 1,064,913 people
  Counseling and mental health services 419,222
  Immigration services 319,952
  Addiction services 87,315
  Refugee services 100,465
  Pregnancy services 93,977
  Adoption services 43,982

• Provided Housing Related Services to 497,271 people
  Counseling and Assistance 205,262
  Temporary shelter 144,210
  Supervised living 64,789
  Permanent housing 60,196
  Transitional housing 22,814

• Provided Other Basic Needs Services to 1,933,799 people
  Financial Assistance (not rent, mortgage, etc.) 234,292
  Clothing Assistance 604,873
  Utilities Assistance 332,815
  Assistance with Purchase of Prescriptions 50,566
  Additional Other Basic Needs Assistance 711,253

• Provided Disaster Services to 99,665 people
• Programs for Special Populations 207,465

Each year, Catholic organization in the United States proved an estimated $28.2 billion in service through institutions represented by the Catholic Health Association ($5.7 billion), Catholic Charities USA ($3.5 billion) and national Catholic Educational Association ($19.8 billion).  This does not include assistance provided through parishes and other organizations.