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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]
The Role of the Church in the Causation, Treatment and Prevention of the Crisis in the Priesthood, a report submitted to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 1971, by Dr Conrad Baars, a Dutch-born Catholic psychiatrist from Minnesota, and based on a study of 1500 priests, suggested that seminary training left priests poorly prepared for a lifetime of celibacy.
Since 1970, the number of Catholic priests in the world has decreased by about 5,000, to 414,313 priests as of 2012. [16] but the worldwide Catholic population has nearly doubled, growing from 653.6 million in 1970 to 1.229 billion in 2012. [16] This has resulted in a worldwide shortage of Catholic priests.
Nevertheless, several studies suggest that the incidence of homosexuality in the Roman Catholic priesthood is much higher than in the general population as a whole. [20] [21] While a Los Angeles Times survey of US priests find that 15% say they are completely or mostly homosexual, estimates of homosexual priests run as high as 50%. [19] [22]
The First Five Years of the Priesthood: A Study of Newly Ordained Catholic Priests. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-2804-1. Explores the experience of early priesthood based on a survey of recently ordained priests, some active and some who have resigned. Hoge, Dean R.; Jacqueline E. Wenger (2003).
The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, commonly known as the John Jay Report, is a 2004 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, based on surveys completed by the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. [1]
Priests lay their hands on the ordinands during a Catholic rite of ordination. The sacrament of holy orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders: bishops, priests, and deacons, in decreasing order of rank, collectively comprising the clergy. In the phrase "holy orders", the word "holy" means "set apart for a sacred purpose".
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 9 ] It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization .