Number of Priests worldwide shifting: the numbers

Provided by the AP:

VATICAN CITY -- The number of priests has decreased worldwide in the last quarter-century, with the sharpest fall in Europe _ where there are now 20 percent fewer Roman Catholic clerics, the Vatican said.

Experts say the reasons for the drop are complex, but they cite increasing secularization in Europe; some also cite a broader culture that devalues celibacy.

The Vatican, in figures released Saturday, said the number of priests worldwide fell from 420,971 in 1978 to 405,891 in 2004 _ a decrease of 3.5 percent. A Vatican statement called the decline "rather disappointing."

In Europe, the number of priests fell by 20 percent _ from 250,498 in 1978 to 199,978 in 2004.

In Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, the numbers of priests fell by 14 percent.

But in Africa, the numbers increased _ from 16,926 to 31,259 _ a rise of nearly 85 percent. Asia also showed more priests over the period _ from 27,700 to 48,222 _ for an increase of 74 percent.

Latin America and North America together saw a slight increase, with the number of priests rising 1 percent _ from 120,271 to 121,634.

The Vatican did not provide a further geographic breakdown, but the latest figures for the United States show a drop from 58,632 priests in 1965 to 42,839 in 2005 _ a decrease of 26 percent, according to CARA, a research center on the Catholic Church affiliated with Georgetown University.

This report reminds me of a line I heard in a talk given by Dr. Philip Jenkins:

"Something you will likely hear your children say: 'Daddy, do you remember when there was still that thing called Western Christianity?'"

He explains what he means in this book, "The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity," which will probably find its way, along with a few other of his books, onto the summer reading list I'm currently compiling (so much for eating and sleeping this year).