Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Podcasts Take Two
Dioceses call upon international priests to serve more Catholics
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Aug 5, 2014
Listen 4:18
Dioceses call upon international priests to serve more Catholics
The Catholic population continues to grow in the U.S. at a steady one percent per year, but the number of priests has been declining for decades. There are only around 38,000 priests to serve nearly 77 million Catholics.
Inside of St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica.
Inside of St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica.
(
Charles Castaldi/KPCC
)

The Catholic population continues to grow in the U.S. at a steady one percent per year, but the number of priests has been declining for decades. There are only around 38,000 priests to serve nearly 77 million Catholics.

The Catholic population continues to grow in the U.S. at a steady one percent per year, but the number of priests has been declining for decades. There are only around 38,000 priests to serve nearly 77 million Catholics.

To fill this gap, dioceses are increasingly inviting priests from around the world to serve their congregations. Reporter Kate Sheehy has the story.