U.S. Catholic Population Rises

Imagine the positive impact we could have if all Catholics in the United States were "on the same page".

WASHINGTON—Data in the 2009 Official Catholic Directory, also known as the Kenedy Directory, show there are 68,115,001 Catholics in the United States, making up 22 percent of the U.S. population. The total number of Catholics is an increase of about one million from the previous year.

The directory is based on information collected from dioceses and is released each spring.

Other data note there are
-- 41,489 diocesan and religious order priests
-- 60,715 religious sisters
-- 4,905 religious brothers
-- 16,935 permanent deacons
-- 18,674 parishes, including 91 new parishes
-- 562 Catholic hospitals assisting 85,293,351 patients
-- 3009 social services centers with 27,213,486 people assisted annually
-- 189 seminaries with 4,973 students
-- 234 Catholic colleges and universities with 795,823 students
-- 1,341 Catholic high schools with 674,380 students
-- 6,133 Catholic elementary schools with 1,609,387 students
-- 722,599 Students in high school religious education program
-- 3,080,838 students in elementary school religious education
-- 887,145 infant baptisms
-- 42,629 adult baptisms
-- 81,775 persons coming into full Communion, i.e. baptized Christians who joined the Catholic Church.

Each year, Catholic organizations in the United Sates provide 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.