Who we are: the latest statistics on U.S. Catholics

The USCCB has just posted the latest figures. Details:

How many Catholics are there in the United States? What was the total enrollment of Catholic elementary and high schools in the United States last year? How many people are served by Catholic hospitals annually? The answers to these questions (77.7 million, 2 million and 88.5 million, respectively) and many other facts and statistics about the life of the Catholic Church in the United States are compiled in a new guide, “The Catholic Church by the Numbers,” issued by the Office of Media Relations of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

“Many media inquiries are simply requests for statistics on the Catholic Church, such as number of priests or the growth of the Hispanic population. This guide gathers it all in one helpful location,” said Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, USCCB director of Media Relations. “This information is useful not only to media, but to teachers, scholars and anyone seeking a better understanding of the Catholic Church and the services Catholics provide.”

“The Catholic Church by the Numbers” includes sections on bishops and dioceses, clergy and religious, laity and parishes, Catholic education, Catholic health care and social services, Catholic lay organizations and Church finances. The data was gathered from sources including The Official Catholic Directory, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), and organizations involved in various aspects of the Church’s work, such as Catholic Charities USA and the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA).

All of the information is available online at: www.usccb.org/about/media-relations/statistics/

Visit the link and you’ll find some interesting tidbits.  A sampling:

• Number of Catholics:  77.7 million
• Number of parishes: 18.061
• Number of infant baptisms last year: 793,103
• Number of priests: 40,203
• Number of permanent deacons: 17,816
• The average age of men ordained to the priesthood is trending younger with the median age for the 2012 class at 31.
• 629 Catholic hospitals account for 12.6% of community hospitals in the United States.
• 88,519,295 patients are assisted annually.
• One in six patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital.
• Catholic Charities provided social support services to 2,251,442 people.
• It provided food services to 7,146,490 people.

And on and on.  Check out the rest.