Comparison of Diocesan Ordination Rates

Following a model originally devised by the late Fr. John Klein of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and using data from The Official
Catholic Directory, CARA periodically reviews the proportion of ordinations to the diocesan priesthood relative to the latest Catholic
population figures for each diocese. Only Latin-rite dioceses that have had at least five ordinations during the reporting period are
included.
■ The results of the latest such review,
TOP 20 DIOCESES BY ORDINAND-TO-CATHOLIC RATIO
for the three ordination years 2007-2009,
Arch/Diocese Ordained 2007–2009 2009 Catholics Catholics per Ordinand are displayed here. The first table lists the
top 20 dioceses according to the priest-to-
Lexington, KY 7 46,798 6,685 parishioner ratio; the second the top 21
Alexandria, LA 6 44,003 7,338 dioceses (because of a tie) based on the
Savannah, GA 9 77,479 8,609
Knoxville, KY 6 60,295 10,049
largest absolute number of new priests
Saginaw, MI 10 110,563 11,056 ordained.
Birmingham, AL 8 89,489 11,186

“
Tyler, TX 6 67,594 11,266
Wheeling-Charleston, WV 7 82,996 11,857
CARA periodically
Bismarck, ND 5 61,271 12,254
Duluth, MN 5 63,423 12,685
reviews the proportion of
Yakima, WA 6 78,317 13,053
Lincoln, NE 7 95,445 13,635
ordinations to the diocesan
Wichita, KS 8 115,023 14,379
Covington, KY 6 89,491 14,915
priesthood relative to the
Nashville, TN 5 75,593 15,119
Sioux Falls, SD 8 124,972 15,622
latest Catholic population
”
Superior, WI 5 78,826 15,765
Peoria, IL 10 161,242 16,124
figures for each diocese.
Charlotte, NC 9 171,909 19,101
Burlington, VT 6 118,000 19,667 CARA has compared the results of the
Nationwide 1,411 65,611,808 46,500
five top-20 priest-to-parishioner compar-
isons for ordination years 1993–1995,
(From The Official Catholic Directory for 2008, 2009, and 2010) 1997–1999, 2000–2002, 2003–2006, and
now 2007–2009. Only 26 dioceses placed in
■
TOP 20 DIOCESES BY TOTAL ORDINATIONS OVER THREE YEARS the top 20 two or more times. In summary:

Arch/Diocese Ordained 2007–2009 2009 Catholics Catholics per Ordinand • Only the Diocese of Lincoln was in
the top 20 all five times
Newark, NJ 39 1,318,557 33,809
• Four dioceses were listed four times:
Chicago, IL 36 2,338,000 64,944
Los Angeles, CA 23 4,180,859 181,727 Bismarck, Fargo, Peoria, and Wichita
Washington, DC 20 592,769 29,639 • Nine were on the list three times:
Atlanta, GA 18 850,000 47,222 Alexandria, Atlanta, Birmingham,
Boston, MA 18 1,681,533 93,419 Knoxville, Omaha, Savannah, Sioux
St. Louis, MO 17 531,770 31,281
Falls, Tyler, and Yakima
St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN 17 650,000 38,235
Paterson, NJ 16 424,722 26,545 • And 12 were listed twice: Charleston,
Rockford, IL 16 451,509 28,219 Charlotte, Covington, Duluth,
Philadelphia, PA 16 1,464,938 91,559 Gaylord, Mobile, Owensboro,
Rockville Centre, NY 16 1,521,841 95,115 Pensacola-Tallahassee, Springfield-
New York, NY 16 2,608,299 163,019
Cape Girardeau, Steubenville, Tulsa,
San Antonio, TX 15 702,547 46,836
Sacramento, CA 15 980,650 65,377 and Wheeling-Charleston
Brooklyn, NY 15 1,440,000 96,000
Cleveland, OH 14 744,000 53,143 At the other extreme, for the three
Austin, TX 13 321,197 24,708 years 2007-2009, 11 dioceses with a total
Arlington, VA 13 431,386 33,184
of almost 1,350,000 Catholics had no
Cincinnati, OH 13 468,204 36,016
Miami, FL 13 703,950 54,150 ordinations, and another 13 dioceses with
almost 1,360,000 Catholics had only one.
Nationwide 1,411 65,611,808 46,500

(From The Official Catholic Directory for 2008, 2009, and 2010)

8 The CARA Report Vol. 16, No. 3 Winter 2011