Those permanent Deacons just keep on growing

Catholic World News

US: number of religious sisters declines by over 2,000 in one year

 

Thanks to Deacon's Bench

 

 

CWN - November 29, 2012

The number of religious sisters in the United States fell from 57,113 to 55,045 in a one-year period, according to data in the 2011 and 2012 editions of The Official Catholic Directory.

 

 

During the same period:

  

• the number of priests fell slightly from 40,271 to 40,203
• the number of seminarians fell from 5,247 to 5,015, with most of the decline occurring among religious-order (and not diocesan) seminarians
• the number of religious brothers fell from 4,650 to 4,518
• the number of permanent deacons rose from 17,436 to 17,816