Catholics Try to Draw Potential Priests, Nuns, and Monks through Ad Campaigns

January 13, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On January 13, 2001, The New York Times reported that an emerging trend in Catholicism is to reach "out through advertising to men and women who might feel led toward a life of religious service. This is a response to...the continuing decline in the ranks of priests, nuns and brothers. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the number of diocesan priests in the United States declined from 1965 to 2000 by 15 percent, to 30,607, and the number of nuns and brothers by more than half, to 79,814 and 5,662, respectively." Dioceses have advertised on billboards, in television commercials, in newspapers, on buses and at subway stops. The Abbey of the Holy Trinity advertised three-day "come and see" retreats for those who might feel a call to monastic life. In the 1950s, "as many as 80 men lived at Holy Trinity. But these days, the community numbers 22, many elderly." One Chicago bishop said, "The church has always been involved in proclaiming the message. It's natural to make use of a form whose purpose is to communicate a message." It is too soon to know the results of these ad campaigns.