Survey of Youth and Young Adults on Vocations

Consideration of Priesthood and Religious Life Among Never-Married U.S. Catholics by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University - Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• Major Findings
• Introduction
  
  
• Background
  
  
• Part I. Respondent Characteristics
• Types of Respondents
• Age
• Number of Siblings and Birth Order
• Entry into the Church
• Catholic Education
• Parish-based Religious Education
• Parish Youth and Young Adult Groups
• Childhood Sacraments
• Highest Level of Education
• Importance of Faith during High School
• Current Importance of Faith
• Parental Discussions of Faith during High School Years
• Frequency of Mass Attendance during High School
• Current Frequency of Mass Attendance
• Parish Registration
• Prayer and Devotional Practices and Groups
• Participation in Ministries
• Participation in World Youth Day and National Catholic Youth Conference
• Service Volunteering
• What it means to be Catholic
• Belief in the Real Presence
• Description of God
• Importance of Prayer
• Praying the Rosary
• Mass Attendance on Feats Days Devoted to Mary
• Reading and Praying with Scripture
• Religious or Spiritual Media Use
• Parent Prepared for a Vocation
• Having Known Catholic Clergy, Seminarians, Vowed Religious as a Child or Teenager
• Encouraging Vocations in Others
• Reasons for Not Wanting to Encourage Vocations
• Part II. Consideration of a Vocation among Men
• Encouragement and Discouragement
• Vocations Presentation Made at a School or Parish
• Participation in Church-related Programs, Groups, and Activities
• Attitudes about the Church and Vocations
• Consideration of becoming a Priest or Religious Brother
• Reasons for Not Considering a Vocation
• Reasons for Considering a Vocation
• Consideration of Becoming a Permanent Deacon
• Consideration of Becoming a Lay Ecclesial Minister
• Part III. Consideration of a Vocation among Women
• Encouragement and Discouragement
• Vocations Presentation Made at a School or Parish
• Participation in Church-related Programs, Groups, and Activities
• Attitudes about the Church and Vocations
• Consideration of becoming a Religious Sister
• Reasons for Not Considering a Vocation
• Reasons for Considering a Vocation
• Consideration of Becoming a Lay Ecclesial Minister
• Part IV. Subgroup Correlates of Consideration
• Logistic Regression Models
• Appendix:  Questionnaire

Executive Summary

In winter 2012, the Secretariat of Clergy,  Consecrated Life and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic  Bishops (USCCB) commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate  (CARA) at Georgetown University to conduct a national poll of never-married  Catholics regarding their consideration of a vocation.  CARA partnered with Knowledge Networks to  conduct the survey in May and June 2012. The survey was completed by 1,428  respondents, resulting in a margin of sampling error of ±2.6 percentage points.  Sixty-five percent of panel members invited to take the survey completed it.  This report includes, where possible, comparisons to surveys conducted by CARA in  previous years which asked questions about vocations to national samples of  U.S. adult Catholics.

As a rule of thumb, every 1  percentage point of the total sample  is approximately equivalent to 245,000 never-married Catholics age 14 or older.