Fast Facts about the crisis in vocations: 1) There are 64 million Roman Catholics in the U.S. today – more than ever before. 2) There are 25 percent fewer priests now than in 1965, even though the Catholic population has grown by more than 40 percent. 3) Within a decade, many parishes will go without priests – as will sick and dying Catholics. Sunday Masses will be increasingly rare, and the neighborhood priest may vanish. 4) Without priests and Sunday Masses, Catholicism as Americans have known it for generations will be radically altered. 5) In 1965 there were 8,325 graduate-level seminarians. Today there are only 3,308. 6) Many of these seminarians will drop out of the seminary before they become priests. This is not necessarily a negative thing. It is a result of what is called “formation.” 7) “Formation” is the process by which a seminarian becomes a priest. It is a kind of spiritual boot camp. In recent years, formation has become especially rigorous, as extensive screening and scrutiny of candidates has been put into place in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis. 8) Formation subjects seminarians to daunting emotional and practical challenges that are intended to make them fit for service as priests. Formation often forces a seminarian to question almost everything about himself and his faith. 9) Although priests never take a vow of poverty, they do make a promise of obedience. Seminarians soon discover that their lives are no longer really their own and that they must be willing to sacrifice almost all that is familiar to become priests. 10) Catholic and non-Catholic interest in seminary life will continue to grow as the shortage of priests becomes more severe.