Such an agenda, they said, might limit the number of priests who become involved in the group.

Against this backdrop, the numbers of priests are growing scarce.

At the same time, the number of priests and brothers dropped from about 56,000 to 48,000.

He has also had to deal with sexual abuse cases which involved a number of priests, both living and deceased.

It was founded in 1988 due to shrinking number of priests.

The number of priests has dropped by half in 20 years, to about 550 who are active.

Here also were gathered a great number of priests, who preceded and followed them.

The number of priests also rose from 150 to 400 during his tenure.

By then, however, the number of priests and church buildings had greatly increased.

According to church figures, the number of American priests has declined to about 56,000 today from nearly 62,000 in 1965.