CARA

CARA is a national, non-profit, Georgetown University affiliated research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church.

CARA has nearly 60 years of experience in quality social science research on the Catholic Church. We offer a range of research and consulting services for dioceses, parishes, religious communities and institutes, and other Catholic organizations. CARA’s longstanding policy is to let research findings stand on their own and never take an advocacy position or go into areas outside its social science

competence. All CARA researchers have advanced degrees in relevant academic disciplines as well as pastoral experience. CARA researchers are active in the academic community publishing and presenting research about the Catholic Church

08/13/2026

Who is the current "Bishop of the Cloud"? The Diocese with the most data centers in the U.S. is Arlington (VA). With the recent publication of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Catholics have been called to consider the implications of the development of AI. We describe where the "clouds" are forming on the ground: https://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2026/08/bishop-of-cloud.html

07/21/2026

Inspired by the recent ordination of Bishop Robert Boxie III, our newest blog features data on the Black bishops of the US. Check it out on our website!

https://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2026/07/recalling-black-catholic-bishops-in.html

07/14/2026

According to the General Social Survey (GSS), for more than five decades, about a third of American adults have been Catholic at some point in their lives. Yet, the percentage of Catholics baptized as minors who still self-identify as Catholic in adulthood is 20%. Learn more about those converting to and from Catholicism in our blogpost, "The Churn of Catholic Affiliation."

https://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-churn-of-catholic-affiliation.html

07/08/2026

Catholics make up 67% of the combined populations of the 8 countries remaining in the World Cup. Norway's Catholics are a small fraction of that Catholic total. At the same time, the the growth in the Catholic population in Norway since 1980 is far higher than in any other country remaining in the field (Source: Vatican Statistics).

07/01/2026

A look at how the global Catholic population has grown by region since 1980. Derived from Vatican Statistics. Note that the Church does not have Catholic population estimates for the former Soviet Union, China, and some other countries during periods of political repression, turmoil, and/or war.

06/11/2026

Steven Spielberg believes his new film, Disclosure Day, will raise significant theological conversations. Survey data indicate this is very unlikely. Most Americans with religious affiliations don't agree that a discovery of alien life (spoilers!) would be incompatible with their faith. For more: https://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-non-impact-of-disclosure-day.html

05/21/2026

Pope Leo XIV will release "Magnifica Humanitas" next week, which is expected to address AI. A co-founder of Anthropic is expected to be there. Anthropic's Claude is aware of Pope Leo XIV based on its training data alone. It may be the only chatbot able to do this. ChatGPT and Gemini are still unaware without using search. We also tested Grok (image withheld for space, but it is on file).

05/15/2026

The Class of 2026: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood is the annual national survey of men to be ordained to the priesthood. Learn more about the over 400 men answering their vocational call by viewing the full report on our website at www.cara.georgetown.edu/religious-institutes.

04/23/2026

Catholic school(s), parish religious education, and homeschooling are all contributing to men seeking and becoming Catholic priests. New from the Ordination Class of 2026. Learn more here:https://www.usccb.org/resources/Report-Ordination%20Class%202026-April%2008-FINAL.pdf

04/14/2026

In case you missed it, be sure to check out our most recent blog, which delves into the data on Gen-Z Catholics! Here's a sneak peak. Does this line up with what you know about this generation?
https://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/

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