- 415,487 Catholic marriages in the United States in 1972 dropped to 168,400 in 2010 (a decrease of 60 percent!). This mirrors a decrease in the number of marriages in the entire U.S. population, a decline of over 50% from 1970 – 2012 (The State of Our Unions 2011, 60).
- Among the Catholic adult population, 53% are presently married, 25% have never been married, 13% are divorced or separated, and 5% are widowed.
- Twenty-three percent of adult Catholics are or have been divorced. Of these divorced Catholics, 60% were married to another Catholic.
- Of divorced Catholics polled, 15% have sought an annulment. Among those who have sought to have their marriage annulled, 49% of the requests were approved.
- Two-thirds of Catholics currently married were married in the Church.
- Just over 70% of Catholics are married to a Catholic spouse, with an average of 2 children per marriage.
Resources:
Mark M. Gray, “Exclusive analysis: National Catholic Marriage rate plummets,” Our Sunday Visitor, June 26, 2011.
Marriage in the Catholic Church: a Survey of U.S. Catholics, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, 2007.
W. Bradford Wilcox, The State of Our Unions: Marriage in America 2011 (University of Virginia National Marriage Project, Charlottesville, VA).
