Читать книгу Catholicism For Dummies - Rev. Kenneth Brighenti - Страница 127

A parish priest celebrates daily Mass, hears confessions every week, gives marriage counseling, provides prenuptial counseling, gives spiritual direction, anoints and visits shut-ins and the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, teaches Catechism (a book that contains the doctrines of Catholicism) to children and adults, baptizes, witnesses marriages, performs funerals and burials, attends numerous parish and diocesan meetings, prays privately every day, does spiritual and theological reading, and finds time to relax now and then with family and friends. And once a year, he’s expected to make a five-day retreat in addition to doing his regular spiritual direction and daily prayer. Yeah, it’s a busy job.

With 1.34 billion Catholics worldwide (17.7 percent of the world population) and only about 414,336 priests to minister to their spiritual needs, that leaves an average of about one priest per 3,234 Catholics. Some areas have as many as 6,000 or more people per priest.