Catholic marriages in the U.S. have declined 75% in about 50 years, even as the Catholic population has risen.
A steep decline in Catholic marriages in the U.S. over the past few decades is underscoring the need for “proactive” marriage support in the Church.
Data obtained by EWTN News from the Official Catholic Directory shows a major drop-off in U.S. Catholic marriage, from about 267,000 in the year 2000 to just 111,718 in 2024, a decline of nearly 60%.
The drop is even starker when compared with midcentury numbers: In 1970 there were about 426,000 Catholic marriages in the United States, compared with about 108,000 in 2025, a roughly 75% drop-off, though the 2025 numbers are still provisional.
Those declines have come even as the total number of Catholics in the U.S. has risen, from about 47.8 million Catholics in 1970 to 68 million last year.
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