Survey on Mandatory Celibacy, 2003-2004
Call To Action of Northern California conducted a survey of priests in the seven Northern California dioceses covered by CTA of Northern California: Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, and Stockton. The Diocese of Santa Rosa was not included at this time as there is a different chapter of CTA in that diocese. They may conduct the survey at a later date.
The survey consisted of the following:
Do you favor an open discussion of the mandatory celibacy rule for
Diocesan priests?
Yes No Not Sure (Circle One)
My age: 25-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 Over 70 (Circle One)
Are you Retired? ______ Are you a member of a religious order? ________
We encouraged comments and made every effort to make the results anonymous.
Results from Celibacy Survey, December 2003 to January 2004,
Northern California
Diocesan Totals
| Diocese | # mailed | # returned | # who answered question | YES | NO | UNSURE |
| Fresno | 114 | 36 or 32% | 43 or 30% | 19 or 56% | 14 or 41% | 1 or 3% |
| Monterey | 134 | 44 or 33% | 42 or 31% | 24 or 57% | 17 or 40% | 1 or 3% |
| Oakland | 301 | 129 or 43% | 126 or 42% | 106 or 84% | 17 or 13% | 3 or 2% |
| Sacramento | 215 | 71 or 33% | 66 or 31% | 48 or 73% | 16 or 24% | 2 or 3% |
| San Francisco | 319 | 113 or 35% | 104 or 33% | 71 or 69% | 27 or 26% | 6 or 6% |
| San Jose | 184 | 69 or 38% | 66 or 36% | 46 or 70% | 15 or 22% | 5 or 8% |
| Stockton | 72 | 23 or 32% | 23 or 32% | 11 or 48% | 11 or 48% | 1 or 4% |
| Total Northern California |
1339 | 485 or 36% | 461 or 34% | 325 or 70% | 117 or 25% | 19 or 4% |
CUMULATIVE RESULTS (totals from all dioceses)
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 34 | 18 | 53% | 13 | 38% | 2 | 6% |
| 41-50 | 77 | 50 | 65% | 22 | 29% | 3 | 4% |
| 51-60 | 133 | 108 | 81% | 17 | 13% | 7 | 5% |
| 61-70 | 114 | 88 | 77% | 21 | 18% | 3 | 3% |
| 71+ | 84 | 46 | 55% | 29 | 35% | 6 | 7% |
| RETIRED | 147 | 62 | 42% | 82 | 56% | 3 | 2% |
| ORDER | 200 | 106 | 53% | 80 | 40% | 11 | 5.5% |
Fresno Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| 41-50 | 10 | 8 | 80% | 2 | 20% | 0 | 0 |
| 51-60 | 7 | 4 | 57% | 2 | 29% | 1 | 14% |
| 61-70 | 8 | 6 | 75% | 2 | 25% | 0 | 0 |
| 71+ | 5 | 1 | 20% | 4 | 80% | 0 | 0 |
| RETIRED | 2 | 1 | 50% | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 |
| ORDER | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
Monterey Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 2 | 1 | 50% | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 |
| 41-50 | 4 | 3 | 75% | 1 | 25% | 0 | 0 |
| 51-60 | 14 | 10 | 71% | 3 | 21% | 0 | 0 |
| 61-70 | 11 | 6 | 55% | 4 | 36% | 1 | 9% |
| 71+ | 10 | 3 | 30% | 7 | 79% | 0 | 0 |
| RETIRED | 11 | 5 | 45% | 5 | 45% | 1 | 9% |
| ORDER | 13 | 6 | 46% | 6 | 46% | 1 | 8% |
Oakland Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 8 | 7 | 87.5% | 1 | 12.5% | 0 | 0 |
| 41-50 | 17 | 14 | 82% | 3 | 18% | 0 | 0 |
| 51-60 | 44 | 40 | 91% | 3 | 7% | 1 | 2% |
| 61-70 | 28 | 24 | 86% | 4 | 14% | 0 | 0 |
| 71+ | 23 | 18 | 78% | 3 | 13% | 2 | 9% |
| RETIRED | 46 | 34 | 74% | 12 | 26% | 0 | 0 |
| ORDER | 52 | 41 | 79% | 8 | 15% | 3 | 6% |
Sacramento Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 6 | 2 | 33% | 3 | 50% | 1 | 17% |
| 41-50 | 6 | 2 | 33% | 4 | 66% | 0 | 0 |
| 51-60 | 16 | 15 | 94% | 1 | 6% | 0 | 0 |
| 61-70 | 26 | 20 | 76% | 6 | 24% | 0 | 0 |
| 71+ | 9 | 7 | 77% | 1 | 11% | 1 | 11% |
| RETIRED | 7 |
5 |
71% | 1 | 14% | 0 |
0% |
| ORDER | 15 |
10 |
67% | 3 |
20% | 1 |
6% |
San Francisco Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 4 | 2 | 50% | 2 | 50% | 0 | 0 |
| 41-50 | 20 | 14 | 70% | 3 | 15% | 1 | 5% |
| 51-60 | 30 | 20 | 66% | 6 | 21% | 4 | 14% |
| 61-70 | 29 | 24 | 83% | 4 | 14% | 0 | 0 |
| 71+ | 22 | 9 | 41% | 10 | 45% | 1 | 4% |
| RETIRED | 19 | 11 | 58% | 8 | 42% | 0 | 0 |
| ORDER | 42 | 25 | 60% | 11 | 26% | 4 | 10% |
San Jose Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 10 | 6 | 60% | 3 | 30% | 0 | 0 |
| 41-50 | 13 | 6 | 46% | 5 | 38% | 2 | 15% |
| 51-60 | 18 | 16 | 89% | 1 | 5% | 1 | 5% |
| 61-70 | 13 | 10 | 77% | 2 | 15% | 0 | 0 |
| 71+ | 13 | 7 | 54% | 3 | 23% | 2 | 15% |
| RETIRED | 6 | 4 | 66% | 2 | 33% | 0 | 0 |
| ORDER | 22 | 17 | 77% | 1 | 5% | 3 | 14% |
Stockton Diocese Breakout Results
| Range | # | # YES | % YES | # NO | % NO | # UNSURE | % UNSURE |
| 25-40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 66% | 1 | 33% |
| 41-50 | 7 | 3 | 43% | 4 | 57% | 0 | 0 |
| 51-60 | 4 | 3 | 75% | 1 | 25% | 0 | 0 |
| 61-70 | 4 | 4 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71+ | 2 | 1 | 50% | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 |
| RETIRED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ORDER | 5 | 2 | 40% | 3 | 60% | 0 | 0 |
To find the results or comments from your diocese, click the appropriate link below: