The Serra International Foundation was founded in 1951 to assist Serra in fulfilling its objectives of fostering and promoting vocations in the Catholic Church. Since that time, the Foundation has funded a wide range of programs for the formation and training of priests and consecrated religious.
The Objectives and Purposes of the Serra Foundation are to:
- • Fund programs that foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood of the Catholic Church as a particular vocation to service
- • Fund programs of formation for men and women in consecrated religious life in the Catholic Church
- • Enhance the recognition of Serra International as the global lay apostolate for vocations in the Catholic Church
Urgent Need - Vocations to Priestly Ministry and Consecrated Religious Life
Since 1967 - the beginning of the downturn in vocations - the Foundation’s role has increased in significance and importance. Since then, in the United States, there has been an estimated 20% decrease in the number of active priests. Some projections that take into account the numbers of retired priests who remain in service estimate that the decrease is closer to 35%.
During this same period, the Catholic population has grown, causing the number of Catholics per active priest to increase by about 60%. Moreover, it is estimated that within the next fifteen years, half of all priests serving today will have retired.
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