02/04/2004: "More religious women than men"
This surprised me, particularly considering the current state of the convents of in America. This may be another case where our impression of The Church in America doesn't reflect the worldwide situation. In any case:
-The total number of Ordained (Bishops, Priests and Deacons) and Religious (assumably mostly made up of men in monestaries) Men is 494,678.
-The total number of Religious Women (assumably mostly Nuns) is 782,932.
That doesn't seem to support the somewhat frequently suggested idea that The Church discourages women from participating in it.
