CARA study highlights impact of Mary on vocations

July 17, 2025

Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) released Impact of Mary, Mother of the Church, on Ecclesial Vocations, a first-ever study of its kind, surveys how much of an impact Marian devotion has had on the ecclesial vocations of clergy and religious in the U.S. Catholic Church. A total of 1,019 U.S. bishops, diocesan priests, permanent deacons, deacon directors, and major superiors of men and women completed a survey. The findings indicate that for a majority, devotion to Mary has had an impact on their vocational discernment as well as in how they live out their vocations.

Impact during the Discernment of their Vocations

An average of 59% among the survey groups report that devotion to Mary had an impact on their original sense of a vocation to serve Christ and the Church. Commonly practiced devotions include reciting the rosary privately (71%), reciting the rosary with others (52%), pilgrimages to Marian sites such as Guadalupe and Lourdes (44%), and praying before icons, statues, and paintings of Mary (40%).
While an average of 66% of have been Catholic all of their lives, 34% reported a conversion or reversion to Catholicism. Among those 34%, a majority of all survey groups (55% to 85%) reported that Marian devotion had an impact on their conversion or reversion.
Asked to rate the quality of the Mariological studies programs offered during their priestly, diaconal, or religious formation, 14% rated them as “strong,” 40% as “sufficient,” and 46% as “weak.”

Impact in Living out their Vocations

On average, 89% of those in the survey groups currently have devotion to Mary, with three-fourths (74%) reporting that their devotion has strengthened them in living out their ecclesial vocation. Seven in ten say they turn to Mary for spiritual assistance often (70%) and that it has fostered their devotion to the Eucharist (80%).
When asked about whether the Catholic Church places the right amount of emphasis on devotion to Mary, three in four say the Church places the “right amount of emphasis” on devotion to Mary (74%), with 21% saying it places “not enough emphasis,” and 5% saying it places “too much emphasis” on such devotion.
Presently, respondents engage in Marian devotions once a week or more through reciting the rosary alone (72%), engaging in mediative/contemplative prayer with Our Lady (46%), reciting the rosary with others (37%), and engaging in spiritual readings on Mary (28%). An average of 62% have made a pilgrimage to at least one Marian site after their commitment to their ecclesial vocation, most commonly to Lourdes (45%), Guadalupe (40%), Fátima (39%), Medjugorje (17%), and Our Lady of Champion (14%)
Art, music, literature or films related to Mary that have been especially meaningful to respondents include the Pieta, Our Lady of Guadalupe Tilma, artworks on The Annunciation, the Our Lady of Perpetual Help icon, and other artworks related to the various titles bestowed on Mary.

The full report can be accessed here: https://cara.georgetown.edu/.

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