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A priest shortage is the situation of a reduced number of priests in religions, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

There are different causes for this phenomenon. On one hand a smaller number of the faithful leads automatically to a reduced count of those in priesthood, because these can only come from those who are faithful. This is predominantly the case in Western countries.

On the other hand, a life without marriage leads to a reduced number of those in priesthood, which is especially the case in Africa. A societal rejection of life without marriage inevitably leads to a reduced number, because the acceptance of a celibate lifestyle declines.

The most prominent cause of priest shortages in South America is poverty.

In contrast, the causes of priest shortage in Europe are to be seen in the increasing secularization and in the fact, that women cannot be Roman Catholic priests (ordination of women).

The priest shortage leads to a sacramental and pastoral deficiency for the faithful of a certain area. The distances, which must be covered for a visit to a mass, baptism, etc. become ever longer, since the reduced number of priests understandably leads to a reduced amount of services. On the other hand this means for the priests, that the distances become greater, and they thus have less time for the individual churchgoer, since they must care for a greater amount of them.

In the United States and many other western countries, the number of Roman Catholic priests in the past two decades has substantially declined. As a result, many parishes have had to share a priest and staff with one or more other parishes, or have had to close. In many parishes, some of the duties performed by priests are instead performed by other personnel, such as Deacons and members of the laity.

• (German) NZZ: Warum die katholische Kirche schlecht beraten wäre, den Zölibat zu opfern