Trained Catholic exorcists in the US

Between 2005 and 2023, the number of trained Catholic exorcists in the United States grew from approximately 12 to over 100, while per capita peanut butter consumption tracked upward at an r of 0.9743. The Catholic Church has not formally endorsed peanut butter as either a spiritual aid or a demonic attractant, but the data is not helping their case. One imagines the exorcists consuming considerable peanut butter between appointments, which would at least explain one direction of causality. The jars are suspiciously unlabeled.

The growth in trained Catholic exorcists reflects a documented institutional response to increased demand for exorcism services, with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops establishing formal training programs in the 2010s. This tracked broader trends in religious identity — paradoxically, as mainline religion declined, intense charismatic and traditional practices grew among remaining adherents. Per capita peanut butter consumption has grown slowly but steadily, driven by protein-conscious eating trends, snack food innovation, and health halo marketing. Both reflect niche but real growth in specific American subcultures during the same period.

Not all growth is the same kind of growth. The correlation here is a reminder that averages and totals can hide wildly different stories about why something is increasing and who is doing the increasing.