DALLAS -- A priest shortage is leading many rural Catholic priests to pull double duty as they care for the 3,150 priestless parishes in the United States. Many priests serve up to four parishes and 5,000 parishioners, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The Rev. Philip McNamara serves four parishes about 130 miles southwest of Dallas. He hurries from one to the other each weekend, squeezing in five English and Spanish-language Masses, according to the paper.

"I'm no busier than a lot of other priests," said McNamara, 70. "If people need you after Mass, you can't say, ‘Look, I can't talk to you.' But you have to rush."

And he still has to fit in house calls, weddings and funerals.

"That's the toughest part, fitting those in," he said. "You get used to it. Believe it or not, I kind of relax in the car."

The decline existed prior to the current Church sex-abuse scandal.

The number of priests in America has fallen about 25 percent in the last 25 years, according to the Dallas News. In that time, the number of Catholics per priest has nearly doubled to 1,341 as few new priests join the Church.

The Fort Worth Diocese estimates that nearly 400,000 Catholics live in its 28 countries. They're served by 100 priests, according to the newspaper, about one-third fewer than 40 years ago.

The diocese, like many across the country, is starting low-key initiatives to get young men to consider the priesthood. Each parish has been asked to promote the priesthood, identify potential recruits and conduct designated prayers for them, according to the newspaper.

Many parishes depend on deacons - who are ordained but can't conduct all the rites of communion - and church members to do jobs that priests traditionally handled. In Texas, for example, a deacon alternates with Father McNamara at some services and a church member leads Bible studies.