Some Catholic churches in Wisconsin are having unusual success in attracting new priests.

The number of priests in the U.S. has dropped from about 59,000 in 1975 to about 40,600 last year.

But pastoral ministries director Dwaine Habrat says St. Bronislava Catholic Church in Plover in central Wisconsin recently ordained one member and has five others studying to enter the priesthood.

Vocations director Joseph Hirsch says the Diocese of La Crosse has about six men enter the seminary each year and that's beginning to increase.

Researcher Mary Gautier of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University says some men responded to the priest sex abuse scandal by going into the church because they felt it needed them.