Newark, N.J., May 27, 2009 / 04:35 am
The Archdiocese of Newark on Saturday ordained 13 priests, the United States’ largest ordination class of 2009.
The men were ordained by Archbishop of Newark John J. Myers at a morning Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports.
Ten of the ordinands were foreign-born, with three from Colombia, two from Nigeria, and one each from Italy, Ecuador, South Korea, the Dominican Republic and Hungary.
Several of the foreign-born priests grew up in the United States.
Monsignor Robert Wister, a church historian at Seton Hall University, told the Star-Ledger that about one-third of the Catholics in the archdiocese are foreign born. About 40 percent are Latino.