Washington D.C., May 9, 2008 / 04:17 am
A study of potential ordinands for 2008 reveals a diverse set of men will present themselves for priestly ordination this year.
According to a press release from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, 401 men will be ordained in 2008. The Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) surveyed about 84 percent of the potential new priests on behalf of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.
The CARA survey revealed that most ordinands have been Catholic since birth, though almost one in ten is a convert. Ordinands were somewhat more likely to have attended a Catholic high school, and much more likely to have attended a Catholic college. Between half and three quarters of the 2008 class had been active in parish ministry before entering the seminary, serving their parishes as lector, altar server, or Eucharistic minister.
The average age of an ordinand is 36 for the diocesan priesthood and 39 for the religious orders, according to the CARA survey. About 30 percent of new priests are between 25 and 29 years of age, while about 39 percent are in their thirties.