WASHINGTON – According to a new survey, nine in ten men who will be ordained to the priesthood this year were encouraged to consider this vocation by someone in their life. Three-quarters of them regularly participated in Eucharistic Adoration before entering the seminary. “Encourage a young man to consider the priesthood or to attend Eucharistic Adoration; he could be your future pastor,” said Bishop Earl Boyea. “We express our deepest gratitude to the many priests, family members, mentors, formators, and laity who have encouraged and supported these men in their discernment of their call to the priesthood.” In conjunction with the World Day of Prayer for Vocations on May 11, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations released the Ordination Class of 2025 Study, conducted annually by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
“We pray for the continued fidelity of the newly ordained to the voice of God and for the faithful to whom they will minister,” said Bishop Boyea, who serves as chairman of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations. “As witnesses of hope, we thank them for their courage to commit their lives to what Pope Francis said is a call that embraces their entire existence.”
Out of the 405 men who are to be ordained this year, 309 completed CARA’s Ordination Class of 2025 survey, for an overall response rate of 76%. These ordinands represent 115 dioceses and eparchies in the United States and 36 distinct religious institutes.
A few of the major findings in the report:
- Nine in ten responding ordinands (89%) reported being encouraged to consider the priesthood by someone in their life, most frequently by a parish priest (60%), friend (52%), or fellow parishioner (42%).
- Regarding prayer practices, three-quarters of responding ordinands participated in Eucharistic Adoration (78%) on a regular basis before entering the seminary.
- Most of the ordinands received formation at a seminary in the Midwest (37%) followed by the South (29%), Northeast (16%), West (13%), and abroad (5%).
- Responding ordinands indicate they first considered priesthood during elementary school (35%), followed by high school (20%).
- Hispanics/Latinos constituted 12% of the responding ordinands. Between 2006 and 2025, the share of Hispanics/Latinos averaged 15% and ranged between 11% and 22%.
- Ordinands who attended Catholic elementary school constituted 46% of all respondents, and 36% attended a Catholic high school.
- Most respondents (92%) were baptized Catholic as an infant and raised primarily by their biological parents (95%) and a married couple living together (89%).
The full CARA report and profiles of the Ordination Class of 2025 can be accessed here.
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