Posted October 17, 2013
What do those who are ordained
for the priesthood look like?
A report from the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations
(The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Introduction
In December 2005, the Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation (now the
Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations) of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate
(CARA) at Georgetown University to conduct an annual survey of ordinands to the priesthood.
The survey was initially developed by the Secretariat in 1998 and has been administered online
since 2005. CARA assumed responsibility for the project in 2006, using the online survey
developed by the Secretariat. CARA worked with the Secretariat to upgrade the online survey
and to incorporate it into the data collection process for CARA's annual survey of priestly
formation programs. This report presents results of the survey of ordinands of the Class of 2013.
Major Findings
The average age of ordinands for the Class of 2013 is 35.5. The median age (midpoint of
the distribution) is 32. Three-quarters of responding ordinands are between 23 and 39.
This distribution is slightly older than in 2012, but follows the pattern in recent years of
average age at ordination in the mid-thirties.
On average, diocesan ordinands lived in the diocese or eparchy for which they will be
ordained for 16 years before entering the seminary. Religious ordinands knew the
members of their religious institute an average of nine years before they entered the
seminary.
Background and Country of Origin
Two-thirds of responding ordinands (67 percent) report their primary race or ethnicity as
Caucasian/European American/white. Compared to the adult Catholic population of the
United States, ordinands are more likely to be of Asian or Pacific Islander background
(10 percent of responding ordinands), but less likely to be Hispanic/Latino (15 percent of
responding ordinands). Compared to diocesan ordinands, religious ordinands are less
likely to report their race or ethnicity as Caucasian/European American/white.
Three in ten ordinands (31 percent) were born outside the United States, with the largest
numbers coming from Mexico, Vietnam, Colombia, Poland, the Philippines, and Nigeria.
On average, responding ordinands who were born in another country have lived in the
United States for 14 years. Between 20 and 30 percent of ordinands to diocesan
priesthood for each of the last ten years were born outside of the United States.
Most ordinands have been Catholic since birth, although 9 percent became Catholic later
in life. Eight in ten report that both of their parents are Catholic and a third (34 percent)
have a relative who is a priest or a religious.
Almost all ordinands in the Class of 2013 (97 percent) have at least one sibling. Around
half (52 percent) report having more than two siblings, while one in five (20 percent)
have five or more siblings. Ordinands are most likely to be the oldest in their family (40
percent).
Education, Ministry, and Work Experience
Before entering the seminary, six in ten ordinands completed college (63 percent).
Almost one quarter (23 percent) entered the seminary with a graduate degree. Among
those who completed college before entering the seminary, five in ten (46 percent)
entered the seminary at the pre-theology level and 17 percent entered at the theology
level. One in three (29 percent) report entering the seminary while in college.
The most common fields of study for ordinands before entering the seminary are theology
or philosophy (23 percent), business (17 percent), and the liberal arts (16 percent).
About four in ten responding ordinands (42 percent) attended a Catholic elementary
school, which is a rate equal to that for all Catholic adults in the United States. In
addition, ordinands are somewhat more likely than other U.S. Catholic adults to have
attended a Catholic high school and they are much more likely to have attended a
Catholic college (44 percent, compared to 7 percent among U.S. Catholic adults).
Just over a quarter (26 percent) carried educational debt at the time they entered the
seminary, averaging a little over $20,000 in educational debt at entrance to the seminary.
More than six in ten ordinands (62 percent) report some type of full-time work experience
prior to entering the seminary, most often in education or accounting, finance, or
insurance. Four percent of responding ordinands report having served in the U.S. Armed
Forces. About one in six ordinands (13 percent) report that one or both parents had a
military career in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Ordinands of the Class of 2013 have been active in parish ministries, with two-thirds (67
percent) indicating they served as an altar server and about half (47 percent) participating
in a parish youth group. One-fifth (20 percent) participated in a World Youth Day before
entering the seminary.
Nearly seven in ten ordinands report regularly praying the Rosary (68 percent) and
participating in Eucharistic Adoration (62 percent) before entering the seminary.
Vocational Discernment
On average, responding ordinands report that they were nearly 17 when they first
considered a vocation to the priesthood. Two in three (67 percent) say they were
encouraged to consider a vocation to the priesthood by a parish priest. Other frequent
encouragers include friends (46 percent), parishioners (38 percent), and mothers (34
percent).
Almost half of responding ordinands (48 percent) indicated that they were discouraged
from considering the priesthood by one or more persons. Most often, the person who
discouraged them was a friend or classmate or a family member other than their parent.
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