The Ordination Class of 2014 is slightly younger than last year with most men having a median age of 32 and a majority being graduates of Catholic schools.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is reporting that the 477 men who will be ordained to the priesthood this year reflect a wide range of age groups and ethnic backgrounds.

About 31 percent of our new priests are foreign-born with 15 percent being of Hispanic heritage. The youngest ordinand is 25 and the oldest is 70.  Catholic education stands out as a strong factor in the background of the new priests, with half having attended a Catholic elementary school, 41 percent a Catholic high school and 45 percent, a Catholic college.

Some interesting facts about our newest priests include:

•  On average, responding ordinands report that they were about 17 when they first considered a vocation to the priesthood. Seven in ten (71 percent) say they were encouraged by a parish priest. Other frequent encouragers include friends (45 percent), parishioners (43 percent) and mothers (38 percent).

•  A third of ordinands first considered a vocation to priesthood in elementary school. About a quarter first considered a vocation in high school. One in five first considered this in college. Diocesan ordinands are more likely to have considered priesthood in high school, while religious ordinands are slightly more likely to have first considered this during their college years.

•  Ordinands have been active in parish ministries, with eight in ten (80 percent) indicating they served as an altar server and about half (52 percent) report being a lector.

•  About seven in ten ordinands report regularly praying the rosary (68 percent) and participating in Eucharistic adoration (70 percent) before entering the seminary.

•  Eight in ten ordinands are between age 25 and 39. This distribution is slightly younger than in 2013, but follows the pattern in recent years of average age at ordination in the mid-thirties. Five men are being ordained to the priesthood after age 60.

•  Two thirds (67 percent) report their primary race or ethnicity as Caucasian/European American/white. Eleven percent are Asian or Pacific Islanders and 15 percent, Hispanic/Latino.

•  Three of ten of the new priests (31 percent) were born outside the U.S., with the largest numbers from Mexico, Vietnam, Colombia, Poland and the Philippines. Mexico and Vietnam are the most frequently mentioned countries of birth among ordinands born outside the U.S. The class identified 33 different countries of origin. The number of ordinands who are foreign-born increased from 22 percent in 1999 to 38 percent in 2003, but has declined since then and is now 31 percent.

•  Most ordinands have been Catholic since birth, although 9 percent became Catholic later in life. Among the latter, their average age of conversion was about 19. Most converts are from a Protestant tradition (e.g., Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist or Anglican). One ordinand was formerly Coptic Orthodox, one converted from Judaism, and another came from a family with both Jewish and Protestant religious affiliation. Eight were raised without a faith tradition.

•  Six in ten ordinands (60 percent) report some type of full-time work experience prior to entering the seminary, most often in education.

“The number of new priests remains steady and the quality of the new priests is stellar. They have a solid educational background to minister in the contemporary U.S. church,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, chair of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.

“However, we need more priests and we need them especially from the Hispanic community. The U.S. Bishops in general and the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations in particular continue to keep both these goals as top priorities. We encourage all the faithful to pray for these special intentions.”

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