STATS FOR NEW PRIESTS

The typical member of the priestly ordination class of 2019 is a 33-year-old cradle Catholic, according to a recently released survey of 379 of the 481 men slated to be ordained to the priesthood in the United States this year. 

St. Louis Basilica

The typical ordinand regularly took part in Eucharistic adoration and prayed the Rosary before entering seminary, according to the survey.

75% of the men were preparing for the diocesan priesthood, with the largest number of responses coming from seminarians in the Archdioceses of Cincinnati and Washington (eight each), the Dioceses of Cleveland and Paterson (seven each), and the Archdioceses of St. Louis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, and Milwaukee (six each). Among members of religious communities, the largest number of respondents came from the Jesuits (16), Dominicans (11), and Legionaries of Christ (10).

25% of the ordinands are foreign born, with the most typical foreign countries of birth being Mexico (5%), Nigeria (3%), Colombia (2%), and Vietnam (2%). On average, these foreign-born seminarians have lived in the United States for 14 years and arrived in the US at age 22.

A disproportionately high percentage of ordinands attended a Catholic elementary school (47%), Catholic high school (39%), or Catholic college (38%).

In addition, a disproportionately high percentage were home schooled: 11% were home schooled, typically for eight years, at a time when less than 2% of US children were educated at home. If one assumes that all of the home schooled seminarians came from the United States, then nearly 15% of US-born ordinands were home schooled.

We have 200 priests serving the Archdiocese of Seattle, 115  are Diocesan, 90 religious, and 25 extern/international. There will be 3 young men ordained June 22.