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May
7, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 9Oakland,
CA
Average
age of priests to be ordained
in United States this year is 35
WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- Results of a survey released April 30 show that the average age
of the 475 priests expected to be ordained in the United States this year
is 35 and one-third of this year’s new priests were born in another
country, primarily Vietnam, Mexico, Poland or the Philippines.
The national study of the ordination class of 2007 also shows that the
men are well-educated. More than six in 10 completed college before entering
the seminary and some have advanced degrees in law, medicine and education.
Seven in 10 respondents reported their primary race or ethnicity as Caucasian,
European American or white. Eleven percent are Asian/Pacific Islander;
11 percent are Hispanic/Latino; and 5 percent are African-American.
According to the survey report, nearly all of the new priests have been
Catholic since birth; 6 percent joined the Catholic Church from mainline
and evangelical Protestant traditions and one converted from Buddhism.
Half of the ordinands attended Catholic elementary school, as have almost
half of all U.S. Catholics, the report said. They attended Catholic high
school and college in larger numbers than the overall U.S. adult Catholic
population.
About two-thirds of the ordinands had full-time work experience, primarily
in education, before entering the seminary. Almost one in 10 of them served
in the U.S. Armed Forces.
