A total of 405 men in the United States are expected to be ordained this year, according to a CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) survey conducted in collaboration with the U.S. bishops. Approximately 80 per cent of respondents will be ordained for dioceses or eparchies, with the remaining 20 per cent entering religious orders.
The data reveals notable trends in the Church in the United States when compared with the same survey from 2006, the earliest available report. In 2006, just 3 per cent of ordinands reported receiving some homeschooling. The 2025 report finds that five times as many have now been homeschooled, with 15 per cent of ordinands reporting such.
The number of black ordinands has also significantly increased. At just 3 per cent in 2006, the figure for 2025 stands at 6 per cent.
The number of new priests who had previously served as altar servers has remained consistently high across the two generations: 72 per cent in 2006 and 73 per cent in 2025.
The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, leads the way in numbers of ordinations, with Bishop Michael Burbidge ordaining 12 men to the sacred priesthood on 7 June— the second-largest ordination class in the diocese's history.
The Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, also ordained a significant number of men to the priesthood compared with other dioceses across the country. Bishop Edward Malesic ordained eight men to the sacred priesthood on 17 May; the previous year, only one man had been ordained.
The Jesuits represented the largest number of ordinations to religious institutes. Across the four U.S. provinces, the order ordained 18 men to the priesthood—two more than the 16 men ordained in 2013, the year Pope Francis was elected. The Dominicans will ordain at least nine men this year, with seven already ordained by Archbishop Anthony Fisher, O.P., of Sydney at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, D.C.
(Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
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