Half of the men scheduled to be ordained as priests in the United States in 2024 are 31 years old or younger, according to the latest research from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
The Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commissioned the annual survey of ordinands to the priesthood.
A total of 392 ordinands completed the survey. CARA says four in five respondents (83 per cent) were from a diocesan or eparchy, and one in six respondents (17 per cent) was a religious.
Across the Ordination Class of 2024, the range of backgrounds and reasons for choosing to pursue the religious life are nothing if not eclectic and wide ranging.
