Number of priestly ordinations in US to rise 25% this year
April 08, 2015
595 men are expected to be ordained to the priesthood in the United States in 2015, an increase of 24.7% over last year’s figure of 477, according to data released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The number of men ordained to the priesthood in the US fell steadily from 994 in 1965, to 771 in 1975, 533 in 1985, 511 in 1995, and 454 in 2005, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
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Further information:
- Ordination Class Of 2015 Shows Increase In Number Ordained, Reflects Positive Impact Of Support From Families, Catholic Schools, Parish Priests (USCCB)
- Frequently request church statistics (CARA)
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Posted by: unum -
Apr. 08, 2015 6:21 PM ET USA
Thanks for some genuinely good news about the state of the U.S. Church. If the new trend holds, and if the clergy and laity join in supporting these men after ordination, this will be a very positive long term change.
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Posted by: shrink -
Apr. 08, 2015 5:36 PM ET USA
A bit of good news. The new priests do have their work cut out for them according to the CARA tables. In 1965 there were 48.5m Catholics in the US with 1.3m baptisms. Today there are 79.7m "catholics" but only 0.7m baptisms. Maybe this new generation of priests can help make us more Catholic and more fertile.
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Posted by: Gil125 -
Apr. 08, 2015 3:46 PM ET USA
Thanks for the link to CARA's most frequently requested statistics. I clicked on it just out of curiosity and have already spent the best part of an hour going through it and am not finished. Fascinating stuff.
