CARA sought survey respon-ses from the 458 seminarians to be ordained this year. It received 334 responses, a response rate of 73%. Responses came from ordi-nands at 116 U.S. dioceses and 24 different religious institutions.
More than 450 men are set to be ordained priests this year, and the survey of their ordination class shows that the overwhelm-ing majority of priests-to-be were raised Catholic in intact families and individually showed habits of frequent church service and regular prayer life.
“On this day, let us thank God for continuing to call men and women to serve him and his Church as priests, religious, and consecrated persons,” Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, said April 25. “We pray that all families, teachers, and priests will continue their essential work of instilling the faith and love of Jesus in our children.”
Bishop Boyea chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations. The committee released the “Ordination Class of 2023 Study” from the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
CARA sought survey responses from the 458 seminarians to be ordained this year. It received 334 responses, a response rate of 73%. Responses came from ordinands at 116 U.S. dioceses and 24 different religious institutions.