Ordination Class of 2017-FINAL - usccb.org

1 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate Georgetown University Washington, DC The Class of 2017 : Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood A Report to the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life &Vocations United States Conference of Catholic Bishops April 2017 Michal J. Kramarek, Mary L. Gautier, Table of Contents Executive Summary .. 1 Major Findings .. 2 Introduction .. 5 Part I: Ordinands to Secular (Diocesan) and Religious Priesthood .. 6 Part II: Age .. 8 Age When First Considered Priesthood .. 8 Age When Scheduled for Ordination .. 10 Ordinands by Year of Birth .. 10 Part III: Selected Demographics .. 12 Race and Ethnicity .. 12 Country of Birth and Year of Entrance into the United States .. 14 Siblings and Birth Order .. 17 Part IV: Education .. 18 Highest Level of Education before Seminary .. 19 Attained Catholic Education .. 22 Participation in Catholic Religious Education.

2 23 Home Schooling .. 24 Educational Debt .. 25 Part V: Work .. 28 Employment Background .. 29 Military Background .. 30 Part VI: Vocational Discernment .. 32 Family Religious Background .. 33 Prayer Practices .. 35 Participation in Faith-Related Activities .. 36 Participation in Parish Ministries .. 38 Influence of Others .. 40 Participation in Vocation Activities .. 43 1 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate Georgetown University Washington, DC The Class of 2017 : Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood Executive Summary This report presents findings from a national survey of seminarians scheduled for Ordination to the priesthood in 2017 . The report is a part of collaboration between the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( usccb ) Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The purpose of this report is to compile information regarding men who are ordained to priesthood within a particular year.

3 The data collection for this report involved identifying the responding ordinands to the priesthood in 2017 by contacting all theologates, houses of formation, dioceses, archdioceses, eparchies and institutes of men religious in the United States for the names and contact information of all men scheduled for Ordination to priesthood in 2017 . The resulting contact list was used to administer the survey. The survey was administered between March 1 and March 29. The survey invitation was sent by email to 590 ordinands. Two follow-up emails were sent to the ordinands who delayed their response and one follow-up email was sent to major superiors and vocation directors asking for assistance with encouraging the ordinands to participate in the survey. Where email addresses proved incorrect, CARA contacted the respondent by telephone to request a response. A total of 444 ordinands completed the survey (75 percent response rate).

4 The responding ordinands included 343 ordinands to the diocesan priesthood (77 percent of all responding ordinands) and 101 ordinands to the religious priesthood (23 percent). 2 Major Findings Over three-quarters (77 percent) of all responding ordinands are preparing for Ordination to a diocese or eparchy. Responding ordinands from religious institutes comprise the remaining 23 percent. The biggest group of responding ordinands (one-third) studies at the seminaries in the Midwest. One in ten studies at a seminary abroad. On average, responding diocesan ordinands lived in the diocese or eparchy for which they will be ordained for 16 years before they entered the seminary, while responding ordinands from religious institutes knew the members of their religious institute for six years before they entered the seminary. Age On average, responding ordinands first considered priesthood when they were 16 years old.

5 On average, responding ordinands were scheduled for Ordination 18 years later (at the age of 34). Since 1999, the average age of responding ordinands has decreased by approximately two months each year, from an average of 36 in 1999 to the current average age of 34. Selected Demographics The majority of responding ordinands is Caucasian (seven in ten) and was born in the United States (three in four). One in four is foreign-born. By comparison, since 1999, on average, each year, 29 percent of responding ordinands were foreign-born. The five most common countries of birth among the foreign-born are Mexico, Vietnam, the Philippines, Colombia, and Poland. On average, foreign-born responding ordinands came to live in the United States 12 years ago at the age of 25. Almost all responding ordinands (97 percent) have at least one sibling. On average, responding ordinands have three siblings and they are most likely to be one of the middle children in the family.

6 Education Less than one in ten (8 percent) of responding ordinands reported being home schooled; among those who were home schooled, they report seven years of home schooling, on average. Between 40 and 50 percent of all responding ordinands attended a Catholic school for at least some part of their schooling. Three in five responding ordinands (59 percent) participated in a religious education program in their parish for seven years, on average. Two in five responding ordinands (43 percent) reported that they completed college or university undergraduate degree before entering the seminary. Responding ordinands from religious institutes had completed a higher level of education, on average, than responding diocesan ordinands prior to entering the seminary. 3 More than one in seven responding ordinands who attended undergraduate or graduate school before entering the seminary studied in one of the following fields: social science, theology or philosophy, business, or liberal arts.

7 Responding ordinands for religious institutes were 50 percent more likely than diocesan ordinands to study social sciences. Almost half (46 percent) of responding ordinands entered their seminary program at the pre-theology level. Less than one-third (29 percent) carried educational debt, which averaged $28,318, at the time they entered the seminary. Responding ordinands from religious institutes were more likely to carry educational debt, but they were also more highly educated and on average their debt was smaller in comparison to responding diocesan ordinands. Work More than half of responding ordinands (57 percent) reported full-time work experience prior to entering the seminary. One in six of those responding ordinands worked in education. Responding ordinands for religious institutes are more likely to have work experience than responding diocesan ordinands (64 percent as compared to 55 percent).

8 About one in eight responding ordinands (12 percent) reported that one or both parents had a military career in the Armed Forces. One in twenty responding ordinands served in the Armed Forces themselves. The percentage of those with experience in different branches of the military changes considerably from year to year. Vocational Discernment Almost all responding ordinands were baptized Catholic as infants (93 percent). Among those who became Catholic later in life, the average age of conversion was 21. Four in five responding ordinands (80 percent) reported that both their parents were Catholic when they were children. One in three (35 percent) has/had a relative who is a priest or religious. Four in five responding ordinands participated in Eucharistic Adoration (77 percent) on a regular basis before entering the seminary, around seven in ten (69 percent) prayed the rosary, almost half (46 percent) attended prayer group/Bible study, two in five (38 percent) went to high school retreats, and about three out of ten attended college retreats (34 percent) or participated in Lectio Divina (29 percent).

9 Responding diocesan ordinands were 17 percentage points more likely than responding ordinands from religious institutes to participate in the Eucharistic Adoration. Responding ordinands from religious institutes were 14 percentage points more likely than responding diocesan ordinands to attend college retreats. In regard to participation in various activities before entering the seminary, half of responding ordinands participated in parish youth groups (48 percent). About three out of ten responding ordinands participated in Catholic campus ministry/Newman Center (34 percent) and Boy Scouts (31 percent). 4 In regard to participation in parish ministries before entering the seminary, four in five (75 percent) responding ordinands served as altar servers. Half (52 percent) served as lectors. Two in five served as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (43 percent). A third served in campus ministry/youth ministry (35 percent) or as catechists (34 percent) or confirmation sponsors/godfathers (32 percent).

10 One in four served as a cantor or in some other aspect of music ministry (27 percent). Half of responding ordinands (47 percent) reported participating in Come and See weekends at the seminary or the religious institute/society. Four in five responding ordinands (82 percent) reported being encouraged to consider the priesthood by someone in their life (most frequently, the parish priest, friend, or another parishioner). On average, four individuals encouraged their vocation. One-half of responding ordinands (48 percent) indicated that they were discouraged from considering the priesthood by one or more persons. Most often, this person was a friend/classmate or a family member (other than parents). 5 Introduction In December 2005, the Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation (now the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations) of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( usccb ) commissioned the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University to conduct an annual survey of responding ordinands to the priesthood.