News & Events

Come back often to see what is happening next and to learn more about Vocation News in the Church.

The Class of 2010: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood

A CARA Report to the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life & Vocations. This report presents findings from a national survey of ordinands to the priesthood in 2010. To obtain the names and contact information for these ordinands, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) contacted all theologates and houses of formation in fall 2009 as part of the annual data collection....more

Ethnic Diversity Shows in New Priests Ordination Class

USCCB April 20, 2009 - The ordination class of 2009 claims 11 percent Asian-born men, though the percentage of Asian Catholics in the United States is only three percent. Six percent of the class is from Vietnam and two percent from the Philippines.....more

Number of Diocesan Priests Going Up

The number of diocesan priests has grown in recent years, unlike the number of priests in religious congregations.

This is one statistic to be found in the most recent edition of the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, published in one volume in Latin, English and French. The yearbook actually covers a seven-year span, from 2000 to 2007....more

Pope: Priests are more than "Social Agents"

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 12, 2010 (Zenit.org).- When a priest sees himself as nothing more than a "social agent," he runs the risk of betraying the priesthood itself, says Benedict XVI. ....more

A’s prospect trades in uniform for seminary

When top Oakland A’s baseball prospect Grant Desme capped off a stellar minor league season by announcing his January retirement to join the priesthood....more

U.S. speedskater took leap of faith

U.S. speedskater on a different journey. “Speedskating was such a huge part of my life,” Holumn said in a telephone interview with Yahoo! Sports. “I still loved the sport, but I had this incredibly strong calling that it was time to move on and take a different path in life.”...more