Just ahead of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations April 26, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) spotlighted survey results from more than 300 men being ordained to the priesthood this year about their prayer habits, educational backgrounds, family life, and influence other people had in their discernment.
Conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, the survey was sent to all 428 men in the U.S. set to be ordained and had a 78% response rate. The 334 ordinands who responded to the survey represent 110 U.S. dioceses and eparchies and 34 distinct religious institutes, according to an April 21 USCCB press release.
“Vocations are a sign of God’s free gift of merciful love to a world in need of salvation,” Archbishop Ronald Hicks, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, said in the release. “We join in prayer for all disciples of Christ, especially young people, to experience the loving God, the Good Shepherd, who has a unique call for each person’s life.”
According to the release, 81% of ordinands said they went to Eucharistic Adoration regularly, and 79% said they prayed the Rosary regularly before entering seminary. A little more than half (52%) said they participated in a Bible or prayer group and 48% prayed with Scripture using Lectio Divina, which is a type of meditative prayer considering the same Scripture passage multiple times.
Nine in 10 of the ordinands who responded — 92% — said they had been encouraged to consider the priesthood by at least one person they knew, according to the release. Seventy percent of respondents said a parish priest encouraged them, 49% said a friend, and 44% said a parishioner.
The survey also found that a number of ordinands experienced being discouraged from considering the priesthood by someone they knew; two in five ordinands (41%) indicated that they were discouraged by at least one person, the survey states, and typically the person was a friend, classmate, parent, or other family member.
The survey found that the majority of respondents were “cradle Catholics” — 93% were baptized Catholic as an infant and 97% were raised primarily by their biological parents, and 88% were raised by a married couple living together.
The survey also covers topics such as sibling order, military and career experience, education, school debt, race and ethnicity, and other aspects related to vocational discernment. The full survey can be read here.
The USCCB also has a webpage introducing many of the transitional deacons who will be ordained to the priesthood this year and spotlights testimonies from them about their journeys and what they look forward to in their ministry.
Deacon Herley Mendez of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, shared a transformative experience he had while doing mission work.
“I didn't want to go to the seminary at first,” he said. “My call to the priesthood began in childhood through serving at the altar and deepened unexpectedly during a missionary assignment to a remote Colombian village when I was 20, where, despite initial doubts, I experienced profound joy in bringing Christ to humble families and witnessed God's grace alive in their generosity and hunger for Jesus.”
“That transformative moment on the mountain revealed to me,” he continued, “that this is what I want to do with my life: to speak about Jesus, accompany people in their faith, and bring them closer to the sacraments and the heart of the Church.”
Deacon Dominick Jean, who is a part of the Dominican Friars, said he had a fear of public speaking before joining the Order of Preachers, but that has since changed.
“It was always frightening to imagine speaking or preaching before hundreds of people, but now I love it,” he said. “Preaching about Jesus is the greatest gift I could ask for.”
Deacon Robert Bart III of the Archdiocese of Baltimore said that post-college, he pursued a career in development.
“I found myself searching for a part of my life that had eluded me while in search of a life of success built on personal achievement,” he explained.
“The more successful I became, the more I yearned for something deeper and infinitely more meaningful,” he said. “It wasn’t until I surrendered myself to the Will of God that I found what I had been yearning for, a life united to Christ as His humble servant. From that moment and in every moment since, God has given me a peace and joy that surpasses all understanding, known only to me in my vocation to the Priesthood.”