EWTN News reports that more than 400 men will be ordained to the priesthood in the United States in 2026, with the average ordinand being 33 years old and a lifelong Catholic, according to a survey by The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The survey, conducted between February 12 and March 20, garnered responses from 334 out of 428 invited ordinands, representing a 78% response rate. These men are preparing for ministry in 110 U.S. dioceses and epechies, as well as 34 religious institutes, with 81% destined for diocesan ministry and 19% for religious life. The report, a collaboration between CARA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, paints a picture of men who began considering priesthood at age 16, lived in their diocese for 16 years prior to seminary, and are now, at 33, ready to serve. Demographically, 62% are white, 17% Hispanic/Latino, 11% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 5% Black/African American. While 74% were born in the U.S., a significant 26% were born abroad, primarily in Vietnam, Mexico, and Colombia. Their educational backgrounds vary, with 39% holding undergraduate degrees and 13% graduate degrees, often in fields like business, engineering, or science, though 22% studied theology or philosophy. Many attended Catholic schools (45% elementary, 38% high school, 34% college) and participated in parish religious education (63%). Their prayer lives before seminary reportedly included Eucharistic adoration (81%), the rosary (79%), prayer groups (52%), and lectio divina (48%). Nearly all (93%) were active in parish ministries, such as altar serving, lectoring, or youth ministry. Encouragement came primarily from parish priests (70%), friends (49%), and mothers (46%), though some faced discouragement from family (22%) or peers (17%). Family backgrounds were largely stable, with 88% raised by married couples and 96% by both biological parents. A notable 28% have a relative who is a priest or religious, and 96% have siblings.
The Illusion of Continuity: A Statistical Facade Over a Doctrinal Abyss
The CARA survey, presented with the veneer of objective sociological inquiry, meticulously catalogs the demographic and biographical data of men preparing for ordination within the structures of the post-conciliar sect. It speaks of ages, educational backgrounds, prayer practices, and family histories, constructing an image of continuity and vitality. Yet, this statistical tapestry, woven with threads of “lifelong Catholics,” “parish ministry,” and “Eucharistic adoration,” serves only to mask a profound and catastrophic rupture. The very foundation upon which these men are being built—the “Church” they are called to serve—is not the Church of Christ, but a counterfeit, a “paramasonic structure” that has systematically dismantled the immutable truths of the Faith. The survey’s focus on external metrics, while ignoring the doctrinal chasm, is a testament to the modernist obsession with the tangible and the quantifiable, at the expense of the supernatural and the eternal. As St. Pius X warned in Pascendi Dominici gregis, the Modernists “proceed to the extent of asserting that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition” and that “the sacraments were instituted only for the sake of fostering faith” (condemned propositions 40, 41). The CARA report, by its very silence on doctrine, implicitly endorses this modernist reduction.
The “Priesthood” of the Conciliar Sect: A Sacramental Nullity in a Heretical Context
The article speaks of “ordination to the priesthood” and “diocesan ministry” as if these terms retained their Catholic meaning. However, within the context of the post-conciliar apostasy, such language is a dangerous equivocation. The “priesthood” being conferred in these “dioceses” and “religious institutes” is not the Catholic priesthood, which offers the true and propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass. The Novus Ordo Missae, the standard rite of worship in these structures, has been widely criticized, even by those within the conciliar fold, for its ambiguity regarding the sacrificial nature of the Mass. If the Mass is not a true sacrifice, then the one who offers it is not a true priest. As the Council of Trent dogmatically defined, “If anyone says that in the Mass a true and proper sacrifice is not offered to God… let him be anathema” (Session 22, Canon 1). The “ordinations” within the conciar sect, performed by “bishops” whose own orders and mission are gravely suspect due to their adherence to the heretical teachings of Vatican II, are therefore of dubious validity at best, and more likely, null and void. These men are being prepared not to offer the Holy Sacrifice, but to preside over a “memorial meal” that denies the very essence of Catholic worship. They are being trained to be functionaries of a naturalistic, man-centered “church,” not alteri Christi, other Christs, configured to the Eternal High Priest.
The “Formation” of Modernists: A Curriculum of Apostasy
The educational backgrounds of these ordinands, with many holding degrees in business, engineering, or science, and only a minority in theology or philosophy, further underscore the naturalistic bent of their formation. While secular knowledge is not inherently evil, its prominence, coupled with the absence of a rigorous, Thomistic philosophical and theological formation, indicates a formation geared towards worldly management and social work, rather than the defense and propagation of supernatural truth. The “theology” taught in conciliar seminaries is, in reality, the “evolution of dogmas” condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu (proposition 58: “Truth changes with man, because it develops with him, in him, and through him”). These men are being formed in an environment where “dialogue,” “ecumenism,” and “religious liberty” are paramount, doctrines explicitly condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors (propositions 15, 18, 77, 78, 79, 80). Their “prayer practices,” such as “lectio divina” and “prayer groups,” while not inherently wrong, are often divorced from the liturgical life of the true Church and can easily devolve into subjective, emotional experiences, fostering a false sense of spirituality that bypasses the need for doctrinal clarity and submission to the Magisterium. The “parish ministries” they served in—altar serving, lectoring, youth ministry—are within the very structures that perpetuate the conciliar errors, thus immersing them in the “abomination of desolation” from the outset.
The “Encouragement” of Apostates: Building the Kingdom of Man
The article notes that 92% of ordinands were encouraged by at least one person, with parish priests (70%), friends (49%), and mothers (46%) being the most common sources. This “encouragement” is not towards the Catholic priesthood, but towards service within the modernist “church.” The “parish priests” who encourage them are themselves products of the same system, often openly heretical or, at best, woefully ignorant of true Catholic doctrine. They are, in the words of Our Lady of La Salette (a true private revelation, unlike the suspect Fatima), “the image of the beast,” leading souls astray. The “friends” and “mothers” who encourage them, while perhaps well-meaning, are operating within the framework of the conciliar sect, unaware of its true nature. This network of encouragement reinforces the false reality of the neo-church, perpetuating its existence and drawing more souls into its fold. It is a closed circuit of apostasy, where the blind lead the blind, and the “vocations” it produces are not from God, but from the spirit of the age, which is the spirit of Antichrist.
The “Family Life” of the Conciliar Faithful: A Microcosm of Naturalism
The demographic details about family life—88% raised by married couples, 96% by both biological parents, 93% baptized Catholic as infants—present an image of stability and traditional family values. However, this stability is purely natural and does not guarantee supernatural faith. These families, while perhaps outwardly Catholic, are likely immersed in the conciliar “church,” attending Novus Ordo “Masses,” receiving invalid “sacraments,” and absorbing the modernist catechesis that has permeated every level of the sect. The “Catholic schools” many attended (45% elementary, 38% high school, 34% college) are, for the most part, institutions of the conciar sect, where the “new theology” and “ecumenical spirit” are taught, often under the guise of “relevance” or “pastoral care.” The “religious education” reported by 63% is, in reality, the indoctrination into the conciar errors. This “stable” family background, far from being a sign of true Catholic formation, often indicates a comfortable assimilation into the modernist paradigm, where the Faith is reduced to social respectability and community involvement, rather than a radical conversion to Christ and His immutable Truth.
The “Diversity” of the Conciliar Sect: A Reflection of Global Apostasy
The racial and ethnic diversity highlighted in the report (62% white, 17% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 5% Black) is presented as a positive sign of the “Church’s” universality. However, this “diversity” is merely a reflection of the global reach of the conciar sect, which, like all modernist movements, seeks to accommodate all cultures and beliefs under the banner of “dialogue” and “inclusivity.” This is not the Catholic universality, which demands the conversion of all nations to the one true Faith, as Christ commanded: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). The conciliar “universality” is a false unity built on the denial of absolute truth, a “unity” that embraces error and heresy. The foreign-born ordinands, particularly from Vietnam, Mexico, and Colombia, are being drawn into a system that has already devastated the Faith in the West, perpetuating the cycle of apostasy in their own cultures. This “diversity” is not a strength, but a symptom of the conciar sect’s fundamental indifference to truth, prioritizing worldly representation over doctrinal purity.
The Silence on Doctrine: The Gravest Omission
Perhaps the most damning aspect of the CARA report is its utter silence on doctrine. There is no mention of the teachings of the Church on faith and morals, no discussion of the errors of Modernism, no reference to the true nature of the priesthood or the Mass. This silence is not accidental; it is the hallmark of the conciar sect, which has systematically downplayed or denied the importance of doctrine in favor of “pastoral” concerns and “lived experience.” As Pope Pius IX declared in the Syllabus of Errors, “The principal articles of the Apostles’ Creed did not have the same meaning for the first Christians as they do for contemporary Christians” (proposition 62, condemned). The CARA report, by its very structure and content, implicitly endorses this modernist proposition, reducing the Faith to a set of sociological data points and ignoring the eternal truths that define the Catholic Church. This silence is a tacit admission that the conciar sect has nothing true to offer, only a hollow shell of rituals and social services.
The “Vocations” Crisis: A Self-Inflicted Wound
The article, while celebrating the number of ordinands, cannot entirely mask the underlying “vocations crisis” that plagues the conciar sect. The fact that only 428 men are being ordained in the entire United States, a country with a vast “Catholic” population, is a stark indictment of the conciar “church’s” inability to inspire true vocations. This crisis is a direct consequence of the conciar revolution, which has obscured the true nature of the priesthood, reduced the Mass to a communal meal, and embraced the errors of the world. Young men who genuinely seek God are not drawn to a “church” that denies its own divine foundation and compromises with the spirit of the age. They are drawn to the true Church, which endures in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith and are led by bishops with valid sacraments and validly ordained priests. The conciar sect’s “vocations” are not true vocations from God, but rather the recruitment of men to serve a human institution, a “Church of the New Advent” that is, in reality, the “abomination of desolation” foretold by Our Lord (Matthew 24:15).
Conclusion: A Call to Reject the Counterfeit and Return to Tradition
The CARA survey, far from being a cause for celebration, is a chilling testament to the depth of the apostasy within the structures occupying the Vatican. It reveals a system that is efficiently producing men to serve a “church” that is not the Church, to offer a “sacrifice” that is not the Mass, and to preach a “gospel” that is not the Gospel of Christ. These men, however well-intentioned, are being formed in an environment of doctrinal confusion and spiritual darkness, and their “ordinations” are a sacrilege against the true priesthood. The faithful must not be deceived by the outward appearance of vitality or the statistical veneer of continuity. The true Church, the Church of all ages, endures outside the structures of the conciar sect, in the hearts of those who remain faithful to the immutable Tradition. As Pope Pius XI proclaimed in Quas Primas, “The Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men… His reign, namely, extends not only to Catholic nations or to those who, by receiving baptism according to law, belong to the Church, even though their erroneous opinions have led them astray or discord has separated them from love, but His reign encompasses also all non-Christians, so that most truly the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” Let us reject the counterfeit “church” of the Modernists and return to the true Church, where Christ truly reigns, where the Mass is truly offered, and where the priesthood is truly holy. Only then will there be true vocations, true priests, and true salvation for souls.
Source:
Hundreds of men to be ordained in U.S. in 2026 (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 20.04.2026