August 15, 2011. (Romereports.com) More than half of the priests who were ordained in the U.S. in 2011 were between the ages of 25 and 34. This according to a report released by the American Conference of Catholic Bishops. About 480 priests were ordained this year and roughly 20 percent of them attended World Youth Day at one time in their lives.


This year there was a 10 percent jump in the number of ordained priests, when compared to last year when there were 440.  In 2008, 401 men became priests. In the last five years, there's been a trend, where on average, those ordained are slightly younger than the year before.

The report shows that 71 percent of the class of 2011, were altar boys at one point. Four out of every five say both their parents are Catholic. A third had a family member who was a priest or nun.

This time around, nearly 30,000 pilgrims from the United States are planning on going to World Youth Day in Madrid. They will all be divided in 967 groups. Sixty four American Bishops will also attend. More than 1 million youths are expected at WYD when it kicks off on August 16th.

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