In addition, almost 20 percent of the class were born outside the United States. Hispanics are estimated to comprise 25-30 percent of the U.S. Catholic population. One-quarter are under 30, and 54 percent are under 35. Eight percent are 50 or older.
Catholic education appears to have a significant impact on the choice for priesthood.
Those figures are higher than reports of Catholic school attendance in a 1993 Gallup national survey of Catholics 54 and under. The latter survey found 54 percent had attended Catholic elementary school and 26 percent, a Catholic high school. The Survey of 1999 Priestly Ordinations was released in May by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Vocations, which commissioned it. Dioceses surveyed included those which belong to the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors and religious orders. Responses came from 175 of the 193 dioceses surveyed and 85 of the 254 religious orders surveyed.