Seven new seminarians joined the Diocese of Little Rock this year, keeping the number of men currently studying to become priests at 44.
While the diocese has experienced larger increases in seminarians in the state over the past decade, the number leveled off this year. From 2005 to 2015 the seminarian enrollment increased 65 percent, according to diocesan statistics.
Vocations director Msgr. Scott Friend said the diocese could see its largest ordination class ever in 2018 with eight new priests. The average age of a diocesan priest is projected to drop to 48 years old. When Msgr. Friend was ordained in 1987, he said the average priest was 67 years old.
“We have a very different future than we did just a few years ago,” he said.
The new seminarians this fall are:
Six seminarians who were ordained deacons in 2014 and 2015 are scheduled to become priests in 2016. They are:
Other returning seminarians include:
n Stephen Hart, Patrick Friend, Joseph de Orbegozo, Stephen Elser, Jeff Hebert, Martin Amaro, Jon Miskin, Emmanuel Torres, Joseph Friend, Daniel Wendel, Isidro Negrete, Patrick Saint-Jean, Ben Riley and Brian Cundall, all of Little Rock
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