Catholic priestly ordinations up 25% this year September 28, 2025April 12, 2015 by Tom Faranda 595 men are expected to be ordained to the priesthood in the United States in 2015, an increase of 24.7% over last year’s figure of 477, according to data released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. By way of comparison, in 1965 there were 994 ordinations.