A US diocese defies trends and ordains its largest class of Catholic priests in decades

By TIFFANY STANLEY ARLINGTON Va AP They are a day away from becoming Catholic priests rehearsing for their ordination Mass under the gothic cathedral s arches Related Articles Massachusetts reacts to Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ book opt-out in schools Massachusetts pimp forced to pay sex workers M in restitution US stocks close at an all-time high in record rebound Rust crew settles lawsuit against film producers and Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting Big banks all pass the Federal Reserve s stress tests but the tests were less vigorous this year It s a balmy Friday afternoon in June and they are practicing where to stand when to kneel The weekend s rituals will be the culmination of six years of seminary and a lifetime of discernment There are so plenty of of them more than their diocese has ordained at one time in nearly years that it s a challenge to fit the whole group in front of the altar Their bishop likes to call them the Like the apostles of Jesus their number has become a mantra and a prayer It offers hope there can still be satisfaction and renewal in a church riven by division crises and abuse Among the group there are engineers a tech company founder and two future military chaplains They range in age from to The majority are U S -born but various trace their roots to faraway countries with a strong Catholic presence Cameroon Mexico Peru Haiti They are entering the priesthood at an exciting time just as the first U S -born pope begins his papacy Yet there remains an acute shortage of clergy like them In the U S the number of priests has declined by more than since according to CARA a research center affiliated with Georgetown University During their final year of seminary these men have served as transitional deacons offering baptisms homilies and promising to live in obedience and celibacy We ve already made the promises that are I guess the scariest disclosed the Rev Ricky Malebranche one of the ordinands Soon they will be entrusted with more sacraments As ordained priests they will work at parishes around northern Virginia with the ability to consecrate the Eucharist hear confessions and anoint the sick For now they shuffle side to side until they can fit in a row Attentively they lie down to practice the act of prostration arguably the majority of dramatic moment during an ordination ceremony Elbows bent hands cradling their heads the men press their faces to the cold marble floor It s a position of vulnerability that signals absolute surrender We re laying before the Lord the Rev Mike Sampson an ordinand explained before the rehearsal We re laying our lives down Searching for something more While neighboring dioceses have shuttered parishes and face dire budget shortfalls the Diocese of Arlington is opening new churches Its finances are solid Priests and bishops bless the newly ordained priests during Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in Arlington Va on Saturday June AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Twelve deacons prostrate in front of the altar at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More during their ordination Mass in Arlington Va on Saturday June AP Photo Jessie Wardarski The Rev Alfredo Tuesta opens the door to the sacristy after a Mass at St James Catholic Church Falls Church Va on Sunday May AP Photo Luis Andres Henao The Rev Ricky Malebranche second from left makes the sign of the cross as he leads prayers before a family meal at his home in Gainesville Va on Sunday May AP Photo Luis Andres Henao The Rev Mike Sampson dresses for an evening meditation at St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington Va on Wednesday May AP Photo Jessie Wardarski The Rev Alfredo Tuesta gives his first blessing as a newly ordained priest to Bishop Michael Burbidge who leads the Diocese of Arlington at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in Arlington Va on Saturday June AP Photo Jessie Wardarski The Rev Donald J Planty Jr left assists the Rev Tim Banach with a microphone before Banach s first Mass at St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington Va on Sunday June AP Photo Jessie Wardarski The Rev Ricky Malebranche holds the hand of -month-old Andres Roman Marquez after baptizing him at St Louis Catholic Church in Alexandria Va on Saturday May AP Photo Luis Andres Henao The Rev Mike Sampson gives his first Mass at St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington Va on Sunday June AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Show Caption of Priests and bishops bless the newly ordained priests during Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in Arlington Va on Saturday June AP Photo Jessie Wardarski Expand This year s class of new priests is the second largest in the diocese s -year history The reasons behind that success are a little bit mysterious declared the Rev Michael Isenberg the diocese s outgoing vocations director He points to one factor helping the recruiting pool vibrant parishes full of young professionals drawn to jobs around Washington D C Sampson was a authorities lawyer and raised a Protestant before he was baptized as a Catholic in Six years later he enrolled in seminary to become a priest The Rev Tim Banach worked as a consultant in the same office complex as Sampson I enjoyed the work I was doing but there was something more that I desired I had the dream job noted the Rev Alfredo Tuesta who earned a doctorate in engineering and was working at the U S Naval Research Laboratory when he felt called to the priesthood I had the job that I had trained a great number of years to achieve and it wasn t enough At a Sunday family dinner two weeks before ordination Malebranche s father Jacques talked up these great guys This kid already had two master s degrees he commented pointing to his son Ricky who worked as a counselor and coach at a Catholic high school before seminary They had good lives When they say they received a call they mean it he commented They gave up a lot and this is not easy A higher barrier to entry Prospective priests undergo a rigorous screening process This is going to sound crazy but they re normal disclosed the Rev Donald J Planty Jr who mentored several of this year s ordinands They can talk to anyone In the wake of the clergy sex-abuse problem there is a greater emphasis on applicants psychological soundness and emotional well-being They go before an admissions board that includes women and laypeople and as ordinands meet with abuse survivors They ultimately answer to Bishop Michael Burbidge the diocese s avuncular prelate A thing that has changed for the positive in the church is that bishops really know their men mentioned Burbidge who calls texts and meets with seminarians regularly When I was in seminary there was no expectation that you would know the bishop Politically and theologically young U S priests are more likely to identify as conservative or moderate than their clerical elders who came of age in the s and s according to a review from the Catholic Project at Catholic University For these men in Virginia the rightward tilt of the U S Catholic Church is not a deciding factor in their priesthoods They have pledged though to uphold the church s teachings which remain conservative on issues such as gender identity sexual orientation contraception and abortion I look at the young adults in our parishes growing up in a world where in countless approaches the sacred has been removed Burbidge stated They re looking for something more Give me beauty Give me truth Give me clarity I see that in young adults in our church and these men are products of that The sacrifices of priestly life For plenty of of the men priesthood means forgoing dreams of an ordinary family life I thought I was going to be a great dad and have a wonderful family Malebranche recalled And I was like Lord why would you not want that for me For a multitude of there s a grieving process in letting go of that vision even for deeply Catholic families Every parent wants grandkids announced Banach whose career change initially surprised his supportive Catholic parents Priests give up biological children he mentioned but are privileged to raise spiritual children His fellow ordinand Malebranche ministers to families out of what he calls a deep love of my own for a family Two weeks before ordination Malebranche channeled that love into a baptism conducted in Spanish the parents native tongue He was nervous beforehand A gregarious gifted speaker he is less confident in Spanish though it s necessary in a diocese where nearly half the parishioners are Latino It was a beautiful ceremony Gloria Marquez notified him after beaming and holding her -month-old She stated she and her husband had tried for nearly years to have a baby Malebranche teared up grateful to be part of the longed-for moment He wants the Catholic Church to be welcoming especially for those who have been hurt I really just want to make Catholicism warm he declared Like all the ordinands he is very aware that in his clerical garb he represents the church and the presence of Jesus I have to be on every time I m in this collar Malebranche noted That is a fitting weight for the gift of the priesthood but it is a weight nonetheless A new chapter Ordination-day morning had the nervous strength of a wedding an apt parallel for the impending commitment and pageantry Anxious parents took their places in pews alongside friends and family who traveled from around the world to witness the ceremony The evening would bring receptions in honor of the new priests who would then have two weeks off before their new ministry assignments began Sampson was going to Italy with a priest friend Banach was hiking part of the Appalachian Trail with a small kit for the Eucharist in his pack Tuesta was flying to Lima Peru his birthplace to celebrate with family Malebranche planned to visit loved ones in his native Virginia I m kind of looking to show off he reported cackling I ll have my confessional stole on me at all times When their ordination Mass got underway it was standing room only with more than well-wishers crowded into the cathedral As part of the three-hour system nearly priests lined up to embrace and welcome into the fold their new brothers now cloaked in ivory and blue robes At the close of Mass they walked down the aisle to cheers and applause and the priests were sent out like the apostles who had come before them Associated Press religion coverage receives advocacy through the AP s collaboration with The Conversation US with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc The AP is solely responsible for this content