For churches all over it's the season of ordinations as candidates for the priesthood complete their studies.In Southern California, at least 20 men are joining the clergy in solemn and joyful ceremonies in this week.
The ordinations began Thursday night in Hollywood as Vahe Abovian and Mayis Shahbazyan were welcomed into the priesthood by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.
Following custom, Derderian gave the men new first names upon ordination -- Avedis for Abovian and Khajag for Shahbazyan. "Grant them to keep the priesthood pure with holy heart," he said.
The elaborate ceremony, conducted mostly in Armenian, was held at St. John Garabed Armenian Church. These were the first ordinations in the diocese in 10 years because many clerics serving in the region are from overseas.
Today, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will celebrate the ordination of 12 men, the largest ordination class since 1998, when 14 took vows. Mirroring national trends, the new priests reflect a variety of ages -- 29 to 49 -- and nationalities. Six were born overseas, three in Vietnam.
The Diocese of San Bernardino today will ordain six priests. It's a significant number, said spokesman John Andrews, noting that the diocese had ordained only seven priests in the previous 10 years. He said the diocese has seven fewer priests than when it formed 30 years ago -- even though the number of Catholics it serves has increased by 1 million.
On June 7, two priests will be ordained in the Diocese of Orange County.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this month released a report on trends in priestly vocations.
The report, based on data collected in March, found 401 potential ordinands nationwide. Of those, 335 responded to the survey.
In keeping with recent trends, many of the men are in their 30s and one-third of this year's new priests were born outside the United States.
The report can be found on the conference's website, www.usccb.org.
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