Record number of priests ordained in Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina

Bishop Michael Martin of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, ordained 10 men to the priesthood on May 30, the highest number of priests ordained in one year in the diocese’s history.

The number surpasses the previous record high of seven ordinations (set in 2000 and 2024) and follows six ordinations in 2025.

“We stand in awe of God’s work in our midst,” Martin told EWTN News in a statement. “We give thanks for the ‘yes’ of these men, which is freely offered by them to God’s free invitation.”

The ordinands will bolster the diocese’s 145 active priests who serve more than 575,000 Catholics. The Diocese of Charlotte, covering western North Carolina, has seen steady growth in vocations amid a booming Catholic population.

“There is always a desire to explain a moment such as ours,” Martin said, noting that there are “factors unique to each man in our seminary formation program” that explain the record number of ordinations and that there is “no one set formula.”

“God uses whatever he chooses to invite and foster a faith-filled response from these men,” he said.

He credited families, who are “responsible as they are placing faith in Christ in its rightful place at the center of daily life,” as well as the diocese’s priests, who “are more regularly inviting young men to consider the priesthood.”

He also said the diocese has promoted a culture of vocations” for years and it “is clearly making a difference.”

In 2016, then-Bishop Peter Jugis founded St. Joseph’s College Seminary. Eight of this year’s 10 ordinands studied there before advancing to major seminary. The other two lived there during their pastoral years of parish ministry.

“Many years ago, seeing the desperate need for priests, Bishop Jugis and his clergy made the cultivation of vocations the highest priority,” said the seminary’s rector, Father Matthew Kauth, in May.

In addition, under the leadership of Father Christopher Gober, who served as the diocese’s vocations director until July 2025, two vocations camps were launched: “Quo Vadis Days” in 2014 for young men and “Duc in Altum” in 2016 for young women. The programs are held at Belmont Abbey College.

“We are now reaping the harvest of 20-plus years of labor. It didn’t just happen,” Kauth said. “God has blessed our efforts and a culture of vocations has been established — yielding increasing returns, just as Christ said it would. Now, we must cultivate and care for those vocations and give thanks to God.”

Saturdayʼs ordination drew an overflowing crowd of more than 1,640 attendees, many of whom arrived hours early.

In his homily, Martin described the occasion as “a day of great joy for the Church and for these 10 men.”

The bishop urged the new priests to love so that people “will follow not just what you say but follow who you are,” and encouraged them to “love the people of God you’re being sent out to serve.”

“His sheep are every human person on the face of the Earth, every person in whatever school or parish, every community, every hospital or nursing home,” Martin told the new priests. “Wherever you go, love them all … you cannot wait for them to come to you, you have to go out to them. That is the nature of the apostolic Church. As you feed them with this holy banquet, you nourish them in ways only the Lord can.”

The new priests are Father Robert Bauman, Father Michael Camilleri, Father Daniel Chaves Peña, Father John Cuppett, Father Maximilian Frei, Father Juan González Hernández, Father Bryan Ilagor, Father Michael Lugo, Father Peter Townsend, and Father James Tweed.

They offered first blessings for more than two hours after the Mass and will celebrate their inaugural Masses of thanksgiving in the coming days. Effective July 1, they will take up assignments across the diocese, serving as university and high school chaplains and in parochial vicar positions.

Also on May 30, the nine perpetual pilgrims from the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage arrived in the diocese where they were greeted by more than 100 Catholics at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Monroe.

The 2026 theme, “One Nation Under God,” recognizes the nation’s 250th anniversary. The pilgrimage began on Pentecost Sunday and will continue through Independence Day weekend.

A group of nine perpetual pilgrims carrying the Blessed Sacrament will journey up the Eastern Seaboard on the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route, named for the first U.S. citizen to be canonized.

All are invited to join the public processions and other events.