Do you have to be a certain age to be a priest?

Answer 1

Whenever you get a university diploma.

Roman Catholic Answer:The minimum age to be ordained a priest is 25 according to Canon Law (the official law of the Roman Catholic Church). There are other requirements, as well, including four years of theology beyond graduation from college, but even if these are filled early, an ordination normally couldn't take place before 25 years of age without a special dispensation.

Answer 2

For many, many years - up through the early 1960's - religious orders in the Catholic Church would take those who "felt they had the call" at age 13, right out of eighth grade. That stopped about 1965-66, as they realized that 95% plus were leaving after a few years. Then they switched to high school graduate age, minimum. This worked better, but the attrition rate was still 90% or better. Then they switched to only accepting candidates who had completed college and were at least 21 years old. That has dropped the attrition rate dramatically. If you want to read between the lines, the Church realized the wisdom of making sure that candidates had a chance to experience women (or men, in the case of nuns) first, before deciding. And it worked well.