05 March 2011

The Two Dozen Largest Orders by Number of Priests (2011 edition)

In the tables below are the number of priests, % of all priests in orders, the common abbreviation, and the name of the order.

The First Dozen
Priests%AbbrOrder
12,8089.5S.J.Society of Jesus
10,6987.9S.D.B.Salesians of Saint John Bosco
9,9747.4O.F.M.Order of Friars Minor
7,0265.2O.F.M. Cap.Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
4,4563.3O.P.Order of Friars Preachers
4,1073.0S.V.D.Society of the Divine Word
4,0933.0C.SS.R.Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
3,9993.0O.S.B.Order of Saint Benedict
3,1002.3O.M.I.Oblates of Mary Immaculate
3,0292.2C.M.Congregation of the Mission
2,9302.2O.F.M. Conv.Order of Friars Minor Conventual
2,7372.0O.C.D.Order of Discalced Carmelites

The top 12 largest orders (by number of priests) in total are 51% of all the priests in orders.


The top two dozen largest orders include all that have more than 1,000 priests and in total represent 65% of all priests in orders.

(Numbers based on the Annuario Pontificio 2011)