I've updated a few charts that look at the number of priests and members of religious orders over the last several decades. To avoid it looking like spaghetti, I only used the top dozen orders based on number of priests*. I also split the top 4 from the other 8 - there is very little overlap between the two sets and it makes the charts much clearer.
The
charts are posted here. (.pdf format)
The
Jesuits were the first order (of the top dozen) to have lost more than half of their members from their recent high point (from 36,038 in 1966 to 17,908 in 2011). They are currently at 14,195 members, down 61% from the all time high.
One might note that there is no significant change in the trends (positive or negative) since Pope Francis (a Jesuit) became Pope. In fairness, it normally takes several years for any event in a religious order (or diocese) to have an impact on the vocation numbers. In the case of the Jesuits, they also have a much longer formation process than most, meaning it could take even longer.
Two more orders reached that milestone in 2016:
Franciscans (now down 55%) and
Oblates of Mary Immaculate (now down 54%).
Two more orders reached that point in 2022:
Redemptorists (down 51%) and
Vincentians/Lazarists (down 52%).
In terms of priests, only four orders have reached that point, the
Benedictines which are down 54% from their recent high point (from 7,058 in the early 1970s to 3,420 in 2019) and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate which reached it in 2021 (from 5,441 in 1967 to 2,643) down 52% now).
In 2022 the Jesuits were down 50% (from 21,025 in 1969 to 10,432), now down 51%.
This year the Franciscans were added to the list, down 51% (from 16,528 in 1967 to 8,140.
In the top dozen, only one order,
Divine Word Missionaries, has hit its high mark in terms of members in recent years (6,131 in 2009).
In terms of priests, two orders hit their highest mark in 2016: Divine Word Missionaries with 4,231 and
Discalced Carmelites with 2,937.
The Discalced Carmelites had the best year of the top 12, increasing their number of priests by 4.
Overall, adding all of the top 12 together, the all time high was in 1966 with 160,926 total members. In 2023, that had dropped 46% to 87,101. In terms of priests, the high was in 1971 with 95,411 total priests. In 2023, that had dropped 37% to 60,322.
If current trends continue, the Jesuits will lose the title of the largest religious order to the
Salesians of Saint John Bosco soon. The number of members should cross in about 2 years. In addition the Jesuits should fall under 10,000 priests about the same time.
(* Out of curiosity I checked the top dozen orders based on number of members - it was the same dozen, but in a slightly different order.)
Note that only Male Religious Orders were included because that happens to be the data I have readily available. As time permits, I hope to do similar charts for Female Religious Orders. A few have already been added to the main website.
