Record number of Bishop Deaths - 2021

For a variety of reasons, including Covid-19, the number of bishops that have died this past year is at a record high.

The previous record was the prior year (2020) with 179 deaths (note that 4 of those were never bishops: a former Abbot; an Abbot Emeritus; and two Prefect Apostolic Emeritus).

The previous record was in 2017 with 169 deaths (note that 4 of those were never bishops: a former Abbot; an Abbot Emeritus; and two Prefect Apostolic Emeritus).

The next closest was last year (2019) with 164 deaths (note that 2 of those were never bishops: an Abbot Emeritus and a Prefect Apostolic Emeritus)

For 2021, the count is 191 (note that 3 of those were not bishops: a Prefect Apostolic Emeritus, an Apostolic Administrator, and a Prior General Emeritus plus an underground bishop).

Recent Necrologies

• 2016 - 155
• 2017 - 169
• 2018 - 160
• 2019 - 164
• 2020 - 179
• 2021 - 191

May they all rest in peace.

Now over 50,000 Bishops!

Once again, I've been working on some older data entry for the site. In doing so, it has passed a milestone: it now has data on over 50,000 Bishops. The recent additions include many bishops from the 14th and 15th centuries. Note that the source is pretty much exhausted for now, so there won't be a lot of new additions until new sources are found.

Here is a quick table showing how the data has expanded over time:

Year	Month	Bishops	Months from previous
2002	Jun	5,000
2002	Nov	10,000	5
2003	Oct	15,000	11
2006	Sep	20,000	35
2009	Jan	25,000	28
2011	Feb	30,000	25
2014	Jan	35,000	35
2018	Aug	40,000	55
2021	Mar	45,000	31
2022	Jan	50,000	10

(Note: there are a few "bishops" on the site that are not really bishops. These are mostly either ordinaries of a jurisdiction such as a prefecture or cardinals that were not also bishops.)

Second Vatican Council - Living Council Fathers (updated)

Last year, five of the Council Fathers of the Second Vatican Council have passed away. One more died this year (2023) - leaving only 5 still living. Recently Died:

1. Bishop Eloy Tato Losada, I.E.M.E., Bishop Emeritus of Magangué, Colombia, died 18 Jan 2022 (all 4 sessions)
2. Bishop Remi Joseph De Roo, Bishop Emeritus of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, died 1 Feb 2022 (all 4 sessions), last Council Father that had attended all 4 sessions of the Council
3. Bishop Gérard-Joseph Deschamps, S.M.M., Bishop Emeritus of Bereina, Papua New Guinea, died 25 Feb 2022 (sessions 2 and 4)
   
4. Archbishop Gabino Díaz Merchán, Archbishop Emeritus of Oviedo, Spain, died 14 Jun 2022 (session 4)
5. Bishop Laurent Noël, Bishop Emeritus of Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, died on 2 Jul 2022 (sessions 2, 3, and 4)
6. Bishop Luigi Bettazzi, Bishop Emeritus of Ivrea, Italy, died on 16 Jul 1923 (sessions 2, 3, and 4)

Still Living: (by age)

1. Bishop José de Jesús Sahagún de la Parra, Bishop Emeritus of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, México, born 1 Jan 1922 (sessions 1, 2, and 4)
2. Bishop Daniel Alphonse Omer Verstraete, O.M.I., Bishop Emeritus of Klerksdorp, South Africa, born 31 Jul 1924 (session 4)
3. Archbishop Victorinus Youn Kong-hi, Archbishop Emeritus of Gwangju, Korea (South), born 8 Nov 1924 (sessions 2, 3, and 4)
4. Archbishop Alphonsus Mathias, Archbishop Emeritus of Bangalore, India, born 22 Jun 1928 (sessions 3 and 4)
5. Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, born 1 Nov 1932 (session 4)

Please pray for those still living along with all that have already passed for their many years of faithful service.

Full list of Council Fathers

Updated: 16 Jul 2023