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.

Deadliest Month for Bishops

Thanks in large part to Covid-19, this month is now the most deadly for bishops in history. The previous record was set just last month.

 

Month	Bishop Deaths
Jan 2021	27*
Dec 2020	23
Mar 1988	22*
Jun 2020	21
Feb 2013	21
Jul 2011	19*

*if you look at the tables on my website, it includes one additional death for this month for a person covered who was never a bishop (for example, an Apostolic Prefect). 

To help put this in perspective, over the last year (2020) the average was 14.9 deaths per month. Over the last decade, it was 12.6 per month. And over the last century it was 8.3 bishop deaths per month.

May they all rest in peace.

Bishop Deaths in 2020.
Bishop Deaths in 2021.

(updated on 31 Jan 2021)

Record number of Bishop Deaths - 2020

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

The previous record was in 2017 with 168 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)

Currently for 2020, the count stands at 179 and all of those were bishops. 

Recent Necrologies

• 2016 - 154
• 2017 - 168
• 2018 - 160
• 2019 - 164
• 2020 - 179

May they all rest in peace.

(updated on 2 Jan 2021)