Religious Orders in Recent Times (top dozen, charts, 2022)

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 14,839 members, down 59% from the all time high.

One might note that there is no significant change (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 process than most.

Two more orders reached that milestone in 2016: Franciscans (now down 54%) and Oblates of Mary Immaculate (now down 53%).

Two more orders are very close to reaching that point: Redemptorists (down 49%) and Vincentians/Lazarists (down just under 50%). Both showed a small drop in the last year.

In terms of priests, only two orders have reached that point, the Benedictines which are down 53% 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 now) down 51%).

Two other orders are in danger of reaching that point: Jesuits (down 49%) and the Franciscans (down 49%).

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 Capuchins had the best year of the top 12, increasing their number of members by 6.

Overall, adding all of the top 12 together, the all time high was in 1966 with 160,926 total members. In 2021, that had dropped 44% to 89,835. In terms of priests, the high was in 1971 with 95,411 total priests. In 2021, that had dropped 35% to 61,940.

If current trends continue, the Jesuits will lose the title of largest religious order to the Salesians of Saint John Bosco. First by the number of members (9 years) and later by number of priests (15 years).

(* 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.

Cardinal Stats and Charts, 2022

This posts assumes that there are no deaths among the current Cardinals.

As of today (6 Mar 2022, there are be 212 Living Cardinals with 119 eligible to vote in a conclave when that should become necessary.

The average age of the Cardinals is 79.0 and the average of the electors is 73.0 years old.

The average length of service as a Cardinal is 12.1 years, 8.8 years if only considering electors.

The youngest Cardinal is Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp. (Archbishop of Bangui) who is about to turn 55 (on 14 Mar).

The oldest Cardinal is Jozef Tomko (President Emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses) who is about to turn 98 (on 11 Mar).

I've posted an updated version of the Cardinal Charts (warning: PDF format).

The charts are:

• Number of Cardinals (1585-2032; 1915-2032; and 1965-2032)
• Average Age (1585-2032; 1915-2032; and 1965-2032)
  

Cardinals Turning 80

When	Cardinal Electors
Now	119
End of 2022	110
End of 2023	99
End of 2024	86
End of 2025	74

(the table assumes no deaths nor new Cardinal Electors)

Cardinal-Electors as Percent of the College

With the introduction of the age limit for Cardinals to vote in a conclave, the percent of Cardinals eligible to vote had been trending downward. However, it has rebounded a bit in the recent times with the deaths of a number of the elderly Cardinals and a significant number of new creations.

Today, 56.1% are Electors. At the lowest point, it was 51.7% (before the November 2016 Consistory).

Assuming no Cardinal deaths and no new creations, on 3 Jun 2023, Cardinal-Electors will be 50% (106 of 212). The following month it will fall below 50% for the first time ever (105 of 212).

Given that deaths of non-Electors are more likely, the dates will likely be later than those given above.

New Cardinals?

Pope Francis has created new Cardinals every year of his papacy except the first (2013) and last year (2021). I strongly suspect there will be a consistory to create cardinals around 28 Jun 2022 (or perhaps later in the Fall).

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

Pre Pope John Paul II Bishops (updated)

So the question: How many active bishops were appointed to their current post before Pope John Paul II became Pope?

The answer is that only 1 remains.

That ordinary is:

• Bishop Gilbert Guillaume Marie-Jean Aubry of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion
• Named 20 Nov 1975 by Pope Paul VI
• Born 10 May 1942
• Will turn 79 years old in a bit over a month.

There are no longer any Auxiliary Bishops that meet the criteria. The last one retired in January 2012.

Over 45,000 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 45,000 Bishops. The recent additions include many French bishops from the 14th and 15th centuries.

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

(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.)