Religious Orders: Decline In Numbers
The Jesuits were the first order of the top dozen to have lost more than half of their members from their high point in 1966 (1966: 36,038; 2011: 17,908 members). They are currently at 14,195 members, down 61% from the all time high. There is no change in the trends since Francis, a Jesuit, became Pope.
Regarding the number of their members, two orders reached that sad milestone in 2016: the Franciscans (now down 55%) and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (now down 54%); and two in 2022: Redemptorists (down 51%) and Vincentians/Lazarists (down 52%).
In terms of priests, only four orders have lost more than half of their priests: the Benedictines are down 54% (early 1970s: 7,058; 2019: 3,420) and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate are down 52% (1967: 5,441; 2021: 2,643).
In 2022 the Jesuits were down 50% (from 21,025 in 1969 to 10,432 priests), now down 51%. This year the Franciscans were added to the list, down 51% (1967: 16,528; 2022: 8,140 priests).
In terms of members, only of the top dozen orders, the Divine Word Missionaries, hit their high mark in terms of members in recent years (2009:6,131 members).
In terms of priests, two orders hit their highest mark in 2016: the Divine Word Missionaries with 4,231 priests and the Discalced Carmelites with 2,937 priests. The Discalced Carmelites had the best year of the top 12, increasing their number of priests by 4.
Adding all these twelve religious communities together, the all time high was in 1966 with 160,926 total members. In 2023, that had dropped 46% to 87,101 members. In terms of priests, the high was in 1971 (95,411 priests). In 2023, that had dropped 37% to 60,322 priests.
If current trends continue, the Jesuits will lose the title of the largest religious order to the Salesians of Saint John Bosco in about two years. In addition the Jesuits should fall under 10,000 priests about the same time.
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