Vatican News gives the statistics. What the synodal Vatican doesn’t give is the nature of the Church where there are either increases or decreases.
If I were to wager a bet, I would place my bet that it is those progressive/heterodox Churches in Europe and elsewhere where the greatest decline in the number of priests and religious is occurring.
Those areas where there is an orthodox and traditional understanding and expression of the priesthood and relgious life, there is increase.
As well, those places where there is orthodox Catholicism there is an increase in Catholics not a decrease.
Here’s the Vatican’s straightforward post on the declining number of priests and religious since Pope Francis became pope ten years ago. Press the title for the full article, a sound byte, though, is below the title:
Global Catholic population rising as number of priests, religious falls
As every year, in view of World Mission Sunday taking place this year on 22 October, the Vatican’s Fides news agency has released a report offering a detailed panorama of the statistics of the universal Church across the globe.
The report compared the numbers on the day of 31 December 2021 to the previous year on 31 December 2020.
There were 1.375 billion Catholics in the world, representing an overall increase of 16.24 million Catholics compared to the end of 2020.
The increase affects all continents, except Europe. As in the past, increases were registered above all in Africa and in the Americas.
The global percentage of Catholics decreased slightly to 17.67%.
18 comments:
I posted a link the other day of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter showing the dramatic rise of this order dedicated to preserving the TLM. Maybe the Holy Spirit is trying to tell Rome something but it won’t listen
These numbers need quite a bit of study and analysis. The main factor is that men are not entering the seminary as fas as older priests retire and die. There may also be a perception that we don’t need priests for very much because we can get the important stuff, such as social, economic, and environmental teachings from laymen.
rcg,
It has been demonstrated time and again, an orthodox bishop generates priests, oftentimes in small dioceses like Lincoln (Bruskewitz) and Madison (Morlino). They both outpaced in ordinations places like Chicago and New York. Besides whom would be inspired by the current pope and the nasties in Rome?
The three priests that I know quite well who diocesan priests and pastors are, all in their mid-thirties, and can celebrate the TLM. They can't wait for PF to be gone in the hopes an orthodox man will be elected pope. So long as PF does not do something nutty like authorize the ordination of women, these men will lead some day and we will have an orthodox and growing Church again. Liberalism is a dead force in Catholicism, the crew in Rome just won't acknowledge it.
Father McDonald, thank you for having answered the call that summoned you to the priesthood.
My diocese is blessed in that our holy bishop ordained eight men this year to the priesthood.
Father McDonald, I am certain that the eight new priests in question will follow your inspirational lead. That is, they will serve God in holy fashion.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Our parish has two seminarians although one is out for a bit dealing with health issues. We now have two priests for the first time in a long time; they took our parochial vicars for a while to cover the new parishes that were starting up. I think Fr McDonald was right in an earlier post that the groups with a special affection for the Latin VO will be piled into some organization that covers SSPX and FSSP. I sort of hope so and sorta don’t. But if we get to continue that will be good for the Church.
From the linked news article:
"The continent which registered the largest decrease was again Europe, with 3,632 fewer priests."
"Increases were registered in Africa and in Asia (1,518 and 719, respectively)."
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In regard to Africa, as well as Asia, positive reports such as the above have flowed throughout Pope Francis' Pontificate. In regard to Pope Francis' Apostolic Visitations to Africa, as well as Asia: His Holiness has enjoyed tremendous outpourings of love and respect from the Holy People of God.
The groundwork for the holy success throughout Africa, as well as Asia, had been established decades ago via our holy Popes/Vatican II/Holy Mass of Pope Saint Paul VI. Pope Francis has built upon the groundwork in question.
Speaking spiritually, Catholics throughout Europe could have enjoyed the Vatican II Era new springtime that the Faithful have enjoyed throughout Africa, as well as Asia. However, throughout Europe, a great many Catholics have rejected the spiritual direction that our Vatican II Era Popes have delineated.
The good news though is that a great many Catholics throughout Africa, as well as Asia, have heeded the spiritual direction that our Vatican II Era Popes have preached. Africa, in particular, has enjoyed booming holy success.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Sharing the full context, especially where the decline is most profound would, in my opinion, contradict the narrative this Pope wants to advance. He and his cabal; Tobin, Cupich, McElroy etc. are entirely committed to the failed path they are on and NOTHING will stand in their way. Fr McDonald is 100% right in making his very safe assumption here. This Pope has squashed the growing, traditional church, including the TLM, and NO ONE is coming back. NO ONE is buying any of this preordained nonsense. NO BODY Holy Father. You are spitting into the wind with this "synodal church" foolishness.
Tom Makin,
One of the German bishops of the Synod said it is time to jettison the Apostolic Tradition. What this is really about is making perverts feel good about their sinful and perverted lifestyle
TJM,
Another of the German bishops (I think; it may be the same one, and I would not be surprised) attending the Stupid on Stupidity has zero men in formation for the priesthood. That is simply disastrous: in smaller diocese, it is understandable to not have an ordination every year. But to have NO MEN AT ANY STAGE OF AN EIGHT-YEAR PROGRAM? How catastrophic that is for that diocese. Why is that guy at the synod when he has basically overseen the demolition of his own diocese, and what could he possibly tell us that would do anything but spread his errors to other parts of the Church?
Nick
Nick:
That Bishop is there because he is another Francis "Yes Man". That's what egocentric autocrats do; surround themselves with "yes men". I'm not pulling any punches anymore.
Nick,
He is a leftwing loon and is there to represent his “personal” interests. He has no seminarians by design
Here's an angle regarding permanent deacons, and ever-tantalizing prospect of ordaining married men as priests, that I rarely see addressed.
If you wonder how ordaining married men as priests would work, there's not so much need to speculate. We already have a married clergy, they are deacons.
Note that men seeking ordination as deacons tend to wait -- till they marry, and then for their children to get older. Rare is the permanent deacon ordained as early as they could be, at least 35 years old. They tend to be in their 50s or 60s.
Also, note that permanent deacons do not tend to be full time in ministry, and while a big reason is the lack of jobs for them, but even if there were plenty of such jobs, I believe only some permanent deacons would seek them. I'm not diminishing anything about their dedication or preparation; I'm simply pointing out this fact.
I encourage those who want married priests to contemplate the possibility that it would look a great deal like the order of married deacons.
Also consider that if you were a boy or young man in your teens or early 20s, and you had a choice between entering the priesthood as an unmarried man -- and thereby, foregoing all possibility of marriage -- or getting married first, and then seeking ordination as a married man (which is the portal people want to open), with children...
How many young men would not postpone their pursuit of the priesthood?
Father Fox,
The Synod wants male priests to marry men
TJM,
Yes. Exactly.
If one goes to one of the more liberal news sources, like say, NBC, it is estimated that maybe 7 percent of our population is homosexual. We need to keep that in mind, because we are currently facing a world in which globalism continues to threaten human rights and its leaders are relentless in their assault on not only the faith but basic human dignity. Abortion and homosexual acts, two sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance are now enshrined as "civil rights" in our country and most western countries. Islam continues is ravaging poison wherever it lives, Communism is embraced by our young "intellectuals" as they graduate from our once-laudable universities, the basic understanding of the catechism continues to diminish among the Catholic rank-and-file...I could go on, but the point is, these are all serious problems that threaten our world and threaten our Catholic Church, yet the most intense focal point for all of these bishops seems to be catering to, what is at its most generous estimate 7 percent of our population? One can only conclude that they can't seem to think about anything else because they are trapped in it themselves. In layman's terms, the Church has fallen into the hands of a bunch of degenerate queers. If that's too blunt, sorry. But there it is. And because of their degenerate obsessions below the waste, they are all vessels of disordered thinking. Their goal now is to completely disorder our Church. In doing so, they are constructing quite an ape. But they will never destroy our Church. But their ape may well destroy us.
I meant to write "below the waist". Those darned homomyms.
Jerome Merwick,
Well, de facto, “waste” works too. I dare say if the average Catholic in the pews really understood what the synods are about, they would bolt. The work of Vatican Disaster II would be complete. I have slowly come to believe the Vatican is populated by perverts. That is the only explanation for their obsession with LGBT, or whatever we are calling “it” these days.
Fr Fox I recall from some years ago a man being ordained to the priesthood in his sixties. His children were grown and his wife had passed away. I do not recall where it was. At least 20 years ago there was a special Mass where we were informed that a time was coming where there would not be enough priests, maybe any, in some dioceses. There was no priest at that service and a swarm of EMHC sprang from the nave like so many Venus’ on the Half Shells. There was always a feeling of entitlement with these folks, notoo bad, but not as respectful of the Species as I would expect.
After the Synod concludes, this sort of behavior will no longer be condemned but blessed. This bishop and his buddies were just premature!
"SOSNOWIEC, Poland - A Polish bishop has quit after a national scandal involving priests in a homosexual orgy that ended with a male prostitute suffering a heart attack from a Viagra overdose."
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