Slight decline in 2nd largest men’s religious order

CWN - January 28, 2010

An increase of vocations in South Asia and Africa was not sufficient to stem a decline in the number of Salesians of Don Bosco, the Church’s second-largest men’s religious institute. There are now 15,952 Salesians, including novices.

The Society of Jesus (Jesuits), with 18,711 members, is the largest men’s religious community. The Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) (15,130), the Capuchin Franciscans (11,092), and the Benedictines (7,558) rank third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

The Salesian Sisters, with 14,420 members, are by far the largest women’s religious institute.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Progress toward our June expenses ($15,085 to go):
$30,000.00 $14,914.93
50% 50%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Pope Francis the Frank 11 hours ago
“Illegals” are not “Immorals”: A Persistent Immigration Fallacy 13 hours ago
News coverage of the Vatican: the blind leading the blind 18 hours ago
Those Harleys again June 17
Happy Father's Day! June 14

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Vatican document demands governments protect refugees CWN - June 6
Pope acknowledges 'gay lobby' influence in Vatican CWN - June 11
Pope confirms he is completing encyclical on faith begun by Benedict XVI CWN - June 13