Cardinal vicar: 809 diocesan priests in Rome, over 7,000 other clergy

June 13, 2025

During Pope Leo XIV’s audience with the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina offered an overview of the priests who serve there.

L’Osservatore Romano reported that Cardinal Reina, the archpriest of the Lateran Basilica and the Pope’s vicar general for the diocese, said that the diocese has

809 priests, 149 permanent deacons, 500 priests from other dioceses present in the parishes for study reasons and over 2,300 in university colleges. The clergy of clerical associations and prelatures is composed of 211 priests, the religious clergy of 3,914 for a total of over 8,000 between priests and deacons.

Specifically, of the Roman clergy 579 carry out a service in the diocese (between parishes, offices, teaching, chaplaincies and other services), 15 have an office outside the diocese, 132 in various capacities are carrying out missionary activity, over 50 have decided to stop for a pause of reflection or for other sufferings.

There are also numerous parishes in the city (333), 174 rectories, over 100 hospital and nursing home chaplaincies, 18 migrant chaplaincies, 3 prison chapels, [and] a presence in multiple public schools and pontifical universities. As for the over 50 elderly priests and those with health problems, they are cared for in the San Gaetano al Divino Amore house.

 

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Further information:

• Un presbiterio pastoralmente appassionato (L'Osservatore Romano)