Here at our Jesuit Catholic university, we find ourselves in the midst of an “Ignatian Year,” as May of 2021 until July 2022 is being celebrated as the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius’ conversion. His cannonball moment later translated into the creation of this order that leads and shapes our school and almost 200 other colleges around the world. Their impact is global, as currently, there are over 16,000 Jesuits in 112 countries.
But, who exactly are the Jesuits? And how are they spread out around the world? In the context of the Church in America, where we know that diocesan priesthood vocations are rapidly declining––but are the Jesuits losing numbers too?
Who are the Jesuits?
The Jesuits, formally known as the Society of Jesus, are primarily a missionary order, although many of us interact with them in educational settings.
The current Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J. explains:
“You can find Jesuits, true Jesuits, in every region, in every color, in every activity. I think that is a sign of the Church for the world. What unites us all in our diversity is our connection with Jesus and the Gospel, and that is the source of the creativity of the Society and of the people with whom we share the mission.”
There are currently 189 colleges and universities run by the Jesuits, and several hundred more secondary and preparatory schools. Peter Grendler’s historical record of Jesuit schools indicates that there were over 700 Jesuit schools in Europe alone by 1749, but then due to the suppression of the Jesuit order that followed in the 18th and 19th centuries, the vast majority of those schools closed.
Where in the world are they?
The Jesuits are divided into 6 geographic regions, known as conferences or assistancies. These are the current geographic divisions:
- Africa: Africa and Madagascar minus North Africa
- Latin America: South America, Central America, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean
- South Asia: India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka
- East Asia: Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand, and Myanmar
- Europe: Europe, Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Canada
- United States: USA, Jamaica, Belize, and Micronesia
Within these six assistancies, there are 80 smaller, regional provinces. For Boston College, we are under the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus.
How many are there?
The population of Jesuits steadily increased when Pope Pius VII restored the Society of Jesus post-suppression in 1814. But then in 1965, the trend switched. The order reached a peak membership of 36,000 in that year, but then sharply declined.
The number of current Jesuits is determined by the number entering the order, the number of deaths, and the number of men who discern to leave. In comparison to other religious orders, the Jesuits have a long period of time––oftentimes 15 to 20 years from being a novice to taking final vows––to discern, and many choose to leave during the first few years.
The number of novices entering has slightly decreased over time. In 1982, 582 men entered worldwide. In 2010, 470 men entered. Despite the decline, the Jesuits still maintain the role of the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church.
Africa and South Asia are where Jesuit vocations are exploding. In 1982, Africa and South Asia made up 16.4% of the Society of Jesus, but by 2010 that number shot up to 30%. The US and Europe, however, declined by almost 17 percentage points over that same period of time. Each year, roughly 64% of novices are entering from Africa and Asia. Latin America closely follows them in terms of novitiate numbers.
As for deaths, in the past 30 years North America and Europe have accounted for two-thirds of the deaths within the Society of Jesus, despite these provinces only making up about 44% of the population of the order. It is important to note that all this data is pre-COVID-19, and the demographic of populations more heavily affected by COVID-19 could change these trends within the Jesuits.
The number of men leaving the Jesuits has been declining over recent years, which puts the USA back in a positive range of entrances minus exits. However, when the average older age of Jesuits in America is factored in, the death rate makes the number a net loss again.
What does this mean for the Church?
The universal nature and relatively stable vocations of the Jesuits promise aid to a Church in need. The situation with vocations is vastly different in the U.S. versus the rest of the world.
Unsurprisingly, due to cultural shifts and the wake of abuse scandals, total U.S. priestly vocations have declined by 40.0% since 1970. Ordinations, seminarian numbers, and students in religious education and Catholic schools have all been halved. Parishes without a resident priest have gone from 571 parishes to 3,544 parishes in the last 50 years. Many Jesuit priests and novices find themselves assisting these parishes in the U.S., and even those who are professors will often be assigned to help parishes over their summer vacation.
The global Church outside of the U.S., particularly in Africa and Asia, presents a uniquely different problem: vocations are growing, but the population of the faithful is growing too quickly for them to catch up. Oftentimes, priests in Africa will cover large geographic regions with thousands of parishioners and dozens of parishes and schools.
There are about 415,000 Catholic priests in the world, and though the number has hovered around there for many years, it is on a slight upward trend. However, in the past 50 years, the Catholic population has more than doubled to 1.3 billion. Although percentage-wise, this is roughly constant with population growth globally, the number of Catholic schools and particularly Catholic orphanages has shot up. The need for people to minister to the faithful and to those in need is increasing, but the laborers are few.
Special thanks to Nineteen Sixty-four, the research blog of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University for their continued work to collect, organize, and make available data about our Church.
Previously the Campus News Editor and Catholicism 101 Editor, Olivia dabbles in The Torch’s writing and photography. She is a senior studying theology and applied psychology and human development with a minor in journalism. She is unashamedly passionate about youth ministry, Haiti, all things charismatic, the Oxford comma, and CatholicTV––where she can often be found as an on-camera news reporter or host of the To the Heights podcast.
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