However the transfer towards lay management has gained steam since 2001, when Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., grew to become the primary Jesuit school or college to call a president who was not a member of the order.
That development displays a grim actuality going through the Catholic Church in the US: There aren’t sufficient younger males coming into the priesthood to interchange older clergymen who retire or die, leaving an ever smaller pool of clergy members who’re certified to run a big nonprofit entity like a contemporary college.
The variety of Catholic clergymen in the US has dropped precipitously in latest many years. In 1970, there have been 59,192 clergymen within the nation, however that quantity dropped to 35,513 in 2020, in response to the Middle for Utilized Analysis within the Apostolate, a Georgetown College initiative that conducts social science analysis on issues associated to the Catholic Church.
That decline has been even sharper amongst non secular orders, a class that features the Jesuits and teams just like the Franciscans and Dominicans. In 1970, there have been 21,920 clergymen in non secular orders in the US, however by 2020 that quantity had fallen to 10,308.
Father McShane addressed that decline when introducing Ms. Tetlow on Thursday.
“The demographic realities which might be ours are harsh,” he stated. “They demand we rise to the problem and embrace a brand new approach of doing issues.”
When Father McShane entered the Jesuit order in 1967, there have been 1,460 Jesuits in New York, he stated, including that right this moment there are 2,086 Jesuits left nationwide, and the typical age is over 70.
Solely 34 males entered Jesuit coaching within the nation final yr, Father McShane stated. And at Fordham, solely 14 Jesuits nonetheless train college students, out of 747 full-time instructors, in response to a college spokesman.
Supply: NY Times
