I did alittle research a few years ago for a priest who was writing a book about the complete collapse and disaster in the Catholic Church since Vatican II. It dealt with every aspect of Catholic life and its decline, but I found the sections on world-wide religious life (and in the USA among Orders of male and female religious) fascinating, and overwhelmingly depressing.
In Rome, during the years …More
I did alittle research a few years ago for a priest who was writing a book about the complete collapse and disaster in the Catholic Church since Vatican II. It dealt with every aspect of Catholic life and its decline, but I found the sections on world-wide religious life (and in the USA among Orders of male and female religious) fascinating, and overwhelmingly depressing.
In Rome, during the years of Pope Pius XII, up uuntil 1-2 years after Vatican II, Rome averaged 45-50 diosecean Ordinations a year. In additon, there were 200+ ordinations in the various monasteries and generalates (motherhouses) of male religious who chose to build their headquarters in Rome. There were 8,000+ male religious alone in Rome in the 1950's and early 1960's, aand believe it or not, 40,000 nuns of hundreds of religious Orders in Rome, from the very large, to the extremely small little Italian Orders, some of which had no more that 50-60 sisters, and perhaps 7-8 houses in Italy. There were literally tons of tiny Italian Orders of nuns, some based in one town, and were lucky if they had 3-4 houses. There were also a handful of very small Italian Orders of friars and monks, like the Order of Penitants of St. Jerome, which was a very ancient Order founded in the 1300's and still had 4 houses in Italy right before Vatican II, with 1 house in Rome. The Franciscan "Bigi" friars (grey Franciscans), were a tiny Order of friars based in Italy, but up until the early 1960's even had a small foundation in the USA.
The Penitants of St. Jerome were supressed by the Vatican in 1961 under John XXIII because of small numbers (less than 60), and the "Bigi" Franciscans died out right after Vatican II....like most Orders are doing now.
In Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany, literally hundreds of tiny Orders of nuns, many with very noble apostolates, and some dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries, are gone, thanks to Vatican II and the NOvus Ordo. So too, are the very famous Catholic movement of the Beguines, which right up until Vatican II, still had close to 800 members (not really nuns), in several Beguinages in Belgium and the Netherlands. Not bound by solemn or even simplex vows, many Beguines quit after the "reforms" of Vatican II came thru, and vocations dried up.....just as with the Orders. The last Beguine died about 10 years ago.
The PONTIFICAL ROMAN SEMINARY, from which John XXIII came from, always had had over 100-200 seminarians, even up to the time of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Before Vatican II, they wore beautiful violet cassocks, and another garb over it called a soprana. Both discarded in favor of black clerical shirts and pants in the 1960's...and today only worn when officiating at ceremonies at the VAtican.
Though the big declines BEGAN