Editing Jesuits (section)

==Statistics==
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="float:right; margin:10px"
|+Jesuits in the World – January 2022<ref name="stats2">{{cite web |date=23 March 2022 |title=The Society of Jesus in Numbers, 2022 Edition |url=https://www.jesuits.global/2022/03/23/the-society-of-jesus-in-numbers-2022-edition/ |publisher=Jesuits |access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604171507/https://www.jesuits.global/2022/03/23/the-society-of-jesus-in-numbers-2022-edition/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
!|Region!!Jesuits!! Percentage
|-
|Africa||style="text-align: center;" |1,712||style="text-align: center;" |12%
|-
|Latin America<ref>Including Mexico and the Caribbean.</ref>||style="text-align: center;" |1,859||style="text-align: center;" |13%
|-
|South Asia||style="text-align: center;" |3,955||style="text-align: center;" |27%
|-
|Asia-Pacific||style="text-align: center;" |1,481||style="text-align: center;" |10%
|-
|Europe||style="text-align: center;" |3,386||style="text-align: center;" |23%
|-
|North America<ref>Canada and the United States only; not including Mexico and the Caribbean.</ref>||style="text-align: center;" |2,046||style="text-align: center;" |14%
|-
|Total||style="text-align: center;" |14,439
|}

{{As of|2012}}, the Jesuits formed the largest single [[religious order (Catholic)|religious order]] of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lapitan |first=Giselle |date=22 May 2012 |title=The changing face of the Jesuits |publisher=Province Express |url=http://www.express.org.au/article.aspx?aeid=31517 |access-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328015137/http://www.express.org.au/article.aspx?aeid=31517 |archive-date=28 March 2016 }}</ref> The Jesuits have experienced a decline in numbers in recent decades. In 2022, the society had 14,439 members - 10,432 priests, 837 brothers, 2,587 scholastics, and 583 novices.<ref name="stats2" /> This represents a 59% percent decline since the Second Vatican Council of 1965, when the society had a total membership of 36,038, of which 20,301 were priests.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Becker |first=Joseph M. |at=p. 104, table A-7 |title=The Statistics and a Tentative Analysis |journal=Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits |date=January–March 1977 |volume=IX |issue=1/2 |url=https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/jesuit/article/download/3725/3302#.pdf |access-date=23 November 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516181335/https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/jesuit/article/download/3725/3302#.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This decline is most pronounced in Europe and the Americas, with relatively modest membership gains occurring in Asia and Africa.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Mark M. |date=9 January 2015 |title=Nineteen Sixty-four: By the Numbers: Jesuit Demography |url=http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2015/01/by-numbers-jesuit-demography.html |access-date=14 April 2017 |website=nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com |publisher=[[Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate|CARA]] |archive-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415201210/http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2015/01/by-numbers-jesuit-demography.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Raper |first=Mark |date=23 May 2012 |title=Changing to best serve the universal mission |publisher=Jesuit Asia Pacific Conference |url=http://sjapc.net/content/changing-best-serve-universal-mission |access-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226155549/http://sjapc.net/content/changing-best-serve-universal-mission |archive-date=26 February 2014 }}</ref>

In 2016, according to Patrick Reilly of the ''[[National Catholic Register]]'', there seems to be no "[[Pope Francis effect]]" in counteracting the fall of vocations among the Jesuits.<ref>{{cite news |last=Reilly |first=Patrick |date=28 July 2016 |title=American Jesuits Are in a Free Fall, and the Crisis is Getting Worse |newspaper=[[National Catholic Register]] |url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/reilly/american-jesuits-are-in-a-free-fall-and-the-crisis-is-getting-worse |access-date=16 June 2017 }}</ref> In 2019, twenty-eight novices took first vows in the Jesuits in the United States and Haiti.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Twenty-Eight Jesuit Novices Profess First Vows |url=https://jesuits.org/story?TN=PROJECT-20180823111428051547 |access-date=29 September 2019 |website=jesuits.org |archive-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103233435/https://jesuits.org/story?TN=PROJECT-20180823111428051547 |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2019, the superior general of the Jesuits, [[Arturo Sosa]], estimated that by 2034 the number would decrease to about 10,000 Jesuits, with a much younger average age than in 2019, and with a shift away from Europe and into Latin America, Africa, and India.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=16 September 2019 |title=Father Sosa: Attacks against Pope Francis are aimed at influencing the next conclave |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/16/father-sosa-attacks-against-pope-francis-are-aimed-influencing-next-conclave |first=Gerard |last=O'Connell |access-date=25 September 2019 |website=[[America Magazine]] |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920051743/https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/16/father-sosa-attacks-against-pope-francis-are-aimed-influencing-next-conclave |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, their average age was 57.3 years: 63.4 years for priests, 29.9 years for scholastics, and 65.5 years for brothers.<ref name="stats">{{Cite news |last=Puca |first=Pasquale |date=30 January 2008 |title=St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Development of the Society of Jesus |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-ignatius-of-loyola-and-the-development-of-the-society-of-jesus-5550 |journal=L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English |publisher=The Cathedral Foundation |page=12 |access-date=23 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505174225/https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-ignatius-of-loyola-and-the-development-of-the-society-of-jesus-5550 |archive-date=5 May 2022 }}</ref>

The [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General]] of the Jesuits is [[Arturo Sosa]]. The society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of [[missionary]] work, human rights, [[social justice]] and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in countries around the world and is particularly active in the [[Philippines]] and [[India]]. In the United States, the Jesuits have historical ties to [[Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities|27 colleges and universities]] and [[Jesuit Secondary Education Association|61 high schools]]. The degree to which the Jesuits are involved in the administration of each institution varies. In September 2018, 15 of the 27 Jesuit universities in the US had non-Jesuit lay presidents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 September 2018 |title=Jesuit universities slowly losing Jesuit presidents |url=https://www.loyolamaroon.com/10018640/showcase/jesuit-universities-slowly-losing-jesuit-presidents/ |access-date=15 October 2018 |archive-date=16 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016125844/https://www.loyolamaroon.com/10018640/showcase/jesuit-universities-slowly-losing-jesuit-presidents/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a 2014 article in ''[[The Atlantic]]'', "the number of Jesuit priests who are active in everyday operations at the schools isn't nearly as high as it once was".<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Autumn |date=30 December 2014 |title=The New Brand of Jesuit Universities |newspaper=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/12/the-new-brand-of-jesuit-universities/384103/ |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083144/https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/12/the-new-brand-of-jesuit-universities/384103/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Worldwide it runs 322 secondary schools and 172 colleges and&nbsp;[[University|universities]]. A typical conception of the mission of a Jesuit school will often contain such concepts as proposing Christ as the model of human life, the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning, lifelong spiritual and intellectual growth,<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Aloysius College mission statement |url=http://www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au/about-us/mission-and-history/mission-statement |access-date=21 March 2018 |work=StAloysius.NSW.edu.au |archive-date=15 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315044152/https://www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au/about-us/mission-and-history/mission-statement |url-status=dead }}</ref> and training men and women for others.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=10 November 2009 |title=Time Magazine on 'Men for Others' |language=en |magazine=[[America Magazine]] |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/time-magazine-men-others |access-date=30 May 2017 |first=James |last=Martin |archive-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212084551/https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/time-magazine-men-others |url-status=live }}</ref>