[ebb tide]

Is it necessarily a bad thing for religious to shrink and decline?

It depends on the religious order:

FSSP- No; bad thing

FOTI -No; bad thing

Jesuits - Yes; good thing

[Straight Vermonter]

A young boy saw a Franciscan and a Jesuit talking together so he approached them saying, “Fathers, is it OK for me to say a novena so my team will win the Superbowl”?

The Franciscan said, “what is a Superbowl”?

The Jesuit said, “what is a novena”?

[Mrs. Don-o]

I think, in the long (1500+ years) history of monasticism, there have always been new religious orders springing into existence, and old ones dying off. I read somewhere that 95% of the religious orders that have ever existed, no longer exist: but that's not to say that they have left an empty religious landscape. They've been succeeded by others.

For instance, I can see the Sinsinawa Dominicans pass out of existence without shedding a tear, as long as the Nashville Dominicans are there to replace them.