From The Catholic Herald:
Among the most startling aspects of the post-Vatican II era of the Catholic Church has been the dramatic decline of vocations to the religious life in the Western world.
According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), the number of religious priests in the US declined from 22,707 to 11,326 between 1965 and 2018, and the number of religious brothers dropped from 11,326 to 3,897, all at a time when the overall Catholic population increased. The Monastery of Christ in the Desert of Abiquiu (christdesert.org), New Mexico, has enjoyed remarkable growth and is today home to 60 monks with an average age of 34. They have had to delay accepting further applicants, according to Brother Benedict, the community’s prior, as they don’t have enough cells to accommodate more monks.