By Jose Kavi

New Delhi: Every third Jesuit who succumbed to Covid-19 in the world since June 2020 was Indian, according to a list circulated by Father Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Society of Jesus.

The list, sent with a letter to all heads of 83 provinces, six independent regions and ten dependent regions, shows that as many as 158 Jesuits died of Covid-19 within a year starting June 2020. Among them 50 were Indians and two Sri Lankans.

Father Sosa recalled the death of another 44 Jesuits due to Covid in the previous year.

“This list is long, and it would be even longer if we added the names of all our relatives who have left us,” he says.

In India, Jesuits accounted for the largest number of deaths among priests. India has more than 4,000 Jesuits, the largest group in the world.

“We now know that this pandemic is far from over, and that we need to remain vigilant to prevent the spread of the virus to those around us,” cautions the June 22 letter from the Venezuelan priest, who heads the largest Catholic religious congregation for men since October 14, 2016.

The 72-year-old priest refers to a 25 June 2020, letter he sent to all superiors inviting them to pray for those who had died of Covid-19 in their families, among staff and friends, along with Jesuits.

“We also know that this emergency calls for a thorough revision of our lifestyles and methods of development. The ordeal we are going through is indicative of a deeper political, economic and social crisis,” asserts Father Sosa.

The Covid toll adds to the already dwindling numbers among the Jesuits.

As of 2018, the Society of Jesus had 15,842 members: 11,389 priests and 4,453 men in formation. This was 56 percent less than 36,038 in 1965, when the congregation’s membership peaked.

In September 2019, before the Covid-19 hit the world, Father Sosa estimated that by 2034 the number would decrease to about 10,000 Jesuits, with a much younger average age and with a shift away from Europe into Latin America, Africa, and India.

Father Sosa has urged provinces, regions and communities to arrange times of prayer in memory of the Covid-19 victims.