 Well, there are dwindling numbers of new conscripts in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has urged religious orders to pray for new priests and nuns as numbers continue to fall. The pontiff acknowledged the congregation's futures are at risk as numbers of people who enter Catholic religious life are plummeting in parts of the world. For over a decade, the overall number of Catholic priests and nuns from Europe and parts of the Americas has been in a free fall as new members fail to make up for deaths and desertions.