Okay, so I am really seeking out here. Peru death stats don't matter, since ex-pats from any country are too small to impact the results. For Italy - possibly the same argument could be made. But for Vatican City - this is where the true mortality risk lies. Those Pope's with short reigns often did not die of natural causes. (Reference: your former posts.) Do the statistics exist for Vatican City? If so, is the population large enough for the death rates to be statistically significantly different from Italy as a whole or Europe as a whole or... (there are loads of ex pats in Vatican City!) Are there statistics related to Catholic priests in toto? Do they live longer or shorter lives than the general populations they serve?
That one is from 1988 -- covering the period 1949 - 1978 -- they had a bit higher mortality overall compared to other males, but lower for specific causes. Very high for cirrhosis (yeah, lots of alcoholic priests) and diabetes (yeah, lots of fat priests back then... get treated to spaghetti dinners): This is American priests, so the ratios would be different in Italy.
I rather imagine the ratios in more recent cohorts would differ somewhat. They learned how to handle alcholic priests better, but I don't think the diabetes situation has improved.
Abstract
In order to test the hypothesis that Roman Catholic priests are at low risk for prostatic cancer because of their celibacy, a cohort of 10,026 men who were active or retired diocesan (parish) Roman Catholic priests in the United States on January 1, 1949 were followed until death, leaving the priesthood, or January 1, 1978. The overall standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 103 and the SMR for cancer of the prostate was 81. Other interesting findings include increased SMRs for cancer of the larynx (147), cirrhosis of the liver (147), and diabetes (182) and decreased SMRs for lung cancer (59), emphysema (26), and suicide (13).
I wonder what a more recent study would show? I suspect lower celibacy rates, but guys like McCarran were probably in that 1978 study. Medical practices have also changed significantly. Diocesan priests do not take vows of poverty but those in orders do. (Each order enforces this as it sees fit.) Here I am needing out on the possible ways to consider the Pope's mortality.
So there is the issue of the parish priests vs. the religious (nuns & monks/friars) who live in community. The priests have a loneliness/stress problem different from the religious, which is what became smoking, alcohol abuse, and smoking. The priest Stu used to work for was a smoker, so I wasn't surprised to find out he died relatively young: age 73 on Christmas - probably of a heart attack in his sleep.
Have I ever mentioned that I hate autocorrect? In my first reply I was geek-ing out, not seeking. And in the second I was nerd-ing out, not needing...
I seriously appreciate your research when I ask these questions. I would be just as happy if you treated them as rhetorical and just thought about them with me. I have a slightly more personal (and probably more cynical) interest in mortality of priests, since my brother is a parish priest.
I think the priests and religious in general tend to have better mortality than the general population, except for the specific situations of smoking/alcohol/drug use.
It's probably more related to the higher education levels in general, than anything special.
But the smoking/alcohol/drugs is likely generational -- the priests I knew who smoked & drank heavily were of my grandparents' or parents' generations, which had higher smoking and alcohol use in the general population then, too.
You mean DA POPE, right? ;)
Okay, so I am really seeking out here. Peru death stats don't matter, since ex-pats from any country are too small to impact the results. For Italy - possibly the same argument could be made. But for Vatican City - this is where the true mortality risk lies. Those Pope's with short reigns often did not die of natural causes. (Reference: your former posts.) Do the statistics exist for Vatican City? If so, is the population large enough for the death rates to be statistically significantly different from Italy as a whole or Europe as a whole or... (there are loads of ex pats in Vatican City!) Are there statistics related to Catholic priests in toto? Do they live longer or shorter lives than the general populations they serve?
So I went looking for priest mortality studies (and there are loads of nun mortality studies):
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3405988/
That one is from 1988 -- covering the period 1949 - 1978 -- they had a bit higher mortality overall compared to other males, but lower for specific causes. Very high for cirrhosis (yeah, lots of alcoholic priests) and diabetes (yeah, lots of fat priests back then... get treated to spaghetti dinners): This is American priests, so the ratios would be different in Italy.
I rather imagine the ratios in more recent cohorts would differ somewhat. They learned how to handle alcholic priests better, but I don't think the diabetes situation has improved.
Abstract
In order to test the hypothesis that Roman Catholic priests are at low risk for prostatic cancer because of their celibacy, a cohort of 10,026 men who were active or retired diocesan (parish) Roman Catholic priests in the United States on January 1, 1949 were followed until death, leaving the priesthood, or January 1, 1978. The overall standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 103 and the SMR for cancer of the prostate was 81. Other interesting findings include increased SMRs for cancer of the larynx (147), cirrhosis of the liver (147), and diabetes (182) and decreased SMRs for lung cancer (59), emphysema (26), and suicide (13).
and a more general review:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263696183_A_Review_of_Mortality_Research_on_Clergy_and_Other_Religious_Professionals
The sample sizes are a bit limited, but reminds me of the mortality studies they used to do in the SOA on our own membership
I wonder what a more recent study would show? I suspect lower celibacy rates, but guys like McCarran were probably in that 1978 study. Medical practices have also changed significantly. Diocesan priests do not take vows of poverty but those in orders do. (Each order enforces this as it sees fit.) Here I am needing out on the possible ways to consider the Pope's mortality.
So there is the issue of the parish priests vs. the religious (nuns & monks/friars) who live in community. The priests have a loneliness/stress problem different from the religious, which is what became smoking, alcohol abuse, and smoking. The priest Stu used to work for was a smoker, so I wasn't surprised to find out he died relatively young: age 73 on Christmas - probably of a heart attack in his sleep.
https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/starledger/name/john-mcguire-obituary?id=16510653
https://medium.com/we-progress-by-sharing-ideas/gods-love-in-memory-of-father-john-p-mcguire-b0cac903fe60
Have I ever mentioned that I hate autocorrect? In my first reply I was geek-ing out, not seeking. And in the second I was nerd-ing out, not needing...
I seriously appreciate your research when I ask these questions. I would be just as happy if you treated them as rhetorical and just thought about them with me. I have a slightly more personal (and probably more cynical) interest in mortality of priests, since my brother is a parish priest.
I think the priests and religious in general tend to have better mortality than the general population, except for the specific situations of smoking/alcohol/drug use.
It's probably more related to the higher education levels in general, than anything special.
But the smoking/alcohol/drugs is likely generational -- the priests I knew who smoked & drank heavily were of my grandparents' or parents' generations, which had higher smoking and alcohol use in the general population then, too.