ROME — Pope Francis urged religious orders on Monday to work and pray harder for new priests and nuns to join, as he acknowledged the congregations' futures are at risk with the numbers of men and women entering Catholic religious life plummeting in parts of the world.

The Jesuit pope asked representatives of a half-dozen religious orders celebrating assemblies this summer in Rome how many people they each had training to be priests or nuns. Audience members responded saying eight, 12 and 17, with new members coming from Asia, Africa and Latin America.