Vatican statistics show a decline in baptisms among clergy and religious worldwide

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The number of Catholics and permanent deacons worldwide rose in 2022, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders and baptisms fell, according to Vatican statistics.

At the end of 2022, the number of Catholics worldwide reached 1.389 billion, an increase of 0.79 percent from 1.378 billion Catholics at the end of 2021, according to the Vatican’s Central Office for Church Statistics.

In contrast, the United Nations estimated that the world population increased by 0.83 percent over the same period to a total of just over 8 billion people at the end of 2022, exceeding this milestone for the first time.

The Vatican agency Fides published a brief overview of the global figures on October 17th.

The Vatican’s statistical yearbook warned that its figures were based on information it received from its surveys and that not all jurisdictions reported information. In mainland China, for example, data was missing from the entire yearbook. The number of Catholics “does not include those in countries not included in the survey due to their current situation,” it said, adding that this number is estimated at around another 5 million Catholics.

While Catholics remained about 17.7 percent of the world’s population, their numbers grew in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, said the summary, which was based on figures reported on December 31, 2022. Only Europe recorded a decline, with 474,000 fewer Catholics.

Catholics make up 64 percent of the total population in the Americas, followed by Europe and Oceania, where 39.5 percent and 26 percent of the population, respectively, are baptized Catholic. In Africa, 19.7 percent of the population is Catholic and in Asia it is 3.3 percent of the population.

While the number of Catholics is increasing, the administration of the sacrament of baptism has declined worldwide. According to Fides’ summary report, the number of baptisms fell from 17,932,891 in 1998 to 13,327,037 in 2022. A peak was reported in the Holy Year 2000, when 18,408,076 baptisms were performed worldwide.

The Catholic Church had 5,353 bishops at the end of 2022, a slight increase from 13 bishops at the end of 2021. Most of them serve in America and Europe.

The total number of diocesan and religious priests fell slightly by 142 men to a total of 407,730, the Vatican office said. Most of the decline was in Europe, with 2,745 fewer priests, which even the increases in Africa and Asia could not offset. But while the number of diocesan priests worldwide declined, the number of religious priests increased by 297 men.

The number of Catholics per priest increased slightly to 3,408 Catholics per priest.

The number of friars fell from 49,774 to 49,414 in 2022, with the only places of growth occurring in Asia and the Americas.

The total number of women religious at the end of 2022 was 599,228 – a decrease of 9,730 women or 1.59 percent compared to 608,958 at the end of 2021.

The number of permanent deacons – 50,159 – recorded a 1.99 percent increase compared to the previous year, with the strongest growth occurring in Europe.

The number of seminarians worldwide fell 1.28 percent to 108,481, from 109,895 at the end of 2021, with the only notable increase occurring in Africa.

The number of Catholic weddings celebrated worldwide in 2022 increased from more than 1.8 million in 2021 to 1.97 million in 2022; Of these, only 9.6 percent involved the marriage of a Catholic to a non-Catholic.

The 1991 yearbook reports more than 3.8 million Catholic weddings, with 8.9 percent of those involving a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic.

In 2022, 8.68 million people received their first communion, up from 8.5 million people the previous year, and 7.4 million people were confirmed, up from 7.3 million people in 2021, according to the yearbook.

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

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