Vatican Statistics: Africa Had Biggest Increase in Catholics, While Numbers Fell in Europe

Worldwide, the total number of priests dropped by 2,347 to approximately 408,000. Europe suffered the largest drop, with 3,632 fewer priests from the previous year. Balancing out that loss, however, was a net gain of more than 1,500 priests in Africa and about half that many in Asia. The Americas lost nearly a thousand priests, and Oceania recorded a small gain of less than a dozen. 

The decline in the number of priests in 2021 was less dramatic than in 2020 when Fides recorded a decrease of 4,117 compared with 2019.  

(The Fides statistics do not mention baptism rates, but other data show that in addition to a higher baptism rate, Africa has a far higher rate of Mass attendance in countries with large Catholic populations. An analysis done earlier this year by CARA found that Nigeria, Kenya, and Lebanon have the highest proportion of Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more, with Nigeria as the clear leader with 94% of Catholics reporting they attend Mass at least weekly. In Kenya, the figure was 73%, and in Lebanon it was 69%. In comparison, in Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, less than 15% say they attend Mass weekly.)

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The number of permanent deacons changed little, with a gain of 541 worldwide for a total of 49,176. Europe and the Americas showed the strongest gains with 150 and 139 additional permanent deacons respectively.

The number of male religious dropped worldwide by nearly 800, due in part to large losses in Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, which were balanced somewhat by a gain of 205 religious men in Africa. 

The picture for women religious was more dire. There remain nearly 609,000 women religious in the world — outnumbering even priests — but that figure has dropped by 10,588 in the time period studied, led by a massive loss of more than 7,800 in Europe. The Americas also hemorrhaged more than 5,000 religious women, while Africa gained more than 2,000. 

The number of lay missionaries and catechists fell dramatically in the Americas, by almost 4,000, compared with modest gains in Africa and Europe and a larger gain of nearly 670 in Asia. 

Africa was the only continent that registered a rise in the number of major seminarians, with a net gain of 187 — Africa also has the largest number of major seminarians overall, with nearly 34,000. In contrast, Asia, Europe, and the Americas had triple-digit losses, while Oceania’s numbers were virtually unchanged. Worldwide, the number of major seminarians fell by nearly 2,000 to around 110,000. 

The total number of minor seminarians rose worldwide, however, with a gain of over 300 to 95,714. Africa again led the pack with a gain of more than 2,000, while Asia hemorrhaged the most with 1,216. 

The Church operates more than 74,000 kindergartens, nearly 101,000 Catholic primary schools, and 50,000 secondary schools worldwide, according to the data. There are about 2.5 million Catholic high school pupils and 4 million students attending Catholic universities. 

Africa has the largest total number of infant pupils, Catholic primary schools, primary school pupils, and Catholic secondary schools, and the third-most secondary school students out of all the continents, after Europe and Asia. 

The Americas have the largest number of university students in Catholic schools, accounting for more than half of all the Catholic university students in the world. Meanwhile, Asia has the largest number of Catholic high schoolers, with 1.3 million.

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Additionally, the Church runs 5,405 hospitals worldwide,15,276 homes for the elderly and needy, and 9,703 orphanages, with Asia making up the largest share of those orphanages.

Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and assistant podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and in the past has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer.