More Catholics, fewer priests: Trends in latest Church data

Although the total number of Catholics in the world is growing — 1.389 billion, around one in every 5 human beings — the number of religious, seminarians, and priests continues to decline, especially in Europe. This is revealed by the latest data on the Catholic Church from the Vatican agency Fides, published on October 17, 2024, and covering the year 2022. Despite this apparently negative trend, Africa and Asia show positive growth, underlining the dynamism and vigor of the Church in these regions. 

As it does every year, the Vatican agency Fides, the information arm of the Pontifical Mission Societies, has published the latest statistics (in this case, from 2022) providing a general picture of the Church's evolution. It’s particularly revealing in terms of the number of faithful, priests, seminarians, and religious. Fides also offers data broken down by continent, showing the state of play by geographical zone.

Here are some of the most important points of these statistics, which concern 1,389,573,000 registered Catholics. 

It should be noted that the Fides data do not distinguish between South America and North America, which are grouped together under the generic term “America.” This methodology does not allow us to highlight specific trends relevant to these regions, given that the two geographical areas do not share the same ecclesial circumstances and challenges.

The year 2022 saw an increase of over 13 million Catholics on all continents — there were 1,375,852,000 in 2021 — with the exception of Europe, which saw a decrease of 474,000 faithful. This figure is almost double that of the previous year, 2021, when the Old Continent lost 244,000 Catholics. Although some past years have seen increases, the general trend for at least the last 10 years has been downward, in contrast to other regions of the world. Europe currently has 285 million Catholics, or 20.55% of the world's Catholic population. 

As has been the case for several years, the continent where the number of Catholics has increased the most is Africa, which has gained over 7 million believers. This is somewhat less than in 2021, when the continent recorded over 8 million new Catholics. Despite this, Africa has shown steady growth in the number of faithful in recent years. African Catholics now number over 275 million, or 19.6% of the world's population — almost the same proportion as European Catholics. 

In second place are the Americas, which welcomed almost 6 million new believers in 2022. In Asia, on the other hand, the number of Catholics rose by 889,000, and in Oceania by 123,000. Overall, Fides statistics show that since 2015 the Catholic population has remained proportionately stable at 17.8% of the world's population. 

The growth of the Catholic population in Africa is also reflected in an increase in the number of priests (1,676 more by 2022). African priests number 53,659 and represent just over 13% of the world's clergy. After Africa, Asia is the continent that gained the most priests in 2022, with 1,160 new ordinations. Asian priests numbered 72,911, representing almost 18% of the total clergy.

However, positive developments in these regions do not compensate for losses in other geographical areas, so that the number of priests worldwide continues to fall very slightly, with a figure of 407,730 in 2022, compared with 407,872 the previous year.

Europe lost 2,745 priests in 2022, followed by America, which lost 164. Despite these losses, Europe and America have the highest number of priests: 157,577 and 119,145 respectively. In 2021, Oceania saw an increase of 11 priests, but in 2022, it saw a decrease of 69 priests, to a total of 4,438. 

The figures revealed by Fides remind us that there are major disparities in the ratio of priests to faithful. An African priest has an average of 5,077 faithful (compared with 5,101 the previous year). 

In America (keep in mind this includes North and South), there are 5,592 faithful per priest. Asia shows a slight improvement, with 2,111 faithful per priest, compared with 2,137 in 2022. Europe is the best served region, with one priest for every 1,812 faithful. 

The persistent decline in the number of priests should logically continue, due to the decrease in the number of seminarians: In 2022, there were only 108,481 seminarians worldwide — down from 109,895 in 2021. Africa still has the highest number of candidates for the priesthood, at 34,541, which is 726 more than in 2021. Africans account for almost one in three seminarians — 32% of the world total. 

After Africa, Asia follows with 31,767 seminarians, or 29% of the total, although there was a drop of 375 seminarians in 2022. African and Asian seminarians therefore represent over 60% of the Church's future priests.

Europeans, in constant decline, account for just 12% of seminarians worldwide, or 13,461. This figure is 859 fewer than in 2021. 

In 2022, there will be 49,414 male religious (non-priests) and 599,228 female religious. Both categories have been following a downward trend for years, and 2022 was no exception: male religious decreased by 360 and female religious by 9,730. 

Female religious, who numbered 814,779 in 1998, have suffered a sharp decline over the past 25 years. These losses have not been offset in 2022, despite some increases in Africa and Asia. In Europe, the number of nuns has fallen by 7,012, and in the Americas by 1,358. 

While the diaconate is a hot topic in the Church, it's interesting to note that the number of permanent deacons — i.e. men, possibly married, ordained for service in the Church — has increased in recent years, particularly in Europe.

In 2022, there were 50,159 deacons, 974 more than the previous year (49,176), including 267 more in Europe. In 2011, there were 40,914 permanent deacons, so this shows an increase of almost 10,000 in 11 years.