A recent report from the Vatican’s news agency, Agenzia Fides, indicates that Africa now has more Catholics than Europe, marking a significant demographic shift within the global Catholic Church. This finding emerged just before the 100th World Mission Sunday.
According to the report, prepared by Luca Mainoldi using data from the latest Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Catholic Church recorded a total of 1.422 billion members worldwide in 2024, constituting 17.8% of the global population.
In the period between 2023 and 2024, Africa’s Catholic population increased by 7.58 million, bringing its total to 288.312 million. In contrast, Europe now has 287.24 million Catholics, indicating that Africa’s Catholic community accounts for approximately 19.9% of the continent’s estimated 1.4 billion inhabitants.
The report highlights that Africa is the only continent to see an increase in the number of women religious and major seminarians during this timeframe. Conversely, Europe recorded an increase of 911,000 Catholics, representing 39.7% of its population, yet continues to grapple with a decline in the number of clergy and seminarians.
The Americas remains the continent with the highest Catholic population, totaling 678.869 million, which is 64% of its population, after adding nearly seven million Catholics within the year. Asia’s Catholic population rose by 968,000, reaching 156.166 million, constituting only 3.3% of its population. Meanwhile, Oceania’s Catholic community grew to 11.557 million, an increase of 239,000.
This year marked a notable change globally, as the number of priests increased for the first time in five years, rising by 425 to total 407,421. The increase was primarily driven by Africa, which added 1,676 new priests, and Asia, which gained 1,065. However, Europe saw a decrease of 2,483 priests, while Oceania lost 32.
The report also revealed a rise in the number of bishops, which increased by 95 to 5,525. On the other hand, the global number of women religious decreased by 9,292, reaching 580,131, and non-ordained male religious numbers fell by 237 to 48,511. Despite these declines, the figures for lay missionaries and lay catechists saw significant growth, with lay missionaries increasing by 18,473 to 463,079, and lay catechists rising by 22,370 to 2,889,336. Additionally, the number of permanent deacons increased by 669, bringing the total to 52,102.
