Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, chair of the German Bishops' Conference, stated "The figures show that the church is in a comprehensive crisis".

The statistics revealed a significant drop in Catholic Church membership. Approximately 403,000 Catholics left the church last year, reducing the total to 20.3 million by the end of 2023, down from 20.94 million the previous year.

Bätzing warned that resignation or fear are not the right responses. He emphasised the church's enduring mission to "proclaim the good news of the loving, creative and liberating God".

The bishop urged immediate church reforms, arguing that while they alone would not solve the crisis, the situation would deteriorate without them. "People still have high expectations of the church, particularly in social and educational sectors" he noted.

He emphasised the importance of aligning church priorities with people's real lives, particularly focusing on young people and their families.

Devastating abuse crisis

A total of 1,779,014 people have left the Church in Germany since 2019 in the wake of the devastating abuse crisis. Coincidentally, that was the same year that the Synodal Way was launched,

According to the bishops' conference figures, there were 20.3 million Catholics in Germany at the end of 2023. That figure represents 24 % of the total population of 84.7 million.

To leave the Church formally in Germany, baptised Catholics must book an appointment at a local registry office or court, provide official documents and pay a fee. They are given a certificate confirming they are no longer registered and therefore not liable for the country's church tax.

They also receive a letter from local Church officials informing them they can no longer receive the sacraments, hold Church posts or serve as baptismal or confirmation sponsors.

Sources

Katholisch

The Pillar

CathNews New Zealand

The annual statistics, published in the Church's Yearly Book of Statistics, reveal noteworthy shifts in the distribution of the Catholic population.

The report indicates a robust expansion in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Those regions showed an increase of 8.3 million, 1.49 million and 6.6 million baptised Catholics respectively in 2021.

However, Europe witnessed a decline of 244,000 Catholics during the same period. Asia demonstrated significant growth, contributing to 11 per cent of the global Catholic population.

The centre of the Church is "moving away from Europe and toward Asia and Africa where there's vibrant growth" said Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen. Overbeck is Germany's delegate to the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union.

Clergy Dynamics

Worldwide, the clergy increased to 407,872 priests. This was highlighted by growth in Asia (1 per cent), Africa (3 per cent) and Oceania (0.2 per cent).

Europe and America however experienced declines of 2.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

The global number of bishops declined, except in Africa, which added seven bishops in 2021.

However Asia saw a decline in bishops with 804, down by four from the previous year.

Seminarian numbers decreased in Asia but increased in Africa.

Educational and Charitable Initiatives in Asia

The report also sheds light on the Catholic Church's extensive educational and charitable initiatives in Asia. With around 1.3 million schools (kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools), the Asian Catholic Church accounts for approximately 50 per cent of similar Catholic institutions worldwide.

Additionally, the Church serves around 13.9 million students across various educational levels.

In healthcare and social services, the Asian Catholic Church operates an estimated 12,208 institutions including hospitals, dispensaries, leprosy centres, homes for the elderly and disabled, orphanages and marriage counselling centres, serving millions in need.

Sources

UCA News

CathNews New Zealand

Also significant for New Zealand is the number of seminarians in Asia is declining.

Partial vocations relief in the form of female deacons is "on the table" at the Synod, however according to Sister Mary Teresa Barron, president of the International Union of Superiors General, the discussion comes amid a broader discussion marked by "differences of opinions" and cultural complexities.

Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo agrees, emphasising the challenges in achieving consensus within the synod, saying that understanding the terminology and ideas is "highly dependent on the cultural background.

"We are talking about the same thing, but sometimes the understanding is completely different," said Kikuchi.

Global Catholic population expands

Compiled by Fides News Agency, the report, which provides data as of December 31 2021, presents a complex picture highlighting both growth and decline within the Church.

The world's total population reached 7,785,769,000, an increase of 118,633,000 compared to the previous year.

The global Catholic population grew to 1,375,852,000, an overall increase of 16,240,000, with noticeable growth in Africa, America, Asia and Oceania offset by a decline in Europe.

However, the number of permanent (male) deacons increased by 541, totalling 49,176.

Decline in Bishops and Priests

• The total number of bishops worldwide decreased by 23, reaching 5,340
• The number of priests globally decreased by 2,347, declining to 407,872. Europe and America witnessed significant declines while Africa, Asia, and Oceania saw modest increases
• Diocesan priests declined by 911, totalling 279,610, while religious priests decreased by 1,436, amounting to 128,262

Shifts in religious demographics

• Religious non-priests decreased by 795, totalling 49,774, with Europe and America experiencing reductions
• The number of women religious declined by 10,588, totalling 608,958, due primarily to decreases in Europe and America
• Major seminarians, both diocesan and religious, decreased by 1,960 globally, amounting to 109,895 with growth observed only in Africa
• Minor seminarians increased by 316 to 95,714. Decreases totalling -1737 were registered in America, Asia, Europe and Oceania while an increase was registered in Africa (+2,053)

Catholic Church's educational and charitable roles

• In the field of education, the Catholic Church operates 74,368 kindergartens, 100,939 primary schools and 49,868 secondary schools
• The Church serves 2,483,406 high school pupils and 3,925,325 university students
• The Church's health, charity and assistance institutions globally include 5,405 hospitals, 14,205 dispensaries, 567 leper hospitals, 15,276 homes for the elderly, chronically ill and handicapped, 9,703 orphanages, 10,567 nursery schools, 10,604 marriage counselling centres, 3,287 social rehabilitation centres and 35,529 other types of institutions

Sources

• Agenzia Fides
• La Croix International
• Crux
• National Catholic Register
• CathNews New Zealand

The figures come from the 2022 edition of the Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook) and the 2020 Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (Statistical Yearbook of the Church), compiled by the Vatican's Central Office of Church Statistics.

The yearbook also gives detailed figures about the Church's workforce, sacramental life, dioceses and parishes.

Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles John Brown noted this was a higher number compared to those baptised in Mexico (1,537,710), Brazil (1,126,152) and in Europe (1,533,666).

Brown lauded the latest figures which he said showed how the country continues to be one of the bastions of Christianity worldwide, five centuries after it was introduced to the faith.

"I am glad to share that the Philippines has the highest number of baptisms in 2020 compared to other places in the world. A living testament of faith in the 500 years of Catholicism in the country," Brown said in an interview with Church-run Radio Veritas on Sunday.

In 2019, the Philippines also topped the list of Catholic baptisms around the world.

The Philippines ranks third in the world for the overall number of baptised Catholics, including children and adults. The country has 89 million, ranking behind only Brazil (177 million) and Mexico (115 million).

Overall, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.36 billion, an increase of 16 million over the previous year. The rise was in line with global population growth in the year that the coronavirus pandemic swept the planet, according to Vatican News.

Catholics accounted for 17.7 percent of the world population in 2020, the same as the previous year. Still, their numbers grew in Africa by about 2.1 percent and in Asia by 1.8 percent. In Europe, the increase was just 0.3 percent.

Almost half (48%) of the world's Catholics live in the Americas, with 28% located in South America.

Sources

Business Mirror

Manila Bulletin

Vatican News

"Here's the interesting thing," writes Narelle Henson, "a group called simply "Protestants" by Statistics New Zealand grew by 26.4 percent from the previous census in 2006."

A group called "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamental" grew by 11.2 percent.

In a recent interview on RNZ, Graeme Morris from Victoria University said he was fascinated by the fact that the Catholic Church's size as a percentage of the population has remained consistent from the late nineteenth century through to the present day.

Morris suggested three reasons for this phenomenon:

• The inter-linking between the Catholic religion and Irish culture
• The effectiveness of the Catholic education system
• The arrival of immigrants from countries where the Catholic Church is very strong.

He went on to say it is not all good news for the Catholic religion because, in terms of percentages, it is "treading water". It's not growing in terms of the size of the percentage of our population.

On the other hand, as Henson points out in her opinion piece, the evangelical religions are growing.

This growth was the topic for another recently published article, Am I at a rock concert or religious gathering?

The trend has caught the eye of experts around the world because it bucks the secularisation theory made popular in the 1950s which predicted that, in modern, educated societies, devout belief would not survive.

Henson says that the same trend appears to be happening in America.

According to the Pew Research Centre, traditional religion is in sharp decline.

But Chosen Religion (based on conversion) seems to be growing, in countries both modern and modernising.

And secularism's growth is flattening out.

Source

• Waikato Times
• RNZ
• Image: New Zealand Geographic

World population

To 31 December 2013 the world population was 7,093,798,000 with an increase of 70,421,000 compared with the previous year. Population growth was registered on every continent above all in Asia and Africa followed by America, Europe and Oceania.

Catholics

On the same date Catholics in the world numbered 1,253,926,000 with an overall increase of 25,305,000 more than the previous year. The increase affects all continents especially America and Africa followed by Asia, Europe and Oceania.

The world percentage of Catholics increased by 0.09 %, settling at 17.68%. By continent: increases were registered in Africa, America, Asia, Europe. A slight decrease was shown in Oceania.

Persons and Catholics per priest

This year the number of persons per priest in the world increased by 180 units, average 13,752. The distribution by continent: increase in America, Europe and Oceania; decrease in Africa, Asia.

The number of Catholics per priest in the world increased by 54 units, average 3,019. There are increases in America, Europe and Oceania; decrease in Asia and Africa.

Ecclesiastical circumscriptions and mission stations

The number of ecclesiastical circumscriptions are 8 more than the previous year to 2,989 with new circumscriptions created in: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Mission stations with a resident priest number 1,871 and increases registered in Africa, Asia and Oceania Decreases in America and Europe. Mission Stations without a resident priest increased in number by 3,074 units, to 133,869. Compared to the previous year, increase is registered in Africa, America, Asia and Oceania. The number dropped only in Europe .

Bishops

The total number of Bishops in the world increased by 40, to 5,173. Contrary to previous years where Diocesan Bishops increased in numbers, while Religious Bishops decreased, this year they both increased. Diocesan Bishops number 3,945, while Religious Bishops number 1,228. The increase in diocesan Bishops is registered in all continents except Oceania. The number of religious Bishops increased on every continent: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, while Oceania showed no variation. Continue reading

Sources

• Vassallomalta
• Image: ChurchPOP