THE QUESTION:
What do the newest statistics inform us in regards to the worldwide Catholic Church?
THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:
The Vatican’s Central Workplace of Church Statistics issued a abstract report in February that claims as of December 31, 2020, Catholicism had 1.36 billion adherents worldwide. That equals a formidable 17.7% of the world’s individuals and retains tempo with over-all inhabitants development. The church’s acquire of 16 million members over 2019 exceeds the mixed populations of New York Metropolis, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The Man would word, nevertheless, that the church counts as members all baptized infants, who as adults won’t essentially be lively parishioners.
John L. Allen Jr., the editor of CruxNow.com and a go-to man on Catholic traits, writes that these numbers counter western perceptions that “the church is shrinking” within the wake of sexual abuse scandals and different issues. Additionally see this tmatt submit right here at GetReligion on this subject: “Interested by world Christianity, as Crux digs deep into many missed Catholic particulars.”
However Catholic growth is centered in Africa and Asia, not western nations, and the church faces a personnel drawback. The Vatican workplace admits that but once more there’s an “apparent imbalance” within the geographical distribution of the slowly reducing ranks of clergymen, presently totaling 410,219 worldwide. There’s additionally declining enrollment in seminaries, now totaling just below 112,000, with solely Africa displaying a rise. Remarkably, Africa plus Asia produce 60% of the globe’s seminary college students. Right here is one other tmatt submit on that development: “Interested by the Catholic vocations ‘disaster’: The Pillar asks if that is really a world drawback.”
Let’s drill down on the numbers.
From 2019 to 2020 membership barely grew by 0.3% in Europe in contrast with 1.8% in Asia and a pair of.1% in Africa. Africa has 18.9% of the world’s Catholics, or 236 million, however solely 12.3% of the clergymen. By comparability, Europe has simply over 20% of the Catholic inhabitants however 40% of the world’s clergymen minister there. North and South America command 48% of the Catholic inhabitants however solely 29.3% of the clergymen. Nevertheless Asia, with 11% of Catholics, is served by 17.3% of the clergymen.
Placing it one other manner, there’s one priest for each 3,314 Catholics over-all however one per 1,746 in Europe, one per 2,086 within the Americas and a extreme scarcity in Africa with 5,089 members per priest.
Allen feedback that “if the Catholic Church have been a well-run enterprise, it could reallocate personnel to serve the realm of best market development. … It does not take a Harvard M.B.A. to determine one thing’s improper with this image. Not solely are church authorities not doing something to right the scenario, they’re really making it worse by signing off on transfers of personnel from south to north quite than the opposite manner round.”
On that, Allen remarks that if “all of the Mexican, Colombian, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Nigerian, Ugandan and Congolese clergymen serving in American dioceses” have been to maneuver again to their residence nations the U.S. church “would possibly as nicely submit a ‘Going Out of Enterprise’ signal” at most cathedrals.
A particular facet of Catholicism is the “professed ladies” or “sisters” in spiritual orders, usually known as “nuns” although many don’t match that label, which signifies strict conventional disciplines or cloistered lives. Right here once more, the present 619,546 complete, considerably bigger than the overall for clergymen, outcomes from will increase in Africa and Asia that distinction with decline elsewhere.
A latest article for TheConversation.com was headlined “Why the way forward for the world’s largest faith is feminine — and African.” The author is Gina Zurlo, co-editor of the invaluable World Christian Encyclopedia (with its statistics and knowledge for all religions in all nations). This Boston College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary demographer is researching ladies’s function in faith.
The “largest faith” within the headline is, in fact, Christianity, and Catholicism is by far its largest department. Zurlo says ladies are a 52% majority of the world’s Christians and fairly often exceed that share in lively attenders.
CONTINUE READING: “What do the newest statistics inform us in regards to the worldwide Catholic Church?”, by Richard Ostling.