The Vatican released the new Statistical Yearbook of the Church last week for 2023, and it shows some favorable numbers while also pointing to some disappointments. Let’s first look at the positive aspects coming from the Vatican’s yearbook. In 2023, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.405 billion, up 1.15% from 1.389 billion Catholics at the end of 2022, according to the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics, which publishes the yearbook.
The percentage of Catholics as part of the global and continental populations represented roughly 17.8% of the global population at the end of 2023. The highest proportion is in the Americas, with 64% of its population being baptized Catholic. Europe comes in with 40% and Oceania with 26%. In Africa, 20% of the population is Catholic, and the lowest proportion of Catholics by continent is Asia.
When it comes to the sacraments, the results are mixed. The yearbook stated that 9.1 million people received their first Communion in 2023, up from 8.68 million people the previous year, and almost 7.7 million people were confirmed, up from 7.4 million people in 2022. While the number of recent baptisms was heartening, it pales in comparison to recent historical highs. In 1998, there were 18 million baptisms registered. It then went down to 13.3 million in 2022 and 13.2 million in 2023. The Vatican attributes part of the decrease in baptisms to declining birth rates globally.
Another positive aspect is the total number of adult baptisms registered in 2023 was 2.7 million, which is about 20% of the total number of baptisms. The highest proportion of adult baptisms is in Africa (35.9%) and the lowest is in Europe and the Middle East. The Tablet is covering the Call to Continuing Conversion during this Lenten season, which will end with the celebration of receiving sacraments during the Easter Vigil.
The number of Catholic weddings celebrated around the world in 2023 was down from 1.97 million in 2022 to 1.85 million; of those, about 10.3% involved a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic. Looking within the Church at the numbers for clergy, there appears to be some leveling out from recent decreases. The Catholic Church had 5,430 bishops at the end of 2023, an increase of 77 bishops from 2022. The majority of them are serving in the Americas and Europe.
However, the total number of diocesan and religious order priests decreased by 734 men to a total of 407,000, the Vatican office said. The only significant increase in the number of diocesan and religious order priests was in Africa and Asia, which could not offset the declines in the Americas and Europe. While the number of religious-order priests had increased by 297 men in 2022, the number went down to 128,000 in 2023, about what it had been in 2021.
The number of diocesan priests continued to decrease globally with 279,000 men at the end of 2023. The number of Catholics per priest increased slightly to 3,453 from 3,408 Catholics per priest in 2022. However, the number of seminarians continued to decrease globally with a 1.67% average rate of decline from 2018 to 2023. There were 106,495 seminarians at the end of 2023 with the only growth —383 men — being in Africa. The statistical trends show both hopeful signs and ongoing challenges. They highlight the Church’s essential role in nurturing faith, building community, and engaging with the world. This serves as an inspiration for Catholics to embrace Catholics their mission with renewed energy.