The world's Catholic population is growing simultaneously, according to a report released Thursday by the Vatican Show.
figure From Rome included in his 2025 Pontical Yearbook – the world's Catholic masses increased from around 13.9 billion to 1.46 billion, up 1.15% between 2022 and 2023.
Conversely, by the end of 2023 there were 406,996 priests, a 0.2% decrease of 734 compared to 2022.
Related: JD Vance explains how the Catholic Sacrament of Confessions encouraged him to lead a more disciplined Christian life
upi Set it Some of the rise and declines around the world focus on the decline in seminary.
The biggest increase was measured as Africa, where 20% of the Earth's Catholics live, rose from 272 million in 2022 to 281 million in 2023.
The decline in the number of priests occurred primarily in Europe, the Oceania region, and what the Vatican called “America.” Africa has earned nearly 3.3% of parish priests and 1.4% of religious priests.
The overall number of bishops in the Catholic Church has increased by 1.4% over the past two years, up from 5,353 in 2022 to 5,430 in 2023, but the biggest increase was permanent deacons, up 2.6% from 50,150 to 51,433.
When the total number of Catholics is compared to the total population, Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay stand out, with Catholic incidence exceeding 90% of the population.
News of the Catholic Church status said Pope Francis' condition continued to improve on Wednesday, showing further advances in his recovery from dual pneumonia as he did not need to use a mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.
The 88-year-old Pope also reduces his reliance on high-flow supplemental oxygen during the day, the Vatican said in the area in a medical post. His pneumonia infection is not completely ruled out, but under control, the sacred press conference said.
