The total number of Catholics priests in the world declined for the fifth straight year, according to statistics released by the Vatican this week.
The statistics were released by the Holy See’s Fides News Agency.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported that at the end of 2022, there were about 407,730 priests in the Catholic Church, which was a net decline of about 142 priests.
Globally, this means there is one priest for every 15,682 Catholics.
The worst reduction of priests was in Europe, which dropped by 2,745. There was also a decrease of 164 priests in the Americas and a loss of 69 priests in Oceania.
However, an increase in 1,676 priests in Africa and 1,160 priests in Asia helped soften the blow of the overall decline in priests.
Similarly, the number of major seminarians went down by more than 1,400 from 2021 to 2022. This includes a decrease of 921 in the Americas, 859 in Europe, and 375 in Asia.
Africa saw the largest increase of 726 seminarians and Oceania had a small increase of 12 seminarians. The number of minor seminarians went down by 553.
The number of women religious fell slightly below 600,000 in 2022 with a total decline of 9,730. This was mostly led by a decrease of more than 7,000 in Europe and more than 1,350 in the Americas.
There was also a decline of about 225 in Oceania. However, the number of women religious increased by more than 1,350 in Africa and by about 74 in Asia.
The number of permanent diocesan deacons went up by 960, with an increase of 697 in the Americas, 255 in Europe, and nine in Asia, with a decrease of one in Oceania. The total number of religious permanent deacons increased overall globally by 14 to 615.
Overall, the Vatican statistics show that the Catholic population in Europe fell by nearly half a million people in 2022 but continued to increase in every other part of the world.
According to the Vatican numbers, the Catholic population in Europe was just under 285.6 million people at the end of 2022. That is about 474,000 fewer Catholics than was reported in 2021.
The Catholic population decline coincided with a total population reduction on the continent, which recorded a net loss of 517,000 people living in Europe over the year.
