Catholicism in Europe
In October 2019, numbers provided by the Fides Agency inform that the number of Catholics in the world is increasing on all continents including Europe (+ 259.000) and this after 3 consecutive years of decrease on this continent.
Europe gathers 22% of Catholics of the world, representing 39.74% of the population of the continent, but continues to record a steady and significant decrease in the number of priests (- 2048), of monks (- 525), and of nuns (- 7960). On the other hand, the number of lay missionaries is on the rise (+ 836).
See the information from Fides Agency.
The 2015 report of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) provides a global overview of trends in the Catholic Church (the workforce of the Church, sacraments, education, lay ministries, and welfare institutions).
CARA, Global Catholicism: Trends & Forecasts, 2015.
23 October 2019