The Vatican has published their latest edition of the official Church Book of Statistics.
Updated to December 31st of 2022, the Annuario Pontificio, or Pontifical Yearbook, is an annual publication detailing the structures and administrative levels of the Catholic Church, including data on dioceses, bishops, Vatican departments, and statistical information on clergy and faithful worldwide, serving as an authoritative directory of the Church’s hierarchy and institutions.
The book shows that the number of Catholics worldwide increased by 30 million to 1.390 billion total.
The total number of bishops slightly increased by 10 to 5,353. The total number of priests decreased slightly by 489 to 407,730. Africa and Asia saw increases in the number of priests, while Europe, America, and Oceania experienced declines.
Women religious declined by 19,318 to 599,228. Only Africa and Southeast Asia saw minor increases in women religious.
Major seminarians decreased by 1,772 to 108,481. Africa was the only continent that saw an increase in seminarians, with declines noted in America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
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