Vatican reports Africa surpasses Europe in Catholics

Vatican statistics show that as of June 2024, Africa had slightly more Catholics than Europe, with about 288.3 million compared with Europe’s 287.2 million, making Africa the world’s second-largest Catholic region after the Americas. The global Catholic population reached 1.422 billion, or 17.8% of the world’s population, with Africa recording the largest increase over the prior year. The worldwide number of priests rose by 425 to 407,421 for the first time in five years, as gains in Africa, Asia and the Americas outweighed declines in Europe and Oceania. Worldwide totals for women religious and major seminarians continued to fall, although Africa was the only region where both groups increased.