Africa up, Europe down

Not that it's a surprise, but here are some of the numbers, via USA Today:

Africa is the Catholic Church's region of biggest growth, with rising numbers of faithful, clergy and religious orders, according to Vatican statistics. The church's growth in the Americas has largely stalled, meanwhile, and Europe's share of the world's largest church continues to decline.

The findings appeared in the May 18 issue of the official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, in an article summarizing the new edition of the church's statistical yearbook, which features a survey of worldwide Catholicism in the period 2000-2006.

Though the world's proportion of baptized Catholics remained roughly the same over the seven-year period, amounting to 17.3% of the world's 1.1 billion people in 2006, its geographical distribution shifted markedly.

The most notable change was in Africa, whose share of the worldwide church rose from 12.4% to 14%. Even more dramatic was the increase in church personnel there. While the world total of Catholic priests barely increased, and the number of female religious actually fell, the church in Africa reported nearly a quarter more priests and almost one-sixth more nuns after seven years.

Read the entire piece.

• Priestly Vocations in America: Recent Trends | Jeff Ziegler | A detailed examination of vocations in the U.S. (Catholic World Report)
• The Real Reason for the Vocation Crisis | Rev. Michael P. Orsi (Jan. 2005)
• Pray the Harvest Master Sends Laborers | Rev. Anthony Zimmerman

Comments

[walter]

USA Today needs better editors and fact checkers. See if you can spot the error.

On topic, glad to see the growth in africa. the priest who elebrated my wedding was a very holy priest from Ghana. he was a missionary...here in the states.

[Deacon Harold]

Not surprising, really. I serve in a parish with an African pastor. He recently attended his religious order's general chapter in Tanzania. When he returned, I asked if they were concerned about vocations. He laughed and said, "Our seminaries are full" and that their discussions focused on which countries to send more priests (they are considering adding China and Russia to their growing list).

I've heard more than a few naysayers attribute the increase in African vocations to young men trying to escape poverty. Phooey! The primary reason for such an increase is the work of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 2:9-10, NAB).

These young men who are joining the priesthood in such large numbers (and women joining religious orders as well) recognize their "weakness" amidst the spiritual poverty of tribal warfare, famine, corrupt governments, and natural disaster. In their poverty, they turn to the Lord, drawing strength from His Cross. I see this as a cultural attribute of African Christianity.

We in the West, when confronted with the "weakness" of materialism, consumerism, relativism, and a culture of death have a tendency to turn inward, away from the Cross, which is an attribute of contemporary American culture. To join the priesthood within this framework is seen as counter-cultural.

We can learn a lot about faith, hope and love from our brothers and sisters in “Third World” countries.

[Julie]

I can spot the error! There are 1.1 billion Catholics, not people in the world. That's kind of a bad mistake, isn't it!