Catholic Church: harvest in Africa and Asia - Famine in Europe and US

31 May 2014

The latest data released by Vatican on Catholic Church has reasserted the trend of huge growth in Africa and Asia and severe decline in Europe.

Every year around May, the Catholic Church publishes its annual yearbook ‘annuario pontificio’.Very few people are aware that every year a systematic census as well as data collection is done by the Catholic Church about baptized people, Churches, Bishops and other Church workers.

This year’s published data shows that Catholic Christians are growing at a slow but steady pace. In the period between 2003 and 2012, the number of baptized Catholics around the world rose from 1086 to 1229 million.

If we compare this to the world population’s rate of growth in the same period, we see that Catholic presence in the world has risen slightly, from 17.3% to 17.5% in last few years.

But perhaps this data hides the real story; the story of decline of Christianity in Europe, which was once the stronghold of Roman Catholic Church as well as various Christian denominations.

In 1910, about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe, where the bulk of Christians had been for a millennium, according to historical estimates by the Pew forums Centre for the Study of Global Christianity.Today, only about a quarter of all Christians live in Europe (26%), more than a third now is in the Americas (37%). About one in every four Christians lives in sub-Saharan Africa (24%), and about one-in-eight is found in Asia and the Pacific (13%). The same proportion applies to Catholics who are 50% of all Christians.

Therefore although the Catholic Christians are at around 17-18% of the total world population for the last 100 years, this apparent stability, however, masks a momentous shift.

In fact, between 2003 and 2014, the Catholic population in Europe was reduced from 25.80% to 23.30% of total Catholics in the world. There were 405450 priests in 2003, the figure rose to 414313 in 2014. But in the same period, the number of priest in Europe declined. The annual editions are a testimony to this trend. The Yearbook 2012 mentions “The number of Catholics with respect to the total population varies considerably between the continents. Their numbers have dropped in South America (from 28.54 per cent to 28.34 per cent) and in Europe (from 24.05 per cent to 23.83 per cent), while they have increased in Africa (from 15.15 per cent to 15.55 per cent) and in South-East Asia (from 10.47 per cent to 10.87 per cent). The number of bishops went from 5,065 to 5,104, a growth of 0.77 per cent. This increase involved Africa (sixteen new bishops), America (fifteen) and Asia (twelve), while numbers fell slightly in Europe (from 1,607 to 1,606) and in Oceania (from 132 to 129).

The steady increase in the number of priests which began in the year 2000 has continued. In 2010 their numbers stood at 412,236, composed of 227,009 diocesan priests and 135,227 regular priests; whereas in 2009 they numbered 410,593 (275,542 diocesan and 135,051 regular). The number of clergy has increased in Asia (by 1695), Africa (765), Oceania (52) and the Americas (42), while their numbers have fallen by 905 in Europe.”

The yearbook 2013 mentions “The steady increase in the number of priests which began in the year 2000 has continued. On 31 December 2011, their numbers stood at 413,418 compared to last year’s 412,236. Nevertheless, this was not homogeneous growth. In Africa and Asia the increase was, respectively, +39.5% and +32% (with an increase of more than 3,000 in 2011 alone). In the Americas the situation is stationary (122,000 priests) while, over the last decade, Europe has seen a decrease of more than 9%.”

It is obvious that the stability of total Catholic percentage is mainly due to the fact that the huge growth in Africa and Asia is compensating for the losses in Europe. In 2003 there were 143 million Catholics in Africa. In 2012 this number rose to 199 million, a growth of almost 39% in a decade. The respective figures in Asia were 112 million and 135 million, indicating a 20% growth in this period.

There are very significant implications of these figures. It is obvious that Catholic Church is doing an overdrive for increasing the numbers in Asia and particularly in Africa. The increase of 3000 priests in one year mentioned in 2013 yearbook is an indication. Such conversion drive is creating tensions in the entire Africa. In March 2014, in Central African republic violence erupted between Christians and Muslims. The local news site reports

“The attacks that have killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands began with a coup one year ago. As Muslims seized power for the first time in this majority Christian nation last March, they brutally targeted Christians. In response, Christian militias rose up and targeted Muslims enclaves. Their assaults intensified after the country's first Muslim president, Michel Djotodia, resigned in January under pressure from regional leaders.

Shadowed by fear, tens of thousands of Muslims have fled the country. Entire Muslim neighbourhoods have emptied out, homes torched, bodies set afire in streets. As the exodus continues, more mixed families are likely to be shattered, U.N. officials and aid workers say.”

Perhaps the evangelical aspirations and peaceful co living are an antithesis, be it for Islam or Christianity.