CNA Staff, Jan 14, 2021 / 04:00 am
Fewer people left the Catholic Church in Austria in 2020 than in the previous year, according to official figures released on Wednesday.
New statistics, published on Jan. 13, showed that 58,535 people formally left the Church in 2020, compared to 67,794 in 2019 -- a drop of 13.7%.
All Austrian dioceses recorded a decline in the number of people leaving, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, defying expectations in a year dominated by the coronavirus crisis.
Overall, the number of Catholics in Austria fell by around 1.5%, from 4.98 million in 2019 to 4.91 million in 2020.