Vatican Statistics

The Latest

St. Peter’s Basilica seen through a bubble on Dec. 3, 2019.

Vatican: Number of Catholics worldwide rose by 16 million in 2020

Feb 11, 2022

By CNA Staff

The Church grew most rapidly in Asia and Africa. Read more

Catholics attend Mass in Ho, Ghana.

Number of Catholics in Asia and Africa continues to rise

Oct 21, 2021

By Hannah Brockhaus

The Catholic Church grew by 15 million people worldwide in 2019. Read more

St. Peter’s Basilica seen through a bubble on Dec. 3, 2019.

World Mission Sunday: number of Catholics continues to rise worldwide

Oct 16, 2020

The number of Catholics worldwide increased by almost 16 million in a year to 1.33 billion, according to statistics highlighted... Read more

CNA

Vatican stats show continued growth in Africa, Asia

May 13, 2013

Vatican statistics released today show that the number of Asian and African Catholics is continuing its upward trajectory, while the... Read more

Latest news

Pope Francis shakes hands with film director Martin Scorsese and his wife Helen Morris. One day after suffering from a fever, Pope Francis resumed his normal activities, including meeting with participants in a conference on “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination,” organized by Jesuit magazine “La Civiltà Cattolica” and Georgetown University, in the Apostolic Palace on May 27, 2023.

Pope Francis resumes normal schedule one day after fever

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov's Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene (1835)

Here’s when Easter officially ends

null

CNA freelancer recounts ‘horrifying experience’ of witnessing Nigeria firefight

The Vatican on April 2, 2022, announced that Pope Francis had appointed Father Earl K. Fernandes to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio.

Columbus Diocese to close 15 churches; bishop calls for stronger Catholic engagement

Photos of the man who allegedly set a fire at St. Mary's Cathedral and charged at two staff members on May 19, 2023.

Canadian police ask for public’s help in identifying man who set fire at cathedral 

A young man touches a religious statue to the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, on May 18, 2023, at the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles monastery in Gower, Missouri.

Morticians mystified by Sister Wilhelmina’s body: ‘Something special going on there’

A statue of St. Junipero Serra, which was defaced and torn down by protesters Oct. 12, 2020, at Mission San Rafael Arcangel in San Rafael, California. Courtesy photo.

Cordileone on Serra statue case: Prosecutor signaled attacks against Catholics go unpunished

Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo.

Unsolved murder of Cardinal Posadas is ‘an open wound,’ Mexican bishops say

A tabernacle was desecrated May 24, 2023, at St. Ann Parish in the town of Nindirí in Nicaragua.

Ciborium stolen and Eucharist desecrated in chapel in Nicaragua

Bishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva succeeds Cardinal Mario Poli as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Pope Francis appoints ‘bishop of the peripheries’ as successor in Buenos Aires

Liturgical Calendar Show this year
May 27
St. Augustine of Canterbury
Today's readings

Trending

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov's Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene (1835)

Here’s when Easter officially ends

Pope Francis shakes hands with film director Martin Scorsese and his wife Helen Morris. One day after suffering from a fever, Pope Francis resumed his normal activities, including meeting with participants in a conference on “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination,” organized by Jesuit magazine “La Civiltà Cattolica” and Georgetown University, in the Apostolic Palace on May 27, 2023.

Pope Francis resumes normal schedule one day after fever