ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Service via Crux
March 26, 2020
By Junno Arocho Esteves
The decrease in the number of religious brothers and of women in religious orders is “worrying,” according to the Vatican statistics office.
While the number of religious brothers in Africa and Asia continues to increase, the number of religious brothers worldwide experienced an 8 percent drop between 2013 and 2018, while the number of women religious fell 7.5 percent globally in the same period, the Vatican Central Office for Church Statistics reported.
However, the number of baptized Catholics increased by 6 percent between 2013 and 2018, reaching 1.33 billion or almost 18 percent of the global population, the statistics office reported March 25.
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