The number of Catholics around the world has topped the 1.4 billion mark, according to the latest research from the Vatican.The global Catholic population increased by 1.15 per cent between 2022 and 2023, rising from approximately 1.39 billion to 1.406 billion, according to the Pontifical Yearbook 2025, which was compiled by the Central Office of Church Statistics, a department of the Vatican's Secretariat of State.

https://thecatholicherald.com/article/global-catholic-population-passes-1-4-billion

Africa remains the fastest-growing Catholic region, accounting for 20% of the global total and increasing by 3.31% to 281 million faithful, led by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. The Americas continue to host the largest share at 47.8% of the world’s Catholics, with Brazil alone representing 13%, while several countries in the region record Catholic affiliation above 90%. Asia accounts for about 11% of the global Catholic population, with steady growth. Europe shows minimal increase despite a high Catholic presence, and Oceania’s Catholic population surpassed 11 million in 2023.

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Increases in the number of people joining the Catholic Church

Adult conversions are soaring. Some dioceses have even seen record-high numbers of unbaptized people becoming Catholic.

“We’ve seen this great rise over the last couple of years, and it’s really intriguing. It’s really joyful,” said Jon Marc Grodi, executive director of The Coming Home Network and host of EWTN’s “The Journey Home,” in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly.” The organization’s mission is “to help non-Catholic Christians, clergy and laity, discover the truth and beauty of Catholicism and to make the journey home to full communion with the Catholic Church.” It is seeing “a huge increase” in the number of people joining the Church “across the board. Here at The Coming Home Network … we’re working in

particular with people who are on that journey, who are asking questions, who are looking for help,” Grodi said. “And over the past years, we saw a 50% increase in the number of Protestant pastors who reached out to us for help in becoming Catholic.”

Draw to the faith

It’s a “pretty wide demographic” of those joining the Catholic Church, as it “is not just a local phenomenon,” Grodi said. “This is true around the U.S. and around the world.” “I think 20 to 30 years ago, we were seeing a lot of relatively older, more well-educated, more doctrinally interested people. Nowadays, I think we’re seeing a much wider demographic interest in the Catholic Church for all sorts of reasons. There are also “a lot of people who were brought up or who were born Catholic coming back to the Church,” he said.

“Oftentimes, with people who were brought up Catholic and leave, it’s hard to bring them back because they think that they already get it, they already know what Catholicism is,” Grodi said. But, “there’s a renewed visibility of Catholic identity that is drawing people back home who were brought up Catholic.”

Grodi said the reasons are “all over the place” as to why so many are converting to the Catholic faith, but noted, “there’s a great desire for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.”

“We have an increase in noise in the world, and people are looking for a solid foundation, a place to go where they can have a right relationship to truth, and to seek the truth. I think also there have been things that have broken down barriers for people considering the Catholic Church,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV may be helping to inspire people with “his very visible, clear witness to Catholic identity, as well as a lot of notable public conversions that I think have broken down the walls for some people to consider Catholicism,” he said.

“When it gets down to the individual person, though, I think so many people are looking for the sacraments. They’re looking for these great gifts from God of his presence, where he promises to show up and be with us in the midst of all the noise,” Grodi said.

“The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit with Scripture, tradition, and the magisterial teaching authority of the Church, gives people a place to come, bring their questions, and seek answers and trust that there’s been 2,000 years of this tradition of seeking truth,” Grodi said。

https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/catholic-church-sees-increase-in-conversions Article by Tessa Gervasini·

At St. Ignatius Church, a noticeable trend has emerged. Since 2018, I have had the opportunity to accompany English-speaking foreigners and some Japanese individuals interested in learning more about the Catholic Church, with the aim of conversion. In the past years, only two or three people would attend the OCIA Course (Order of Catholic Initiation for Adults), but last year, that number tripled. These participants come from various continents, and 95 percent of them, after a year of study and exposure to the Church, request the Sacraments of Initiation, which include Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation. Remarkably, this year, even before the announcement of the course’s opening, nine individuals, all “walk-ins,” have already expressed the desire to join. (Sr. Flor Florece, F.I.)