Catholic Church grows to 347 million in mission territories

The number of Catholics in mission territories has grown from fewer than 10 million to approximately 347 million over the last century, according to data from the Pontifical Mission Society of Spain. This growth follows the establishment of World Mission Sunday by Pope Pius XI 100 years ago.

Data from the website Domund100.es shows that in 1925, mission lands contained 9,645,173 Catholics, representing 1.68% of the population. Today, the 346,644,968 Catholics in these regions make up 8.6% of the population. The number of parishes has increased from 627 to more than 41,000 during this period.

The missionary workforce has also expanded significantly. While there were fewer than 10,000 priests, 2,300 male religious, and 20,000 female religious a century ago, there are now more than 100,000 priests, 76,000 male religious, and 200,000 female religious in mission territories. Over the last 100 years, the Church has averaged more than 9,000 new Catholics, two priestly ordinations, and five women taking religious vows each day.

Social and educational institutions have also grown. In the last 50 years, the number of Church schools rose from fewer than 50,000 to nearly 125,000, while social institutions increased from 12,000 to more.