Vatican Press Office releases statistics on decline of Catholicism in France

The Vatican Press Office released historical statistics on September 18 showing a significant decline in Catholic institutions and clergy in France between 1980 and 2024. Matteo Bruni presented the data during a briefing ahead of Pope Leo XIV's upcoming apostolic journey to the country.

The data shows that the number of parishes in France fell from 38,391 in 1980 to 10,925 in 2024. Total priests decreased from 38,876 to 12,590 during this period. The number of religious sisters also dropped from 87,044 to 17,452.

While the total Catholic population grew from 45,503,000 to 49,720,000, the Catholic share of the national population fell from 84.72% to 74.93%. Other notable declines include baptisms, which fell from 513,501 to 186,165, and marriages, which dropped from 217,479 to 40,678. In contrast, the number of major seminarians saw a smaller decrease, moving from 1,278 to 1,075.