Catholic countries
Thanks to the World Values Survey and to Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate for providing the following information.
The current Top Ten list of the world’s largest Catholic countries, that is to say, the number of baptized Catholics in those places.
- 1) Brazil (120 million)
- 2) Mexico (90 million)
- 3) Philippines (80 million)
- 4) United States (67 million)
- 5) Italy (47 million)
- 6) Democratic Republic of Congo (45 million)
- 7) Colombia (35 million)
- 8) Poland (33 million)
- 9) France (32 million)
- 10) Spain (30 million)
Overall, that’s three nations out of Latin America (including Mexico), one in North America, one each for Africa and Asia, and four in Europe.
The World Values Survey (WVS) focused on “practicing” Catholics, meaning those who go to Mass at least once a week.
Top Ten list for countries with the most practicing Catholics.
- 1) Philippines (47 million)
- 2) Mexico (45 million)
- 3) Democratic Republic of Congo (37.5 million)
- 4) Nigeria (30.5 million)
- 5) Uganda (28.4 million)
- 6) Colombia (20.5 million)
- 7) Poland (17.2 million)
- 8) Tanzania (17.1 million)
- 9) Angola (16.7 million)
- 10) Italy (13.6 million)
There are five sub-Saharan African nations in the top ten, with one from Asia, two from Latin America (again including Mexico) and two from Europe. Brazil disappears altogether, with a Mass attendance rate of just 8 percent, as does the United States, where the in-person Mass attendance rate of 17 percent translates into 11.4 million practicing Catholics.
Catholicism today is largely an African enterprise. Given trends in both population growth and also Mass attendance.
This is not just an Africa story. It’s a Catholic story, because no matter where you live, if you belong to the Catholic Church, Africans increasingly will be setting the tone based on the simple fact that they’re the ones who show up.