Record number of people leaving the Roman Catholic Church

A total of 90,975 people turned their backs on it in 2022, according to the official church statistics published on Wednesday, which confirm the preliminary figures from January. At the end of 2022, there were 4,733,085 Catholics in the country, a decrease of 1.96 percent. Income from church contributions stagnated at just under 500 million euros.

As “Kathpress” reported, there was a slight increase in baptisms (45,706) and weddings (9,503). 4,771 people were readmitted or newly accepted into the Roman Catholic Church. The majority of dioceses’ income comes from church contributions. In 2022 it was 499.98 million euros (75 percent of total income), in 2021 the church contributions were 498.84 million euros.

The number of people leaving the church increased significantly in 2022 compared to previous years. In 2021, 72,222 people left the Catholic Church, in 2020 the figure was 58,727. The reason is believed to be the distance to the church, which has increased in recent years due to the pandemic. According to information from the dioceses, this trend was exacerbated last year by the tense overall economic situation.

The number of baptisms in 2022 was 45,706, a slight increase compared to 2021 (45,541). In 2020 there were only 32,521 due to corona. There were 9,503 weddings last year. In 2021 there were 6,674, in 2020 only 3,595. According to official church statistics, the number of priests working in Austria was 3,403 in 2022. The number has therefore decreased slightly compared to 2021 (3,425).

Attendance at church services increased in 2022: 309,000 and 366,000 church participants were counted on the two “counting Sundays”. That is significantly more than 2021 and 2020. However, due to the corona, the two years are considered exceptional years (2021: 52,000 and 281,000 trade fair visitors, in 2020 only the first counting Sunday in February was recorded with around 395,000 trade fair visitors). The pre-Corona numbers: In 2019, between 497,000 and 533,000 trade fair visitors were counted, in 2018 there were between 502,000 and 554,000. In comparison, the numbers for 2022 are significantly lower.

The Catholic Church in Austria publishes the numbers of Catholics, church statistics and the financial figures of the dioceses once a year. The date for publishing the figures was changed by the Bishops’ Conference and now always occurs around the start of school, as their media officer, Paul Wuthe, explained to “Kathpress”. In concrete terms, this means: While the preliminary Catholic numbers for 2022 as well as the detailed church statistics for 2021 and the financial figures for 2021 were published in January this year, the official church statistics – i.e. the numbers of Catholics and the information on church life and pastoral care – as well as the Financial figures presented for 2022. The announcement of provisional Catholic numbers in January 2024 is therefore no longer necessary; the church statistics and financial figures for 2023 will be published in September 2024.

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