Is the Catholic Church Growing?

Is the Catholic Church Growing, Shrinking, or Being Reborn?

For many of the faithful, the question of the Church’s health feels deeply personal. It is a question of hope. We hear conflicting stories: headlines in the West speak of empty pews, closed parishes, and a faith in decline, yet many of us see vibrant parishes, growing Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) classes, and a faith that feels more alive than ever.¹ So, what is the truth? Is the Catholic this ancient vessel of faith, growing or shrinking?

The answer is not a simple “yes” or “no.” Instead, the numbers and stories from around the world paint a picture of powerful transformation. The Church is not dying; it is being reborn. It is undergoing a monumental shift, a quiet but powerful migration of its demographic and spiritual heart from the old Christian lands of the Global North to the vibrant, growing communities of the Global South.² This is a story of pruning in some lands and of an astonishing harvest in others—a testament to the enduring work of the Holy Spirit across the globe.

Part I: The Global Picture – A Faith of 1.⁴ Billion Souls

To understand the state of the we must first look at the worldwide picture. While local experiences may vary, the universal view reveals a story of undeniable and historic growth, driven by incredible vitality in new heartlands of the faith.

What Do the Official Numbers Say About Global Growth?

The most authoritative data from the Vatican provides a clear and hopeful answer to the fundamental question. According to the Pontifical Yearbook 2025 و Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2023, the global Catholic population is growing. Between 2022 and 2023, the number of baptized Catholics increased by 1.15%, reaching a historic 1. ◎ المليار people.³

This is not a recent or isolated trend. It is the continuation of a century of explosive growth. In 1900, there were an estimated 267 million Catholics in the world. By 2010, that number had surged to nearly 1.¹ billion.² The Church has expanded more in the last century than at any other time in its 2,000-year history. To put the current growth in perspective, the 16 million new Catholics welcomed in 2020 alone is more than the entire Catholic population of Canada.²

But this top-line number, while encouraging, masks a much deeper and more major story. For a Catholic in Western Europe or parts of North America, the local experience may be one of consolidation and shrinking parishes.² The global statistics provide a crucial corrective to this localized view. The data reveals that the “universal” nature of the Catholic Church is becoming more geographically diverse and vibrant than ever before. The story is not one of simple growth of a historic geographic transformation. The question is not “Is the Church dying?” but rather, “Where is the Church being reborn?”

The following table provides a snapshot of this global reality, illustrating the dramatic differences in vitality across the five continents. It reveals the core narrative of the Church today: a story of dynamic growth in Africa and Asia, contrasted with the challenges in the historic Christian lands of Europe.

أين هو قلب الكنيسة الأقوى؟

The data clearly shows that the future of the Church is taking root and flourishing in the Global South. This is where the faith is young, vibrant, and expanding with incredible energy.

Africa: The New Heartland of Catholicism

Africa is, without question, the most dynamic and fastest-growing region for the Catholic Church in the world. The number of Catholics on the continent surged by a remarkable 3.31% between 2022 and 2023 alone.³ Africa is now home to 281 million Catholics, representing 20% of the entire Church.⁴ Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (with nearly 55 million Catholics) and Nigeria (35 million) are now among the largest Catholic nations on earth, with a faith that is deeply woven into the fabric of social life.³

Even more inspiring is the explosion in vocations. Africa is a true powerhouse of spiritual fruitfulness. It is the only continent showing sustained, major growth in the number of priests (+2.7%) and major seminarians (+1.1%).⁷ Today, Africa accounts for over 32% of all seminarians in the world, a powerful sign of hope and a gift to the universal Church.¹⁰

Asia: A Continent of Quiet but Powerful Growth

In Asia, where Catholics are often a small minority, the Church is demonstrating incredible resilience and strength. Although the overall growth rate of 0.6% is more modest, the continent’s massive population means it is a region of immense potential and importance for the future.³ Pope Francis has repeatedly signaled Asia’s significance through his travels and appointments, recognizing it as a key region for interreligious dialogue and future growth.¹²

The faith is particularly strong in Southeast Asia. The Philippines stands as the continent’s Catholic giant, with 93 million faithful, and possesses a remarkable missionary spirit, sending priests, religious, and lay missionaries to serve in parishes and communities across the globe.³ India is also home to a large and major Catholic community of 23 million people.⁴

Why is the Faith Flourishing in the Global South?

The explosive growth in Africa and Asia is not an accident. It is the fruit of a faith that speaks to the deepest needs of the human heart and builds communities of hope and love. Several key factors are driving this renewal.

Inculturation: A Faith That Feels Like Home

A primary reason for the Church’s success is the principle of inculturation. This is the beautiful process of allowing the universal truths of the Gospel to be expressed through the unique genius of local cultures—their languages, music, art, and traditions.¹⁴ Instead of being a foreign import, the faith becomes deeply rooted and feels authentic to the people.² This approach, which seeks to find the “seeds of the Word” already present in every culture, stands in stark contrast to older, colonial-era methods and allows the faith to be truly lived from the heart.¹⁶

The Church as a Lifeline

In many parts of Africa and Asia, the Catholic Church is a fundamental pillar of society, providing essential services that governments often cannot. The Church runs thousands of hospitals, clinics, orphanages, and schools, caring for the sick, educating the young, and serving the poor.¹⁸ In the Philippines, Catholic universities are among the most respected institutions in the country, and the Church has played a vital role in promoting public health.²¹ This tangible, life-giving witness to the love of Christ is a powerful form of evangelization that draws people to the faith.²³

A Faith of Deep Meaning and Strong Community

In societies often marked by poverty, political instability, and social challenges, the Church offers a powerful message of hope, a clear moral compass, and the gift of a strong, supportive community.²³ This stands in contrast to the spiritual landscape of the West, where, as some analysts suggest, affluence, busyness, and radical individualism can lead to a sense of spiritual emptiness.⁶ The faith provides answers to life’s ultimate questions and a community where people feel they belong.

This spiritual power is evident in the countless personal stories of conversion. In Nigeria, documentaries highlight a great resurgence, with millions embracing the Catholic faith through spiritual revival and powerful community outreach.²⁵ One of the most moving accounts comes from 1980s Rwanda, where a 15-year-old pagan boy named Segatashya, who had never even heard of Christianity, received a vision of Jesus Christ. He was sent on a mission to proclaim the Gospel, becoming a powerful preacher and a sign of God’s desire to reach every soul, no matter how distant.²⁷ These stories are the human face of the statistics, showing a faith that is alive, personal, and transformative.

Part II: The Western Challenge – A Story of Pruning and Planting

Although the Church celebrates incredible growth in the Global South, it faces powerful challenges in its historic heartlands of Europe and North America. To look at this reality with eyes of faith is not to see death a necessary pruning—a stripping away of cultural habit to make way for a more intentional, and perhaps more authentic, faith to grow.

What is the Reality for the Church in Europe and North America?

The story in the West is complex and often painful. It is one of numerical decline, demographic shifts, and a struggle against powerful cultural currents.

Europe: The Stagnant Heart

Europe is officially described in Vatican reports as the “least dynamic area” for the Church.³ Although the total number of Catholics has remained relatively stable, this is largely due to immigration. The continent is the only one to experience periods of net loss in its Catholic population and to see consistent, large-scale declines in the number of priests, seminarians, and religious sisters.²⁸

This is the reality of a post-Christian continent where secularization is deeply advanced. In Germany, hundreds of churches have closed since 2000, and the nation sees hundreds of thousands of people formally leave the Church each year.³¹ In Italy, the very heart of Catholicism, civil weddings now outnumber Catholic ceremonies, a clear sign of the faith’s waning cultural influence.³³

The United States: A Story of Stability Masking Turmoil

At first glance, the situation in the United States appears more stable. The percentage of American adults who identify as Catholic has held steady at around 19-21% since 2014.³⁴ But this stability hides a dramatic and unsettling internal turmoil.

The reality is one of massive demographic replacement. The Church is experiencing what one report calls its “greatest net losses” from religious switching, with white Catholics leaving the faith at a high rate.³⁶ The overall numbers are being held up almost entirely by the vibrant faith and high birth rates of Hispanic immigrants.⁶ For every one person who converts to Catholicism in the U.S., more than eight people who were raised Catholic leave the faith.³⁶

This demographic churn is also redrawing the map of American Catholicism. The Church’s population is shifting away from its traditional strongholds in the Northeast and Midwest and moving toward the South and West, following the growth of the Hispanic community.⁶

This data points to a single, urgent mission that will define the future of the American Church. Its long-term health is not guaranteed by demographics; it hinges on its pastoral ability to make the faith compelling for the children and grandchildren of today’s immigrants. Pew Research has found that Although Immigration bolsters the Church’s numbers, second and third-generation Hispanics are leaving the faith, either for secularism or for the more vibrant worship styles of Evangelical and Pentecostal churches that actively minister in their neighborhoods.⁶ This presents the U.S. Church with a powerful spiritual and pastoral challenge: it must undergo a conversion of its own to better meet the spiritual needs of this growing community, or the current stability will inevitably give way to a steep decline.

The following table uses data from the Pew Research Center to show how the face of U.S. Catholicism has already been transformed in the 21st century.

Why Are Many Drifting from the Church in the West?

Understanding why so many have drifted from the faith in Europe and North America requires both honesty and compassion. The reasons are complex, touching on a crisis of trust, a disconnect with Church teaching, and the powerful allure of a secular world.

A Crisis of Trust and Belief

There is no denying the deep and lasting wound caused by the clergy sexual abuse crisis. For many, this tragedy shattered their trust in the Church’s leadership and moral authority.⁶ Alongside this, many Western Catholics find themselves at odds with Church teachings on issues such as birth control, the role of women in the and human sexuality, creating a painful distance between their lived experience and the faith they were taught.⁶

The Challenge of a Secular World

The Church in the West is also contending with powerful cultural forces. Sociological analyses and pastoral reflections point to “affluence and busyness” as agents of secularization.⁶ In a culture that prizes material success, autonomy, and comfort, the Gospel’s call to embrace the Cross, to live in obedience, and to serve the poor can feel like a foreign language.⁶ The historical legacy of the Enlightenment, which emphasized human reason over divine revelation, and the rise of the modern secular state have gradually moved religion from the center of public life to the private margins.³¹

A Failure to Connect

Perhaps most painfully, many who leave simply feel their spiritual needs are not being met.⁶ In online forums, former Catholics speak with sadness about their experience. They describe “boring sermons,” a lack of vibrant youth ministry, and a feeling that the Church was not providing the moral guidance and deep sense of community they craved in a confusing world.¹ This sense of spiritual hunger is a powerful call for the Church to examine how it proclaims the Gospel and builds its communities.

Part III: The Path Forward – A Church in Mission

In the face of these global shifts and challenges, the Church’s response is not one of fear or retreat. Guided by the Holy Spirit, recent popes have called the Church away from a mindset of self-preservation and into a new era of missionary dynamism. This is the path forward, a vision that connects the global trends to the personal call of every believer.

What is the Church’s Official Stance and Spiritual Response?

The Church’s official stance is not to lament the decline in the West or simply celebrate the growth in the South to see this entire moment as a call to a “New Evangelization.” This term, used by popes from St. Paul VI to Francis, is a summons to proclaim the Gospel with a new “ardor, methods, and expression,” especially in the traditionally Christian lands that have grown cold in their faith.⁴³

The Foundation: Evangelii Nuntiandi

The foundational document for this new era is St. Paul VI’s 1975 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World). Its message is as urgent today as it was then. Pope Paul VI taught that the Church’s deepest identity, her very reason for being, is to evangelize.⁴⁶ He famously wrote that “modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses”.⁴⁶ This timeless truth reminds us that the answer to the challenges we face is not a better program or a more clever argument a more authentic and joyful life of faith lived in witness to the love of Christ.

The Blueprint: Evangelii Gaudium

Building on this foundation, Pope Francis provided the blueprint for a missionary Church in his 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The central message is that evangelization flows from joy.⁴⁸ He calls the entire Church to embrace a “missionary option,” urging every parish, diocese, and institution to move beyond maintenance and focus on outreach.⁴⁹

A cornerstone of this vision is the Church’s “preferential option for the poor”.⁵⁰ For Pope Francis, proclaiming the Gospel is inseparable from concrete acts of love, mercy, and justice for the poor and marginalized.⁴⁹ This vision of a “poor Church for the poor” is not just a social program; it is a powerful theological reality that connects the heart of the Gospel directly to the lived experience of the majority of the world’s Catholics, who now reside in the Global South.

What Does This Great Shift Mean for the Future of Our Faith?

This great demographic and spiritual shift is reshaping the Church before our eyes. It is a moment filled with both promise and challenge, guided by the mysterious hand of Providence.

The Peripheries Become the Center

The demographic data confirms a powerful theological truth: the Church is truly becoming universal. The “peripheries” of the world are becoming the new center of Catholic life and energy. The future of Church leadership, theological reflection, and cultural expression will be increasingly shaped by the vibrant, orthodox, and Spirit-filled faith of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.² This is not a loss of the Church’s identity a beautiful fulfillment of its mission to “make disciples of all nations.”

A “Leaner, More Faithful” Church in the West?

For the West, the current pruning may be a painful but necessary purification. Many, including Pope Benedict XVI before his election, have prophesied that the Church in historically Christian lands may become smaller, a “creative minority”.⁵⁴ The decline of “cultural Catholicism,” where one is Catholic by habit or social convention, means that those who remain are increasingly there by a conscious, courageous, and free decision. This can lead to a “leaner but more faithful” a community of intentional disciples whose witness shines more brightly in a secular world.⁵⁴

Challenges of a Truly Global Church

This new global reality is not without its tensions. The vibrant and often more traditional faith of the Global South can sometimes come into conflict with the more questioning and liberal tendencies in the West. This has been evident in recent debates on moral and pastoral issues, where African bishops, for example, have become a powerful voice for upholding traditional Church teaching.⁵² Learning to walk together in unity, while respecting authentic cultural differences, will be one of the great challenges and opportunities for the Church in the 21st century.⁵³

Conclusion: Where Do We Find Our Hope?

The story of the Catholic Church today is not one of simple growth or decline. It is a far more wondrous and complex story of a faith that is shifting, moving, and being reborn in unexpected places. The numbers show a Church that is very much alive, now counting over 1.⁴ billion souls and growing every year. The challenges in the West are real and call for a deep examination of conscience they are a call to conversion, not to despair. The explosive growth and fervent faith of the Global South are an incredible gift to the entire a new wellspring of vocations, joy, and missionary zeal.

The story of the Catholic Church is not found in statistics in faith. It is the story of the Holy Spirit, who continues to breathe life into the Body of Christ, working in powerful and surprising ways, from the overflowing parishes of Kinshasa and Manila to the small, faithful community praying in a quiet American town. Our hope is not in numbers in the promise of Jesus Christ: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The path forward is the path of mission. It is a call for each of us, in our own time and place, to rediscover the joy of the Gospel and to become the authentic, love-filled witnesses that our world so desperately needs.⁴⁶

Bibliography:

1. Is our faith growing or shrinking? : r/Catholicism – Reddit, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/1hn1h7j/is_our_faith_growing_or_shrinking/
2. Global Christianity: the Future of the Catholic Church – USC Dornsife, accessed June 30, 2025, https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/2022/04/30/global-christianity/
3. New Church statistics reveal growing Catholic population, fewer pastoral workers, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-03/pontifical-yearbook-2025-priests-religious-statistics.html
4. Worldwide Catholic population hits 1.4 billion, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262883/worldwide-catholic-population-hits-14-billion
5. The Global Catholic Population – Pew Research Center, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/
6. Growth and decline in the US Catholic Church, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-voices/growth-and-decline-us-catholic-church
7. 1 New Church statistics reveal growing Catholic population, fewer pastoral workers. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/n – Killaloe Diocese, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.killaloediocese.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Latest-Church-Statistics.pdf
8. Catholic growth in Asia amid declining pastoral workers, reports Vatican Statistics | RVA, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.rvasia.org/world-news/catholic-growth-asia-amid-declining-pastoral-workers-reports-vatican-statistics
9. The Nuanced Growth of Catholicism | FSSPX News, accessed June 30, 2025, https://fsspx.news/en/news/nuanced-growth-catholicism-51786
10. تشير أحدث إحصاءات الكنيسة الرسمية إلى النمو السكاني للكاثوليك بشكل عام ، ولكن الانخفاض في الكهنة والإكليريكيين والدعوات الدينية - CatholicVote org ، تم الوصول إليه في 30 يونيو 2025 ، https://catholicvote.org/overall-catholic-population-growth-decline-priests-seminarians-religious-vocations/
11. Catholics are still growing in Asia, but priestly vocations decline …, accessed June 30, 2025, https://zenit.org/2025/03/24/catholics-are-still-growing-in-asia-but-priestly-vocations-decline-further/
12. Southeast Asia Represents The Future Growth Region Of Catholicism – Analysis, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.eurasiareview.com/29082024-southeast-asia-represents-the-future-growth-region-of-catholicism-analysis/
13. Catholic Is Dominating Southeast Asia: You Won’t Believe the …, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlAJk3364cc&vl=es-US
14. Catholic Church Growth in Independent Africa – Chapter 35 – Creighton University, accessed June 30, 2025, https://researchworks.creighton.edu/esploro/outputs/bookChapter/Catholic-Church-Growth-in-Independent-Africa/991006078372302656
15. The Inculturation of the Asante Culture into Catholicism, Peter Kwasi Sarpong’s Perspective – Noyam Journals, accessed June 30, 2025, https://noyam.org/?sdm_process_download=1&download_id=11058
16. Inculturation and the Christian faith in Africa – International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, accessed June 30, 2025, http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_17_September_2012/25.pdf
17. INCULTURATION – OMI World, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/inculturation/
18. Catholic Church Statistics 2024 – Omnes, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.omnesmag.com/en/news/church-statistics-2024/
19. Are African Churches Really Driving Social and Economic Change?, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.africanleadershipmagazine.co.uk/are-african-churches-really-driving-social-and-economic-change/
20. Catholic Church and health care – Wikipedia, accessed June 30, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_health_care
21. Catholic Church in the Philippines – Wikipedia, accessed June 30, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_the_Philippines
22. In the service of the Filipino: the role of Catholic higher education institutions in promoting COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines – PMC, accessed June 30, 2025, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7989298/
23. Catholic Church Growth in Independent Africa – ResearchGate, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378812270_Catholic_Church_Growth_in_Independent_Africa
24. Religion in the Philippines – Asia Society, accessed June 30, 2025, https://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines
25. Millions of people are converting to Catholicism in Nigeria – YouTube, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Pjm0PPF6M
26. Millions of People are Converting to Catholicism in Nigeria | Catholic Documentary, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKdqMIACRuE
27. True Story of a Pagan Boy in Africa Who Was Converted Directly by Jesus and Sent to Proclaim The Gospel : r/Catholicism – Reddit, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/1h7ro62/true_story_of_a_pagan_boy_in_africa_who_was/
28. vatican – catholic church statistics 2024 – Agenzia Fides, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.fides.org/en/stats
29. Fides News Agency – Latest news, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/tags/11459/fides-news-agency
30. Vatican statistics show decline in baptisms, clergy, religious, worldwide, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican-statistics-show-decline-baptisms-clergy-religious-worldwide
31. Decline of Christianity in the Western world – Wikipedia, accessed June 30, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Christianity_in_the_Western_world
32. Mostly true: “Catholic Church loses members – Europe-wide” – eufactcheck.eu, accessed June 30, 2025, https://eufactcheck.eu/factcheck/mostly-true-catholic-church-loses-members-europe-wide/
33. Explained: Is church attendance falling in Europe? | News Analysis | Premier Christianity, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.premierchristianity.com/news-analysis/explained-is-church-attendance-falling-in-europe/15869.article
34. 10 facts about U.S. Catholics | Pew Research Center, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/04/10-facts-about-us-catholics/
35. US Christian Decline May Be Stabilizing: 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) | Pew Research Center, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/
36. Pew: U.S. Christianity downturn leveling, but Catholics suffer ‘greatest net losses’, accessed June 30, 2025, https://catholicreview.org/pew-u-s-christianity-downturn-leveling-but-catholics-suffer-greatest-net-losses/
37. Pew data profiles demographics, beliefs, and practices of U.S. Catholics, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263163/pew-data-profiles-demographics-beliefs-and-practices-of-us-catholics
38. US Catholics’ views of their local parish priests, atmosphere & community | Pew Research Center, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/16/catholic-parish-life-culture-and-community/
39. Catholics | Religious Landscape Study | Pew Research Center, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/religious-tradition/catholic/
40. Is the Catholic Faith Fading in Europe? What’s the Real Story? : r/Catholicism – Reddit, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/1es0pj1/is_the_catholic_faith_fading_in_europe_whats_the/
41. The Decline of the Church in Europe – Community in Mission, accessed June 30, 2025, http://blog.adw.org/2019/09/decline-church-europe/
42. Christianity Is Dying in Europe: A Deep Dive into Religion’s Collapse, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.ryanjhite.com/2025/05/25/christianity-is-dying-in-europe/
43. Key documents about the New Evangelisation – sycamore.fm, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.sycamore.fm/training/evangelisation-resources/key-documents-about-the-new-evangelisation/
44. Church Documents on Evangelization | Diocese of Raleigh, accessed June 30, 2025, https://dioceseofraleigh.org/faith-formation/church-documents-evangelization
45. Spiritual Growth and Evangelization in the Second Vatican Council, accessed June 30, 2025, https://fromtheabbey.com/spiritual-growth-evangelization-vatican-council/
46. Saint Paul VI | Loyola Press, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/scripture-and-tradition/church-leadership/pope-paul-vi/
47. Summary of Evangelii Nuntiandi by Pope Paul VI – Prodigal Catholic, accessed June 30, 2025, https://prodigalcatholic.com/2021/11/17/summary-of-evangelii-nuntiandi-by-pope-paul-vi/
48. “Evangelii Gaudium”: Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World (24 November 2013) | Francis – The Holy See, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html
49. A Summary of “Evangelii Gaudium: Joy of the Gospel” – FOCUS, accessed June 30, 2025, https://focus.org/posts/a-summary-of-evangelii-gaudium-joy-of-the-gospel/
50. focus.org, accessed June 30, 2025, https://focus.org/posts/a-summary-of-evangelii-gaudium-joy-of-the-gospel/#:~:text=A%20major%20focus%20of%20Evangelii,of%20people%2C%20especially%20the%20marginalized.
51. Today’s evangelization challenges – secularservites, accessed June 30, 2025, https://secularservites.org/todays-evangelization-challenges
52. Same-Sex Blessings Controversy: Catholic Church in Africa’s Influence is Growing but is Vatican Leadership Ready for It?, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.ncregister.com/news/same-sex-blessings-and-the-catholic-church-in-africa
53. The Church and the Global South: Prospects of Catholicism in the post-Franciscan era, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.maastrichtdiplomat.org/post/the-church-and-the-global-south-prospects-of-catholicism-in-the-post-franciscan-era
54. Catholics, what do you think the Catholic church will look like in 25 to 50 years? – Reddit, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/1dnqorb/catholics_what_do_you_think_the_catholic_church/
55. the global south, christianity, and secularization: insider and outsider perspectives – UC Berkeley History Department, accessed June 30, 2025, https://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/stanley-mih_hollinger.pdf
56. The ‘new evangelization’ has problems, but a synodal approach can help, accessed June 30, 2025, https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/new-evangelization-has-problems-synodal-approach-can-help