The Catholic Church in the Philippines registered more than 1.6 million baptisms in 2020, the highest number in the world.
The figures come from the 2022 edition of the Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook) and the 2020 Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (Statistical Yearbook of the Church), compiled by the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics.
The yearbook also gives detailed figures about the Church’s workforce, sacramental life, dioceses and parishes.
Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles John Brown noted this was a higher number compared to those baptised in Mexico (1,537,710), Brazil (1,126,152) and in Europe (1,533,666).
Brown lauded the latest figures which he said showed how the country continues to be one of the bastions of Christianity worldwide, five centuries after it was introduced to the faith.
“I am glad to share that the Philippines has the highest number of baptisms in 2020 compared to other places in the world. A living testament of faith in the 500 years of Catholicism in the country,” Brown said in an interview with Church-run Radio Veritas on Sunday.
In 2019, the Philippines also topped the list of Catholic baptisms around the world.
The Philippines ranks third in the world for the overall number of baptised Catholics, including children and adults. The country has 89 million, ranking behind only Brazil (177 million) and Mexico (115 million).
Overall, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.36 billion, an increase of 16 million over the previous year. The rise was in line with global population growth in the year that the coronavirus pandemic swept the planet, according to Vatican News.
Catholics accounted for 17.7 percent of the world population in 2020, the same as the previous year. Still, their numbers grew in Africa by about 2.1 percent and in Asia by 1.8 percent. In Europe, the increase was just 0.3 percent.
Almost half (48%) of the world’s Catholics live in the Americas, with 28% located in South America.