According to 2021 figures released by the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae, the statistics office of the Holy See, the total number of Catholics in Asia is 149.1 million, or 3.31% of the region, which has an estimated population of 4.5 billion people. However, out of the total number of religious sisters across the globe, 175,494, or 28.9%, live in Asia, and there was a 1% growth in the number of priests from 2019 figures.
The increase in the Catholic population in Asia and its growing importance on the global stage has also been reflected in Pope Francis’ decision to expand representation to Asian countries in the College of Cardinals.
Currently, out of the 129 cardinal electors — cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote in a future conclave — 22 come from Asia, giving the region the second-largest representation in the sacred body.
In the Aug. 27, 2022, consistory in which Ferrão received the red biretta, Mongolia, East Timor, Singapore, and South Korea all gained new cardinal electors. All four of the aforementioned countries are represented in the FABC. Pope Francis made history as the first pontiff to visit the landlocked country of Mongolia in 2023.
During the last several years of Pope Francis’ pontificate, there has also been renewed diplomatic activity in the region, evidenced by the 2023 agreement between the Holy See and Vietnam that allowed for permanent resident papal representatives in the country. That increased activity has also been evidenced in the recent flurry of episcopal appointments in the People’s Republic of China, in accordance with the provisions of the Sino-Vatican Accord, which is up for renewal in October.
However, the Church in Asia is not without its problems, ranging from concerns over deteriorating religious freedom in Hong Kong to a fierce internal divide in the Syro-Malabar Church over the proper orientation of the celebrant during the Mass, a debate that prompted a papal intervention and ultimatum in December 2023.
