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France has over 27,000 fewer parishes than in 1980
September 21, 2026
» Continue to this story on Vatican Press Office
CWN Editor's Note: The number of parishes in France plummeted from 38,391 in 1980 to 10,925 in 2024, according to statistics released by the Vatican ahead of the Pope’s apostolic journey to France.
The number of priests fell from 38,876 to 12,590; the number of religious sisters fell from 87,044 to 17,452; and the number of baptisms fell from 513,501 to 186,165. The number of marriages fell sharply from 217,479 to 40,678.
The decline in the number of major seminarians, from 1,278 to 1,075, was less stark. France’s Catholic population rose from 45,503,000 to 49,720,000 between 1980 to 2024, even as the Catholic share of the nation’s population declined, from 84.72% to 74.93%.
The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
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