New statistic released by the Vatican on Thursday show that Africa continues to position itself as the future axis of Catholicism, with the number of baptized Catholics on the continent growing at a significantly faster rate than anywhere else in the world.

...Growth varies radically from one continent to another. While in Africa the Catholic population grew by 19,4 percent, it’s remained stable in Europe. If anything, it’s decreasing in the so-called “Old Continent,” where the birth rate is low and population is projected to decrease in upcoming years, with more people dying than being born in several countries.

...Globally, there were 136 fewer priests in 2015 than the year before. However, expanding the date range from 2010 to 2015 and drilling deeper, it becomes evident that the variation is, once again, striking from one continent to another: While Europe lost 2,502 priests, Africa and Asia gained over 1,000 each.

The number of priestly vocations is also decreasing, going from 99.5 seminarians for every one million Catholics in 2010, to 90.9 two years ago. Once again, it changes from one continent to the other, with Africa having a surplus while there’s a decrease in Europe and in the Middle East.