Statistics of the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in South Sudan as of 31 December 2021 (from the Central Office for Church Statistics)

Statistics of the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in South Sudan as of 31 December 2021 (from the Central Office for Church Statistics), 24.01.2023

Table 1 – Population and ecclesiastical structure

Table 2 – People engaged in activities of the apostolate

Table 3 – Indicators of pastoral workload

Table 4 – Priestly vocations

Table 5 – Educational centres owned / managed by ecclesiastics or religious

Table 6 – Charitable and social centres owned / managed by ecclesiastics or religious

The following are some statistical data relating to the situation of the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in South Sudan as of 31 December 2021:

Table 1 – Population and ecclesiastical structure

	Dem. Rep. Congo	South Sudan
Area (km²)	2,344,858	654,460
Population (in thousands)	105,247	13,794
Density (inhabitants/km²)	45	21
Catholics (in thousands)	52,166	7,225
Catholics per 100 inhabitants	49.6	52.4
Ecclesiastical circumscriptions	48	7
Parishes	1,637	124
Other pastoral centres	8,694	781
Catholics per pastoral centre	5,050	7,983

Table 2 – People engaged in activities of the apostolate

	Dem. Rep. Congo	South Sudan
Bishops¹	62	10
Diocesan priests	4,216	185
Religious priests	1,946	115
Total priests	6,162	300
Permanent deacons	4	7
Men religious (other than priests)	1,317	35
Professed women religious	10,525	218
Members of secular Institutes	124	3
Lay missionaries	237	6
Catechists	76,794	3,756

[1] Situation on 30.11.2022

Table 3 – Indicators of pastoral workload

	Dem. Rep. Congo	South Sudan
Catholics per priest	8,466	24,083
Catholics per pastoral worker	616	1,667
Priests per pastoral centre	0.60	0.33
Priests per 100 people engaged in activities of the apostolate	7.35	7.15

Table 4 – Priestly vocations

	Dem. Rep. Congo	South Sudan
Minor seminarians	5,615	313
Major seminarians	4,123	189
Major seminarians per 100,000 inhabitants	3.92	1.37
Major seminarians per 100,000 Catholics	7.90	2.62
Major seminarians per 100 priests	66.91	60.97

Table 5 – Educational centres owned / managed by ecclesiastics or religious

	Dem. Rep. Congo	South Sudan
Schools:
Pre-school and primary	13,140	202
Lower middle and secondary	5,405	33
Higher and university	126	7

Students in:
Pre-school and primary schools	5,643,772	83,098
Lower middle and secondary schools	1,760,510	10,950
Higher and university institutes	100,742	2,481

Table 6 – Charitable and social centres owned / managed by ecclesiastics or religious

	Dem. Rep. Congo		South Sudan
Hospitals	395		10
Clinics	1,670		41
Leper colonies	28		9
Homes for the elderly and disabled	96		12
Orphanages and nurseries	212		9
Family consultation centres	82		6
Special centres of social education or rehabilitation	163		1
Other institutions	173		5