Seoul: South Korea’s Christian population has grown steadily over the past two decades, according to new figures. The Catholic Catholic Pastoral Institute reported last Saturday that Catholics had an increase of 48.6%. The number of Catholics in the United States increased from 55 million in 1999 to 50 million in 2018.
According to the diocese’s increase, the diocese of Suwon (89.3%), Djeon diocese (79.1%) and Uyjong diocese (78.9%) have increased. It is also noteworthy that the yearly increase in Catholic beliefs to less than one percent has increased to 2.2 percent with the visit of Pope Francis in 2014. From 1999-2018, the proportion of the country’s total Catholic population increased from 8.3 to 11.1 percent.
But even though the diocese is carrying out various projects, the number of people attending the Sunday Mass is steadily decreasing. In this context, the report recommends that the mission should be more focused on reintegration rather than mission work.
The number of Catholics in the seventies and eighties has increased by more than 100 percent compared with the Catholic age group. Although the number of Catholic marriages declined to 41.5%, the number of clergy increased by 52.2% during the same period. The number of missionaries increased by 204.2%. North Korea’s neighbor to South Korea, where the world’s most violent persecution is taking place, is getting closer to Jesus every day.
