The number of registered Catholics in Japan has fallen to just under 450,000 – a decrease of 0.5% in 12 months.

The figures are based on data from each parish, submitted to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan.

The exhaustive statistics provide a wealth of detail on Catholic numbers and activity. They show that:

• 60% of registered Japanese Catholics are women.
• 24 bishops and retired bishops.
• 1,481 priests, 887 of them Japanese.
• 35 deacons, all but three of them Japanese.
• 91 major seminarians and 38 minor seminarians.
• 5,678 femaleReligious, 5,419 of them Japanese.
• 201 male Religious, 150 of them Japanese.
• 798 parishes: 798 and 172 mission parishes.
• 6,914 baptisms took place last year, 3,594 of the baptized were people aged eight and over.
• Total attendance at Sunday Mass last year was 111,647.
• Total attendance at Easter Mass was 197,517 while the attendance at
• Christmas Mass was the biggest of the year at 254,298.

Compared to 2004, the statistics show declines across the board, with fewer parishioners, priests, female Religious and baptisms. Attendance at Sunday Mass has also dropped by 8%.

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