Monday, March 6, 2023

Philippines is becoming less Catholic percentagewise. Other Christian and religious affiliations have grown fast


According to the recently released government statistics, the Philippines is becoming less and less Catholic compared to the entire population. 

In 1990, Catholics were 82.9%, and by 2020 we were down to 78.8%. Surely the downward trend is continuing until we wake up.

Moslems have grown from 4.6% to 6.4%, mainly because of their large families, something that the Catholic Catechism and the Popes have been saying as something that God wants and science has seen as "key to the happiness": 

  • “Sacred Scripture and the Church's traditional practice see in large families a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2373)
  • A five-year study found that the parents of large families are "the most satisfied of all"--there is more joy going around, and the children have a greater sense of responsibility and receive more inputs. 
But the biggest growth goes to the Protestant, evangelical and other religious affiliations. 

While Protestants comprised only 5.4% in 1990, they now form 10.7% together with "Other religious affiliations" that do not fall under the category of Catholic, Moslem, Iglesia ni Cristo, Aglipay nor Iglesia Filipina Independiente. The 2020 Census does not call them Protestant unlike in 1990, but I suppose, knowing Filipinos, these other religious affiliations have something Christian and evangelical in them.

That is why I copy here the message I sent out last month, as a reaction to an article, 10 Reasons Why Catholics Don’t Evangelize

Only 3% of Catholics said that evangelizing is important compared to 85% of Evangelicals! In PH, Protestants are growing very fast! Priests, teachers, lay leaders, parents here in PH have to speak much more about the great importance and urgency for Catholics to evangelize: to bring the people around them to love Christ and truly live a holy, actively evangelizing life. Pope Francis stresses: "Every Christian is called to be a missionary and witness to Christ." Jesus' last words: "Make disciples of all nations." We cannot be complacent!  

The time to wake up is now.  

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Religion

Percentage of population

 

1990

2020

Roman Catholics

82.9

78.8

Islam

4.6

6.4

Iglesia ni Cristo

2.6

2.6

Aglipay/Iglesia Filipina Independiente

2.3

1.4 (.8+.6)

Protestants/Christian Groups/Other Religious Affiliations

5.4

10.7

Other religious affiliations (8.2), Seventh Day Adventist (.8),  Bible Baptist (.5), UCCP (.4), Jehovah's Witness (.4), Church of Christ (.4) 

***
I encourage you to send this article out to Catholics so they love their religion and encourage other Catholics to continue living it and help non-Catholics understand how they can find the fullness of the faith in the real, living Jesus:  Ten Reasons the Catholic Church is the One True Church of Jesus 

As Pope Francis told us: “To give Jesus is to give the greatest gift of all.”

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