The share of Catholics in Slovenia has declined over the past ten years, as has the number of priests and nuns, but the number of laypersons actively participating in the activities of the Catholic Church has been increasing, according to a report by the Slovenian Catholic Church.

The report for 2023, which was released recently, shows the number of believers going from from 1.55 million in 2012 to 1.48 million in 2022, as the share of Catholics in the population dropped from 81.4% in 2012 to just under 70% in 2022.

The figures, compiled by Slovenian dioceses, are still higher than those produced by the official 2002 census, when 1.14 million declared themselves as Catholic, accounting for 57.8% of the population.

There has also been a considerable drop in the number of people attending mass. In 2022, over 138,300 people attended Sunday mass regularly, compared to over 217,300 just seven years earlier.

The report attributes this significant drop to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic: in 2019 over 196,700 people attended mass every Sunday, and by 2020 their number had dropped by nearly 95,000.

Moreover, the number of christenings, first communions, confirmations and church weddings has also decreased. While the number of Catholic funerals has increased by 6% between 2012 and 2022, the share of Catholic funerals has dropped from 74.5% in 2012 to 67.6% in 2022.

The Church report finds that over 82% of funerals are urn ceremonies, the highest share of any country in the world.

The report also shows that nearly 4,200 students attended Catholic schools in 2022, an increase of over 400 students compared to ten years earlier.

Meanwhile, the number of priests went from nearly 1,100 in 2012 to just under 950 in 2022. The number of nuns and monks dropped by just over 15% in ten years to reach 730 in 2022.

But the number of lay persons taking active part in Church activities increased. The number of deacons increased by 16 to 47 and the number of catechists went from 550 in 2012 to nearly 620 in 2022. What is more, the number of altar boys and girls has tripled during the same period.