The Catholic Church welcomed more new believers last year than in 2020, but their number is still lower than that recorded in 2019, before the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to data from the Church’s Annual Report. Catholic.
In 2019, more than 42,000 people had been baptized. As churches had to close their doors for several months in 2020 in the context of the crisis, the number of baptisms had dropped. It started to rise again in 2021, with 36,834 baptisms, even if during the first half of the year, restrictive measures were still in force for physical gatherings.
“But with the restrictions gone, we have seen how happy believers are to come together again, roll up their sleeves and be close’“, observes, in the preface to the Report, Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, President of the Conference of Bishops of Belgium.