Africa’s growing importance for the Catholic Church in the coming decades comes down to two major factors. First, the conversion of sub-Saharan Africa at the start of the 20th century is bearing fruits. Secondly, the growth of Africa’s population in the 21st century is unique among all regions of the world. These two factors coming together signals that many of the missionaries of the 21st century will be coming from Africa. 

The globe’s second-largest continent by land mass, Africa was in 2020 home to a population of 1.3 billion people. Fifty percent of that population is Christian; 17% are Catholic. Africa’s 236 million Catholics already make up roughly 20% of the global Catholic population, but they are also the fastest-growing Catholic region in the world. By 2050, the World Christian Database estimates that African Catholics will make up 32% of the Catholic Church.