Numbers of African Catholics boom as Church in Europe continues to shrink

YAOUNDÈ, Cameroon - A leading Nigerian prelate has said that Africans see Catholicism in the West as a “Church in decline” while in Africa Christianity is flourishing because of a strong Biblical faith and traditional moral convictions.

“The African understanding of Biblical authority, sex, marriage, and sin may strike Western liberals as backward and superstitious,” said Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Abuja, but insisted those beliefs have strong appeal in African cultures.

The 65-year-old archbishop said that Catholicism globally is “evolving toward Africa.”