Despite the total number of Catholics in South Korea hitting one of its record highs in 2025, Mass attendance and vocations are declining due to aging and “inactive believers,” according to data released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.
The Union of Catholic Asian (UCA) News reported that the data show more than 6 million Catholics in South Korea, with nearly 3 in 10 being senior citizens. The new total represents a major milestone for the country’s Catholic population, as it numbered just 1 million in 1975.
However, the overall growth rate slowed between 2024 and 2025, going from 0.5% to 0.2%. At the same time, Sunday Mass participation has declined across the country. Only 15% attend Mass weekly, down from about 21% participation in 2015. Christmas and Easter attendance also remained low, with an attendance rate of 25%. UCA News noted that the attendance for those solemnities is significantly lower than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, when nearly 80% of Catholics attended Mass on Christmas and Easter.
Along with a decline in Mass attendance, the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life has fallen. Only 70 priests were ordained in South Korea in 2025, down from 121 ordained in 2015. Male and female vocations totaled 11,170 in 2025, down 187 from 2024, which is part of a declining trend measured in the past few years. The number of seminarians has also been dwindling: Last year, 854 were recorded, but UCA News pointed out that since 2022, fewer than 100 men have joined seminaries each year.
According to the outlet, South Korea’s bishops said that reaching a total of 6 million Catholics is “the starting point of the challenges facing the Church” and added that “the recovery of lapsed and inactive believers is an urgent task.”
They stated, “How to invite back into the community those who have been unable to continue their sacramental life… is a pastoral question that can no longer be ignored.”