The number of Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina decreased by 11,860 in one year, and currently, there are 353,872 Cathlics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is shown by the data published by the portal of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, Nedjelja.ba. There were 137,991 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna at the end of last year, down 9148 from 2018.
The Diocese of Banja Luka, which also includes Livno, at the end of last year had 27661 believers, 955 less than the year before. The dioceses of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinjsko-mrkanjska total 188,220 believers.
Mostar-Duvno had 170,808 believers at the end of last year, 645 less than at the end of 2018. Trebinje-mrkanjska has 17412 Catholics, 1068 less than a year earlier.
Bishop Tomo Vukšić, who has been following demographic trends for years, has called for urgent action to put a stop to emigration and increase the birth rate, according to Hina news agency.
“It is equally important to create an atmosphere of security in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both for individuals and for the country’s nations. It would be good to improve political and legal security because that would also benefit economic development,” the bishop said.
The Church has said that data concerning the number of Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not complete because not all families are at home during house blessings.
It is estimated that 15 percent of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not Catholic. The 2013 census put the number of Croats at 553,000.
