World Church · October 31, 2026
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Belgian Church Loses 12,000 Volunteers in One Year as Adult Conversions Rise
The Belgian Church lost 12,000 volunteers between 2024 and 2025 according to new annual figures released on October 28, 2026. The report shows a sharp decline in parish volunteers while noting an increase in adult baptisms and confirmations during the same period.
The number of parish volunteers dropped from 108,728 in 2024 to 96,573 in 2025. This represents a significant single-year decrease, though similar losses occurred during the pandemic years. Between 2019 and 2020, the church lost 15,895 volunteers, and between 2021 and 2022, it lost 11,259 volunteers. A spokesperson for the Belgian bishops' conference stated that the figures are accurate and not the result of a calculation error, though no explanation for the recent decline was provided.
Church attendance also decreased compared to the previous year. On the third Sunday of October, which serves as a standard counting date to avoid distortion from major holidays like Easter and Christmas, 155,084 people attended Mass in 2025. This figure compares to 173,335 attendees on the same Sunday in 2024. The report indicates that declining attendance and sacramental participation follow trends seen across Western nations over recent decades.
The number of priests decreased from 3,363 in 2024 to 3,260 in 2025. The count of religious members stood at 6,288 in 2024, down from 6,650 in 2023, with data on religious members lagging one year behind other statistics. The number of priestly ordinations remained stable at four for the year. Despite these declines, church officials emphasized that thousands of volunteers continue to support the church in various capacities.
In contrast to the downward trends, the number of adult conversions increased. In 2025, 534 adults were baptized, up from 362 in 2024 and 260 in 2023. The number of adult confirmations also nearly doubled, reaching 313 compared to the previous year. This growth in adult initiations represents a notable positive development within the annual report.
The annual report has been published each autumn since 2018. Church officials noted that while the current volunteer loss is substantial, it is not unprecedented in recent history. Further research would be required to determine specific causes for the fluctuations in volunteer numbers from year to year.