An “alarming drop” in the number of baptisms, confirmations, and marriages is registered in Croatia, according to the data of the statistical office of the Croatian Episcopal Conference, referring to the year 2000 and published in recent days by the Croatian Catholic news agency Ika. There are 3,837,785 Catholics, or 73% of the population. But if in 1998 the number of baptisms was 50,761, that number had dropped to 43,073 in 2000; confirmations totalled 54,021 in 1998, whereas only 44,724 were registered in 2000; marriages celebrated in church amounted to 19,231 in 1998, whereas there were only 17,559 in 2000. Among the other data, 35 diocesan priests and 21 religious were ordained in 2000. The number of parishes also increased (from1,544 in 1998 to 1,583 in 2000).
