FOR every two persons converted to Catholicism in Austria in 1963, five Catholics left. the Church. This was reported in a new book, "Catholic Statistics for Austria for 1963", published by the Austrian Pastoral Institute.
The book notes that 89 per cent of Austrians arc Catholics, that 94 per cent of babies born in 1963 Isere baptised and that 79 per tent of (hat year's marriages were witnessed lo a Catholic priest.
But it also reported that according to counts made in 1963, only 31 per cent of Austria's Catholics attend Sunday Mass and only 39 per cent fulfil their Easter duly.
Meanwhile an official re
port fr Madrid says that during the past century and a half, while Spain's population has tripled, the number of Spanish priests has decreased by 50 per cent,