- Oct 30, 2003
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For anyone that is interested in statistics here is the most recent numbers.
World Catholic Population at 1.07 Billion
Tuesday, February 03, 2004 12:00:00 AM GMT
Vatican, Feb. 03 (CWNews.com) - The number of Catholic priests in the world has remained essentially steady, while the number of permanent deacons and lay missionaries has increased. Those were among the many statistics contained in the Annuario Pontificio, the official Vatican yearbook, of which a new edition appeared in print on February 3.
Pope John Paul II (bio - news) received a ceremonial first copy of the Annuario from the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano (bio - news), and the assistant Secretary, Archbishop Leonardi Sandri, at a Tuesday-morning audience.
There were 1.07 billion baptized Catholics in the world in 2002, making up 17.2 percent of the world's population. Almost exactly half of those Catholics lived in the Americas, slightly over one-quarter (26.1 percent) in Europe, 12.8 percent in Africa, 10.3 percent in Asia, and less than 1 percent (0.8) in Oceania. The Americas-- which the Vatican treat as a single continent for statistical purposes-- were also the most heavily Catholic region in the world; 62.4 percent of the people of the Western Hemisphere are baptized Catholics.
The yearbook-- which cites figures for the year 2002, the last year for which full statistics are available-- shows a slight increase in the number of diocesan priests worldwide, balanced by a slight decrease in the number of priests belonging to religious orders. Altogether there were 405,058 priests serving the Church in 2002. While that number was essentially unchanged from 2001, the ranks of permanent deacons and of lay missionaries both grew by over 3 percent.
There were 112,982 men studying for the priesthood in 2002-- a tiny increase over the previous year. The growth in the number of seminarians was most pronounced in Africa, at 5.8 percent. In America there was a 1.4 percent increase in seminarians; in Europe and Asia their numbers decreased.
Altogether there were more than 4.2 million Catholics engaged in pastoral work: 4,695 bishops; 405,058 priests; 30,097 permanent deacons; 54,828 male religious; 782,932 female religious; 28,766 members of secular institutes; 143,745 lay missionaries; and 2.7 million catechists.
World Catholic Population at 1.07 Billion
Tuesday, February 03, 2004 12:00:00 AM GMT
Vatican, Feb. 03 (CWNews.com) - The number of Catholic priests in the world has remained essentially steady, while the number of permanent deacons and lay missionaries has increased. Those were among the many statistics contained in the Annuario Pontificio, the official Vatican yearbook, of which a new edition appeared in print on February 3.
Pope John Paul II (bio - news) received a ceremonial first copy of the Annuario from the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano (bio - news), and the assistant Secretary, Archbishop Leonardi Sandri, at a Tuesday-morning audience.
There were 1.07 billion baptized Catholics in the world in 2002, making up 17.2 percent of the world's population. Almost exactly half of those Catholics lived in the Americas, slightly over one-quarter (26.1 percent) in Europe, 12.8 percent in Africa, 10.3 percent in Asia, and less than 1 percent (0.8) in Oceania. The Americas-- which the Vatican treat as a single continent for statistical purposes-- were also the most heavily Catholic region in the world; 62.4 percent of the people of the Western Hemisphere are baptized Catholics.
The yearbook-- which cites figures for the year 2002, the last year for which full statistics are available-- shows a slight increase in the number of diocesan priests worldwide, balanced by a slight decrease in the number of priests belonging to religious orders. Altogether there were 405,058 priests serving the Church in 2002. While that number was essentially unchanged from 2001, the ranks of permanent deacons and of lay missionaries both grew by over 3 percent.
There were 112,982 men studying for the priesthood in 2002-- a tiny increase over the previous year. The growth in the number of seminarians was most pronounced in Africa, at 5.8 percent. In America there was a 1.4 percent increase in seminarians; in Europe and Asia their numbers decreased.
Altogether there were more than 4.2 million Catholics engaged in pastoral work: 4,695 bishops; 405,058 priests; 30,097 permanent deacons; 54,828 male religious; 782,932 female religious; 28,766 members of secular institutes; 143,745 lay missionaries; and 2.7 million catechists.
