Number of Catholics Increases in the World, Vatican Insider, March 5, 2012

Number of Catholics Increases in the World

Vatican Insider
March 5, 2012

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They decrease in South America and Europe, increase in Africa and South East Asia

Catholics in the world are just under 1,196 million, while they were about 1,181 million in 2009. That is, an absolute increase of 15 million faithful, representing 1.3 percent. Moreover, over the past two years the presence of baptized Catholics worldwide has remained stable at 17.5 percent. As regards geographical distribution, Catholics have decreased in South American and especially in Europe.

Instead they have increased in Africa and South East Asia. The figures are obtained from the 2012 Papal Yearbook, presented this morning to the Pope by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and Archbishop Angelo Becciu, respectively Secretary of State and Deputy to the Secretary of State.

The Yearbook also provides a series of figures on bishops, religious, priests and students of the Catholic Church, thereby enabling a concise analysis of major trends concerning the Church and 2,996 ecclesiastical districts on the planet.

The figures from the latest Yearbook, presented to the Pope together with the 'Annuarium Statitiscum Ecclesiae', also recorded an increase of 0.77 percent of Catholic bishops in the world and confirms an upward trend in the number of priests that began in 2000. In 2010 there are 412,236 priests, including diocesans and nuns, and in 2009 there were 410,593.

Overall, the number of priests have increased by 1,643 units, and the increases are recorded in Asia, with more than 1,695 priests, Africa, with more than 761, Oceania with more than 52 and the Americas with more than 40 units. The decline regards Europe, with less than 905 priests.

The trend of decreasing professed religious that are not priests seems to have experienced a setback, in 2009 they were 54,229 and reached 54,665 in 2010. On the other hand, nuns are declining and drop from 729,371 to the 721,935 of 2009.