Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
27 May 2008
The Catholic Church in Africa grew by nearly 30 million in seven years, according to figures published by the Vatican.
The recently published 'Statistical Yearbook of the Church' for 2000-2006 shows that Africa's Catholics increased from 130 million in 2000 to 158.3 million in 2006.
In the Americas and in Oceania their numbers grew by 8.4 percent and 7.6 percent respectively, while in Asia the number of faithful remained more or less stable.In Europe,growth was less than one percent.
The number of bishops in the world went up from 4,541 in 2000 to 4,898 in 2006, an increase of 7.86 percent.
Priests also increased slightly over the seven-year period, from 405,178 in 2000 to 407,262 in 2006, an overall rise of around 0.51 percent. Africa led by 23.24 percent, followed by Asia with 17.71 percent. The numbers remained stable in the Americas but fell by 5.75 percent in Europe and 4.37 percent in Oceania.
The number of diocesan priests increased by two percent, going from 265,781 in 2000 to 271,091 in 2006. By contrast, the number of regular priests showed a constant decline, down by 2.31 percent to 136,000 in 2006.
Of the continents, only in Europe was there a clear reduction in priests: in 2000 they represented 51 percent of the world total, in 2006 just 48 percent. On the other hand, Asia and Africa together represented 17.5 percent of the world total in 2000 and 21 percent in 2006. The Americas remained steady at around 30 percent, and Oceania a little more than one percent.
Female religious are almost double the number of priests, and 14 times that of non-ordained male religious, but their numbers are falling, from 800,000 in 2000 to 750,000 in 2006. As for their geographical distribution, 42 percent reside in Europe, 28.03 percent in America and 20 percent in Asia. The number of female religious has increased in the most dynamic continents: Africa (up by 15.45 percent) and Asia (up by 12.78 percent).
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