The Vatican has just released the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae for 2016 and the Pontifical Yearbook 2018. The number of the world’s Catholics has grown to as many as 1.4 billion. Nearly half of the world’s Catholics are in the Americas, and the greatest increases have come in Africa and Asia. And there are more bishops since the last count . . . but fewer priests.
New data on the worldwide Church
The Vatican has just released the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae for 2016 and the Pontifical Yearbook 2018. The number of the world’s Catholics has grown to as many as 1.4 billion. Nearly half of the world’s Catholics are in the Americas, and the greatest increases have come in Africa and Asia. And there are more bishops since the last count . . . but fewer priests.
© 2024 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: [email protected]
The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.
