The number of Catholic priests and laity in the world is rising, according to figures released by the new Pontifical Yearbook.The 2007 edition of the yearbook, presented to Benedict XVI yesterday, stated that as of year-end 2005, the latest date for which data is available, there were 1.115 billion Catholics worldwide - an increase of 1.5 per cent on the previous year.
The handbook indicated that Africa and Asia had seen the biggest rise in the Catholic population. However, a Vatican communiqué added: “Since this relative growth is quite close to that of the general population (1.2 per cent) the presence of Catholics in the world has remained substantially unchanged (17.2 per cent).”
There was also a relative increase in the number of priests, from 406,411 to 405,891. And although Asia and Africa saw a rise of over three per cent in priest numbers, worryingly for the Church in the west the numbers of priests in both Europe and America fell half a point, and in the case of Australia, almost two points.
“The only continent to see its own quota decline is Europe,” said the statement from the Vatican. “In 2004, the 199,978 priests represented nearly 49.3 percent of the total ecclesiastic group, while one year later it had diminished to 48.8 percent.
“In 2005, of every 100 candidates to the priesthood in the whole world, 32 were American, 26 Asian, 21 African, 20 European and one from Oceania.”
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