Papal Yearbook presented
to Benedict XVI
18 FEB 2011 (RV) - The Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone presented the Holy Father with the 2011
Annuario Pontificio yearbook Saturday morning at the Vatican in what has become a traditional annual event.
The
Annuario Pontificio is the Holy See’s annual directory. Among other things, the more than 2000 pages of the Annuario contain information about the Apostolic See, the College of Cardinals and the whole Roman Curia, as well as a list of the Holy See’s diplomatic missions and the world’s dioceses, exarchates and areas under Apostolic administration.
Some of the more interesting elements contained in the Annuario tell us about the growth of the Church throughout the world.
The 2011 Annuario reports a significant increase in the number of baptized faithful, which rose by 15 million from 1 billion 166 million in 2008 to 1 billion 181 million in 2009 (the last year for which complete data have been assembled and tabulated) – with nearly half of all the world’s Catholics living in the Americas.
Asia’s Catholic population rose slightly during the same period as a percentage of that continent’s total population.
The number of priests in the world also grew modestly, continuing an upward trend that began a decade ago: there were 410,593 priests in the world in 2009, up from 405,178 in the year 2000.
The number of candidates for priestly ordination grew by nearly 1%, from 117,024 in 2008, to 117,978 in 2009, with the number of men in formation from Asia and Africa growing by more than 2%, while the number of seminarians from Europe and America contracted slightly.
The number of women religious, meanwhile, dropped by nearly 10 thousand, to a worldwide total of 729,371: significant growth in the number of African and Asian women religious was not enough to offset declines in other areas.
A more extended summary is provided by and translated here from
The 2011 Annuario Pontificio was presented to the Holy Father by Cardinal Bertone and his deputy for general affairs, Mons. Fernando Filoni, along with Mons. Vittorio Formenti, head of the Central Office of Statistics for the Catholic Church and editor of the Annuario, with his collaborators.
The Holy Father thanked them for their work and asked them to extend his gratitude to all who had worked with them on this new edition of the Pontifical yearbook.
In 2009 (the year covered by the survey), the Holy Father established 10 new diocesan sees, 1 Apostolic Exarchate, and one Apostolic Vicariate. He also raised the status of 1 diocese to a metropolitan see, 2 prelatures to dioceses, and 2 prefectures and 1 Apostolic Administration to Apostolic Vicariates.
The statistical data provide a summary analysis of the principal dynamics within the Church in its 2,956 ecclesiastical circumscriptions around the world.
The number of Catholics increased from 1.168 billion in 2007 to 1.181 billion in 2009, representing a 1.3% increase.
But the distribution of Catholics in the five continents differs considerably from the total population distribution.
Catholics in the Americas remained at 12.5% of the global population, but 49.4% of all Catholics in the world.
Catholics in Asia grew from 10.6 to 10.7% of the Asian population, whose total population constitutes, however, 50.7% of the world population.
Europe's population was only 9% Catholic in 2009, less than the Americas, and in absolute numbers, European Catholics constitute only 24% of the global Catholic population - less than half of the American percentage.
In Africa and Oceania (Australia and the South Pacific islands), the percentage of Catholics in the total population is 15,2% and 0.8%, respectively.
The number of bishops increased from 5002 in 2008 to 6065 in 2008, p[resenting an increase of 1.3%. The most dynamic continent in this respect was Africa (1.6%), followed by Oceania (1.5%), whereas Asia (0.8%) and the Americas (1.2%) were below the median. Europe was at 1.3%.
The number of priests maintained the moderate growth noted since 2000 after a long period of disappointing numbers. Indeed, in the past 10 years, the number of priests worldwide - diocesan as well as members of religious orders - improved by 1.38% overall, from 495, 178 in 2000 to 410,593 in 2009. In 2009, the increase over 2008 was 0.34% - from a 0.56% increase in diocesan priests and only 0.08% increase in the religious orders.
Europe was the only region that showed a decrease - 0.82% in diocesan priests and 0.99% in religious. In Asia and Africa, likewise, the number of professed religious decreased although the diocesan priests increased.
Permanent deacons increased by 2.5% worldwide, from 37,203 in 2008 to 36,155 in 2009. The presence of deacons in Oceania and Asia, particularly, has stepped up: in Oceania, bu 19%, and in Asia by 16%. But deacons have also increased in the Americans and Europe where they represent 98% of all deacons worldwide, increasing from 2.3% to 2.6%.
A notable decrease was registered by the religious orders (male and female). In 2008, there were 739,068, down to 729,251 in 2009.
The number of candidates for priesthood worldwide increased by 0.82%, from 117,024 in 2008 to 117,978 in 2009, mostly in Africa and Asia, where seminarians increased by 2.2% and 2.39%, respectively from 2008 to 2009.
In Europe and the Americas, the number of seminarians fell by 1.64% and 0.17%, respectively in the same period.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/02/2011 13:49]