World: The Rise of Catholicism in Africa and de-Christianization of Europe
On March 10th , Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, and Archbishop Angelo Becciu, Substitute for General Affairs, presented to Benedict XVI the 2012 editions of the Pontifical Yearbook and the Statistical Yearbook of the Church.
The Pontifical Yearbook 2012 shows that Europe continued to de-Christianize in 2010 while in Africa, Catholicism continued to boom. The number of Catholics in the world in 2010 increased to nearly 1,196 million, up from 1,181 million in 2009, for an increase of 15 million faithful (1.3%).
The proportion of Catholics in the world has remained stable at around 17.5%. However the percentage of Catholics has declined in South America (28.34% against 28.54% in 2009) and especially in Europe (23.83% against 24.05%). Conversely, the percentage of Catholics has increased in Africa (from 15.15% to 15.55%) and Southeast Asia (from 10.41% to 10.87%). The numbers of priests have continued to increase (+1,643), since 2000, from 410,593 in 2009 (275,542 diocesan plus 135,051 religious) to 412,236 in 2010 (277,009 diocesan plus 135,227 religious).
The largest increases in the numbers of priests were to be found in Asia (+1,695), Africa (+761), Oceania (+52) and America (+40), while Europe had lost 905 priests.
(Sources: VIS / APIC / Cross / The World - DICI No. 253 of 20/04/12)
