Among the figures in the 2010 Pontifical Yearbook:
— Over a nine-year period from 2000 to 2008, the number of priests around the world increased by 1 percent, to a total of 409,166. European priests (who made up 51.5 percent of the total at the start of the decade) ended 2008 as a minority for the first time, at 47.1 percent. The next largest group was found in the Americas (30 percent), followed by Asia (13.2 percent), Africa (8.7 percent) and Oceania (1.2 percent).
— In the same nine-year period, the number of religious sisters dropped by 17.6 percent in Europe, 12.9 percent in the Americas and 14.9 percent in Oceania, while rising by 21.2 percent in Africa and 16.4 percent in Asia. The number of sisters worldwide dropped by 7.8 percent, to a total of 739,067.
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RNS–Nuns, Priests in Third World Lead Growth as West Falters
Among the figures in the 2010 Pontifical Yearbook:
— Over a nine-year period from 2000 to 2008, the number of priests around the world increased by 1 percent, to a total of 409,166. European priests (who made up 51.5 percent of the total at the start of the decade) ended 2008 as a minority for the first time, at 47.1 percent. The next largest group was found in the Americas (30 percent), followed by Asia (13.2 percent), Africa (8.7 percent) and Oceania (1.2 percent).
— In the same nine-year period, the number of religious sisters dropped by 17.6 percent in Europe, 12.9 percent in the Americas and 14.9 percent in Oceania, while rising by 21.2 percent in Africa and 16.4 percent in Asia. The number of sisters worldwide dropped by 7.8 percent, to a total of 739,067.
Read it all.