Africa overtakes Europe in Catholic population — Vatican
Africa has overtaken Europe in the number of Catholics, with its population growing to 288.31 million, according to a new report from the Vatican. Read More: https://punchng.com/africa-overtakes-europe-in-catholic-population-vatican/
The Vatican's latest statistics report reveals that Africa has overtaken Europe in terms of Catholic population. As of June 30, 2024, Africa had 288.31 million Catholics, slightly surpassing Europe's 287.24 million. This marks a significant increase for Africa, which recorded 7.58 million new Catholics in the past year. The Americas saw a 6.99 million increase, while Asia added 968,000 Catholics.
Oceania experienced a modest rise of 239,000. The global Catholic population reached 1.422 billion, comprising 17.8% of the world's population. The number of priests worldwide increased by 425 to 407,421 in 2024, with Africa and Asia leading the growth with 1,676 and 1,065 additional priests, respectively. Despite the rise in priests, the average number of Catholics per priest increased by 38 to 3,491.
The Catholic Church operates numerous educational, healthcare, and charitable institutions across the globe, with Africa having the highest number of hospitals and dispensaries.
Written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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