October 16, 2012. (Romereports.com) Each year the Catholic Church publishes a statistical yearbook on the situation of Catholics in the world. In the year 2010, the number of Catholics increased by 15 million. The total number is more than 1.9 billion people. The increase was seen on every continent but especially in Africa, which saw the most growth with more than 6 million new Catholics.


In the Church there are 5,104 bishops, which is 39 more than in 2009. Also increasing, are the number of priests. During 2010 there were 1,643 new priests. So the total figure stood at 412,236. However, there was not an increase in all continents. For example, Europe had 905 fewer priests than in the previous year.

Also, the total number of non-ordained religious dropped to 436 and stood at 54,665. The number increased in all continents except in the Americas. In addition,  the number of catechists rose to over 3 million, a figure that is considered key to the Year of Faith.

In the social sphere, the Catholic Church serves more than 5,300 hospitals, 18,000 clinics, 17,000 nursing homes, 547 leprosy centers and 15,300  marriage consulting centers.

In the education sector, the number of nursery schools run by the Church increased by more than 2,000 from 68,119 to 70,544. The number of primary schools decreased by 124 from  92,847 to 92,723 with 30 million alumni, but secondary education increased its presence with over 1,000 new institutes, from 42,495 to 43,591 with 17 million students.


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