In the last decade, Latin America has become the area of the world with the most Catholics. Here, two big countries lead the rankings with the highest number of baptized Catholics around the globe.
(((1. Brazil)))
The first is Brazil, with 170 million Catholics - about 64 percent of the population.
Brazil was the first country visited by Pope Francis. In July 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, for what may be considered the largest World Youth Day in history, about three million people attended.
(((2. Mexico)))
The second country on the list is Mexico. With 111 million Catholics – 77 percent of the population.
It has been three years since the pope traveled there and met millions of people.
The third country is in Asia.
(((3. Philippines)))
Today, the Philippines contains the highest number of Catholics in Asia. Pope Francis visited in 2015 and was welcomed with great enthusiasm.
The Philippines also has one of the highest percentages of Catholics in the world, totaling at 81 percent of the country's population.
((((4. U.S.)))
The United States is the most populated country in the Americas – close to 300 million inhabitants – of whom 55 million are Catholic.
Many are Hispanic and others are the descendants of Irish and Italian immigrants.
((((5.Italy)))))
Italy is fifth in the world ranking and it is also the European country with the most Catholics. It has about 50 million baptized Catholics – 80 percent of the country's population.
Despite these numbers, by looking at the percentages, the country with the highest density of Catholics is undoubtedly the Vatican, making up 100 percent of its population.
