Vatican says number of priests increases, but varies by continent

Published: 2006-02-20

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The number of priests and seminarians in the world continues to increase, but the situation varies widely from continent to continent, the Vatican said. The most positive signs come from Asia and Africa, while Europe has shown a marked decline in priestly vocations, according to a Feb. 18 statement from the Vatican press office. The statistics were released in connection with the presentation of the 2006 edition of the Vatican yearbook, known as the Annuario Pontificio, which catalogs the church's pastoral presence diocese-by-diocese. Pope Benedict XVI met with editors of the volume and praised them for their work. It was the first edition of the yearbook issued under his pontificate. In its statement, the press office referred to data on church population, priests and seminarians through 2004, the last year for which statistics are available. It said the number of priests in the world was 405,891 at the end of 2004, an increase of 441 from 2003. About two-thirds were diocesan priests and one-third members of religious orders.

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