Catholic Population Tops 1 Billion
The number of Roman Catholics worldwide has passed the 1-billion mark for the first time, according to Vatican statistics.
The information was contained in Annuario Pontificio 1999, the latest edition of the comprehensive Vatican yearbook, which was presented last week to Pope John Paul II at a ceremony in the Vatican.
Catholics are in the majority only in the Americas, where they constitute 62.9% of the population, the Vatican said. Elsewhere, it said, Catholics make up 41.4% of the population in Europe, 27.5% in Oceania, 14.9% in Africa and 3% in Asia.
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