Fides (www.fides.org), the Vatican’s agency on world missions, reported on October 23rd its annual statistics on various aspects of the Church througout the world. Included in this report were interesting data regarding the diaconate.
Last year, the number of permanent deacons increased by 952, reaching a total of 38,155. The greatest increase was in America (+552) and Europe (+326), followed by Oceania (+57) and Asia (+23). Africa experienced a decrease of six. Of the over 38,000 deacons, 37,592 are diocesan deacons (an increase of 1,053) and 563 are religious permanent deacons (a decrease of 101).
An interesting comparison is regarding diocesan priests. They increased worldwide by 1,535, reaching a total of 275,542, including increases in Africa (+888), America (+946), Asia (+780) and Oceana (+26). The numbers in Europe dropped (-1105). Religious priests decreased by 108 worldwide, including a drop in America of 533.
The vocation scene looks more and more promising for our country, especially for the diaconate, but brighter too for the diocesan priesthood.
(By the way, did you know that the Church runs 68,119 kindergartens with 6,522,320 pupils, has 92,971 primary schools with 30,973,114 students and 42,495 secondary schools with 17,114,737 students, and cares for 3, 275,440 university students — all increases since last year? We have 5,558 hospitals and 17,763 pharmacies.)
Let us alway pray for vocations.
