The following are some highlights from the 2010 edition of the "Annuario Pontificio" (Pontifical Yearbook)...
* Eight new episcopal sees and one territorial prelature were erected in 2009
* There were 169 new bishops appointed in 2009
* "The number of Catholics in the world increased from around 1,147 million in 2007 to 1,166 million in 2007, an increase of nineteen million faithful which corresponds to a growth of 1.7 percent"
* The number of priests increased over the last nine years from 405,178 in 2000 to 409,166 in 2008
* The number of female religious dropped (markedly) from 801,185 in 2000 to 739,067 in 2008
* Globally there was slight growth in the number of candidates to the priesthood (from 115,919 in 2007 to 117,024 in 2008). There was a decline of 4.3 percent in Europe, "while the situation in America remained unchanged"
Source: Vatican Information Service
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