According to recent Vatican statistics the percentage of Catholics in the world's population has slightly increased, and there is a slow but steady rise in the number of priests and seminarians worldwide.
The Vatican said the number of Catholics reached 1.166 billion, an increase of 19 million, or 1.7 per cent, from the end of 2007. Catholics now make up 17.4 per cent of the world's population.
The number of priests stood at 409,166, an increase of 1,142 from the end of 2007. The Vatican said that since 2000, the number of priests has increased by nearly 4,000, or about one per cent. The number of seminarians increased in Africa, Asia and Oceania, while it decreased in Europe and remained stable in the Americas.
Christians, Muslims to celebrate Annunciation
Lebanon will soon declare a national holiday for the feast of the Annunciation, to underline the reverence that Christians and Muslims feel for the Mother of God, the Asia News service reports.
The Lebanese Council of Ministers has approved a resolution to observe March 25 as a "common Christian-Muslim national holiday". The public celebration would bear witness to the country's long history of amicable inter-faith relations.
Climate change causes real suffering
Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki of Marsabit told Fides, the Vatican missionary news service, that his diocese has been experiencing the deadly effects of global warming for years now. The region around Marsabit in northern Kenya is caught in the grip of a long drought with disastrous consequences for the people, said Mgr Kariuki.
Lent should be 'long retreat' - Pope
Before beginning his annual Lenten retreat, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Catholics around the world to practise prayer and penitence in the weeks leading up to Easter.
The entire period of Lent should be like "a long 'retreat' during which people can return inside themselves and listen to the voice of God, in order to overcome the temptations of the evil one," the Pope said.
He described Lent as a time of spiritual training in an effort to live more closely with Jesus through prayerful reflection and penitential practices.
Bishops apologise to abuse victims
The head of the German bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, has apologised on behalf of the Church to abuse victims in the wake of a scandal surrounding a Jesuit school in Berlin. An independent investigator, Ursula Raue, hired by the Jesuit order to assess the scope of wrongdoing, said that so far around 120 people had come forward alleging abuse. Press reports say that at least seven institutions and 12 teachers are involved. Included are two former children's homes of the Catholic order the Salesians of Don Bosco in Berlin and the Bavarian town of Augsburg, as well as institutions run by Marists, Vincentians and Franciscans.
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, the nation's justice minister, called for a meeting between victims, bishops, and state government representatives to discuss the voluntary compensation of victims, most of whom have no judicial recourse because of the expiration of the statute of limitations.