Catholic Church in Latin America

Index of Tables

		Table 1:   Increase in Seminarians, 1972-2008
		Table 2:   Number of Priests, 2008
		Table 3.1:  Growth or Decline in Religious Sisters, 1972-2008
		Table 3.2:   Countries with Greatest Changes in Growth or Decline in Religious Sisters
		Table 4:  Catholic Personnel in South America
		Table 5:  Catholic Bishops and Parishes in South America
		Table 6: Number of Catechists in Latin America
		Table 7: Percentage of Protestants in Latin America
		Table 8: Catholic Lay Missionaries, 2000

TOTAL                             5,334                              25108                            +371% 

Sources: Catholic Almanac 1975 and Catholic Almanac 2008.  *Figure for Mexico is 1975, not 1972(Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Church 1994). ** Figure for Mexico 2003.

Sources: Catholic Almanac 2008(last year for which statistics are available). *Figure for Mexico is 2002, not 2001.

Sources:  Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2003 (Last available Statistics) and Catholic Almanac 1975.  *Figure for Chile is 1973, not 1972 (Source: Catholic Almanac 1976). **Figure for Mexico is 2002, not 2001 (Source: Catholic Almanac 2009).

              Priest per 10,000 population                    Replacement Ratio

Country	1977	1982	1987	1992	1995	1977	1982	1987	1992	1995
Argentina	1.93	1.84	1.85	1.76	1.73	.07	.18	.35	.39	.34
Bolivia	1.45	1.33	1.36	1.29	1.48	.09	.11	.21	.41	.50
Brazil	1.16	1.21	1.03	.94	1.00	.08	.28	.42	.43	.44
Chile	1.96	1.74	1.85	2.08	1.65	.08	.21	.46	.31	.33
Colombia	2.02	1.92	1.95	1.93	1.97	.20	.22	.46	.61	.63
Ecuador	1.88	1.72	1.66	1.51	1.53	.06	.07	.19	.34	.43
Paraguay	1.76	1.60	1.54	1.36	1.35	.13	.16	.46	.57	.47
Peru	1.42	1.36	1.21	1.12	1.08	.10	.24	.40	.45	.54
Uruguay	2.00	1.95	1.86	2.35	1.72	.05	.08	.22	.15	.13
Venezuela	1.68	1.40	1.21	1.06	1.01	.08	.11	.25	.43	.45
South America	1.49	1.45	1.33	1.26	1.27	.10	.22	.39	.44	.46

Replacement Ratio= (seminarians per 10,000)/ (priests per 10,000).   Interpret as percentage of existing priests that can be replaced by seminarians.   Figures for South America represent weighted averages.

Source: Catholic Almanac (various years)

                               BISHOPS                                                 PARISHES

Country	1977	1982	1987	1992	1997	1977	1982	1987	1992	1997
Argentina	56	67	69	77	83	1,979	2,148	2,234	2,427	2,466
Bolivia	16	19	20	52	30	434	NA	443	486	516
Brazil	228	239	305	313	308	6,033	6,423	6,872	7,605	7,966
Chile	24	23	29	35	32	784	803	815	849	919
Colombia	43	45	57	65	74	1,972	2,216	2,367	2,813	3,094
Ecuador	21	22	24	22	30	635	700	820	974	1,041
Paraguay	9	14	15	15	17	236	260	282	324	325
Peru	36	40	44	63	47	1,160	1,144	1,250	1,306	1,407
Uruguay	10	10	11	12	13	NA	224	222	226	233
Venezuela	28	28	33	34	34	915	967	1,002	1,064	1,080
South America	471	507	607	661	668	14,148	14,885	16,307	18,074	19,047

Tables 4 & 5 courtesy of Anthony Gill

Source: Catholic Almanac (various years) for bishop and parish data.

Table 6: Number of Catechists in Latin America

• 47, 823 to 2,560: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Mexico
• 796 to 94: Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Bolivia, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala
• Less than 20: Haiti, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Dom. Rep., Uruguay, and El. Sal.