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


 

Table 1: Increase in Seminarians

1972
2008
Increase (%)
Argentina
306
1,778
481
Bolivia
49
712
1,353
Brazil
939
9,369
898
Chile
111
709
539
Colombia
738
4,827
554
Ecuador
92
675
634
Paraguay
63
422
570
Peru
190
2,097
1,004
Uruguay
25
69
176
Venezuela
120
1,397
1,064
Mexico*
2,264
6,919**
205
Costa Rica
61
202
231
El Salvador
34
512
1,406
Guatemala
69
406
488
Honduras
16
159
894
Nicaragua
45
298
562
Panama
22
113
414
Cuba
49
86
75
Dominican Republic
51
734
1,339
Haiti
41
439
971
Puerto Rico
49
104
112

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.

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Table 2: Number of Priests,   2008 

Argentina
5,869
Bolivia
1,235
Brazil
18,539
Chile
2,400
Colombia
8,312
Ecuador
2,078
Paraguay
888
Peru
2,896
Uruguay
458
Venezuela
2,557
Mexico
12,218
Costa Rica
751
El Salvador
756
Guatemala
1000
Honduras
423
Nicaragua
536
Panama
392
Cuba
345
Dominican Republic
960
Haiti
748
Puerto Rico
704

TOTAL

64,065

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

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Table 3: Growth or Decline in Religious Sisters, 1972-2008

1972
2008
Argentina
12,536
8,687
Bolivia
1,278
2,696
Brazil
35,984
33,221
Chile
4,745*
4,877
Colombia
17,804
16,206
Ecuador
4,619
5,533
Paraguay
784
2,132
Peru
4,626
5,738
Uruguay
1,581
962
Venezuela
3,735
3,724
Mexico**
21,692
23,232
Costa Rica
887
833
El Salvador
705
1,632
Guatemala
1,018
2,641
Honduras
277
803
Nicaragua
484
1028
Panama
464
423
Cuba
217
650
Dominican Republic
1,254
2,850
Haiti
792
1,796
Puerto Rico
1,621
1,153
TOTALS
117,103 
120,817 
% Change  
+3.02%
 

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).

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Table 3.2: Countries with Greatest Changes in Growth or Decline of Religious Sisters:

Cuba

199.54%

Honduras
189.89
Paraguay
171.93
Guatemala
159.43
El Salvador
131.48
Panama
-8.84
Colombia
-8.95
Puerto Rico
-28.87
Argentina
-30.70
Uruguay
-39.15
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Table 4: Catholic Personnel in South America

              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)

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Table 5: Catholic Bishops and Parishes in South America

                               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

Argentina 92,848
Bolivia 13,885
Brazil 491,026
Chile 56,727
Colombia 52,397
Ecuador 36,286
Paraguay 58,612
Peru 44,648
Uruguay 4,985
Venezuela 25,628
Mexico 171,719*
Costa Rica 18,903
El Salvador 7,534
Guatemala 59,735
Honduras 14,346
Nicaragua 23,429
Panama 4,245
Cuba 4,170
Dominican Republic 47,145
Haiti 4,844
Puerto Rico 26,571

TOTAL

1,366,416

 
Source: *Bryan Froehle and Mary Gautier: Global Catholicism (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2003). All Others: Catholic Almanac 2009
 
Table 7: Countries with Percentage of Protestants, Census or Estimated Percentages, 2003
Guatemala 25%
Honduras 17
El Salvador 16
Chile 15
Brazil 15
Costa Rica 15
Panama 15
Bolivia 11
Argentina 10
Ecuador 10
Dominican Republic 10
Peru 10
Nicaragua 10
Haiti 6
Mexico 6
Cuba 5
Venezuela 5
Colombia 3
Paraguay 3
Uruguay 3
Source: National Census: Brazil, 2000; Chile, 2002; Costa Rica, 2000. SEPAL and CID-Gallup: Gautemala. Other country percentages are estimates derived from country studies.

 

Table 8: Catholic Lay Missionaries, 2000

Argentina 47,823
Bolivia 424
Brazil 30,895
Chile 703
Colombia 30,895
Ecuador 529
Paraguay 13
Peru 2,983
Uruguay 4
Venezuela 9,329
Mexico 2,560
Costa RIca 13
El Salvador 4
Guatemala 94
Honduras 360
Nicaragua 11
Panama 516
Cuba 796
Dominican Republic 9
Haiti 19
Source: Bryan T. Froehle and Mary Gautier, Global Catholicism (Orbis Books 2003)

Leading Countries for Lay Missionaries, in Numerical Order

 

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