Catholic Church in Latin America

Index of Tables

Table 1:   Increase in Seminarians, 1972-2001

Table 2:   Number of Priests, 2001

Table 3.1:  Growth or Decline in Religious Sisters, 1972-2001

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
2001
Increase
Argentina
306
2,020
560%
Bolivia
49
714
1,357
Brazil
939
8,215
774
Chile
111
773
596
Colombia
738
4505
510
Ecuador
92
728
691
Paraguay
63
354
462
Peru
190
1,742
817
Uruguay
25
92
268
Venezuela
120
1,037
764
Mexico*
2,264
6,919
205
Costa Rica
61
318
421
El Salvador
34
379
1015
Guatemala
69
396
474
Honduras
16
111
594
Nicaragua
45
301
578
Panama
22
166
654
Cuba
49
101
106
Dominican Republic
51
493
866
Haiti
41
342
734
Puerto Rico
49
96
96

TOTAL                             5,334                              28,802                            +388% 

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

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Table 2: Number of Priests,   2001 

Argentina
5,866
Bolivia
1,056
Brazil
16,598
Chile
2,298
Colombia
7,851
Ecuador
1,836
Paraguay
783
Peru
2,790
Uruguay
498
Venezuela
2,320
Mexico
13,173
Costa Rica
770
El Salvador
663
Guatemala
970
Honduras
382
Nicaragua
418
Panama
392
Cuba
296
Dominican Republic
817
Haiti
611
Puerto Rico
761

TOTAL

61,149

Sources: Catholic Almanac 2003 (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, 1972-2001

1972
2001
Argentina
12,536
9,829
Bolivia
1,278
2,468
Brazil
35,984
35,365
Chile
4,745*
5,574
Colombia
17,804
17,347
Ecuador
4,619
4,894
Paraguay
784
2,132
Peru
4,626
5,537
Uruguay
1,581
1,281
Venezuela
3,735
3,812
Mexico**
21,692
28,495
Costa Rica
887
888
El Salvador
705
1,542
Guatemala
1,018
2,070
Honduras
277
561
Nicaragua
484
977
Panama
464
566
Cuba
217
500
Dominican Republic
1,254
1,644
Haiti
792
1,037
Puerto Rico
1,621
1,152
TOTALS
117,103 
128,875 
% Change  
+9.02%
 

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 2003).

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

Cuba

130.04%

El Salvador
118.72
Honduras
102.52
Nicaragua
101.52
Bolivia
93.11
Brazil
-1.72
Colombia
-2.54
Uruguay
-18.97
Argentina
-21.59
Puerto Rico
-29.93
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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 83,173
Bolivia 10,243
Brazil 428,836
Chile 53,143
Colombia 39,537
Ecuador 34,985
Paraguay 54,359
Peru 42,489
Uruguay 3,320
Venezuela 21,442
Mexico 171,719
Costa Rica 25,945
El Salvador 5,247
Guatemala 43,318
Honduras 13,092
Nicaragua 11,625
Panama 2,130
Cuba 4,577
Dominican Republic 27,721
Haiti 5,607
Puerto Rico 9,944

TOTAL

1,092,452
 
Source: Bryan Froehle and Mary Gautier: Global Catholicism (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2003).
 
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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