(February 17, 2011) The number of priests ordained has increased worldwide, while
the number of those who have given up the exercise of the priesthood has decreased
noticeably, reported L'Osservatore Romano. The Vatican's semi-official newspaper made
this report based on statistics from the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, prepared
annually by the Central Office of Church Statistics. It will be presented within the
next few days in the Vatican. The most recent official statistics refer to information
from 2009. The total number of priests reported at that time was 410,593, of whom
275,542 were members of the diocesan clergy and 135,051 of religious congregations.
This increased from a decade ago, when in 1999 the figures were 405,009 priests, of
whom 265,012 were diocesan and 139,997 religious. Thus the total number of priests
worldwide in 2009, compared to 1999, grew by 1.4%, with a 4% increase of the diocesan
clergy and a 3.5% decrease of the religious clergy. The percentage has declined in
North America by about 7%, Europe by about 9% and Oceania by 4.6%. However, African
priests have increased 38.5%, as have Asian priests 30.5% and the diocesan priests
of Central and South America. In Africa and Asia, the number of religious clergy decreased.
The distribution of clergy by continents in 2009 continues to be characterized by
a marked predominance of European priests 46.5% of the total. This group constitutes
about 56% more than clergy from the Americas. The Asian clergy is estimated at 13.5%
of the total number, the African priests at 8.9% and the Oceania at 1.2%.