The Annuario Pontificio 2012 presented to Pope

(March 10.2012) Pope Benedict XVI was presented, on Saturday, with the new Annuario Pontificio 2012, the Pontifical Yearbook, by Vatican secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The Pope expressed his gratitude for this annual directory of the Holy See, and thanked all those who had participated in its preparation. It lists all the popes to date and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also gives complete lists, with contact information, of the cardinals and Catholic bishops throughout the world, the dioceses, the departments of the Roman Curia, the Holy See's diplomatic missions abroad, the embassies accredited to the Holy See, the headquarters of religious institutes and other similar information. As the title suggests, the red-covered yearbook, compiled by the Central Statistics Office of the Church and published by the Vatican Press, is mostly in Italian. A yearbook of the Catholic Church was published, with some interruptions, from 1716 to 1859 by the Cracas printing firm in Rome, under the title Information for the Year. From 1851, a department of the Holy See began producing a different publication called Hierarchy of the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church Worldwide and in Every Rite, with historical notes, which took the title Annuario Pontificio in 1860, but ceased publication in 1870. This was the first yearbook published by the Holy See itself, but its compilation was entrusted to the publishers "The Monaldi Brothers”, who began in 1872 to produce their own yearbook.. The Vatican Press took this over in 1885, thus making it a semi-official publication. It actually bore the indication "official publication" from 1899 to 1904, but this ceased when, giving the word "official"in a more restricted sense, to the Acta Sanctae Sedis, forerunner of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and was declared the only "official" publication of the Holy See. In 1912, it resumed the title Annuario Pontificio. Also presented was the companion volume containing the annual statistics of the Church. From this mine of statistical data, we highlight the fact that the world Catholic Population stands at a stable rate of about 17,5%. Between 2009 and 2010 Catholic numbers have diminished in South America and especially Europe. Whereas Africa and Asia have gained. The number of priests world wide and of other clerical bodies, has increased..