Over 3 million attended Pope Benedict XVI's audiences in 2006

(03 Jan. 2007) : Official Vatican statistics indicated Tuesday that more than 3 million people attended Pope Benedict XVI’s audiences and liturgical celebrations during 2006. A total of 3,222,820 people attended the regular weekly audiences, Sunday Angelus audiences, and special ceremonies at which the Pope presided. The largest crowds at weekly papal audiences came during the months of May and October, traditionally the peak periods for Vatican tourism. The largest figure for Angelus audiences came in December, when Christmas and the feast of the Immaculate Conception brought extra papal audiences. The attendance figures for 2006 are substantially higher than those for the previous year. In 2005, Pope Benedict attracted 800,000 people to the audiences he held after his election in April. Late Pope John Paul II had drawn 2.2 million people to audiences in 2004, and 2.6 million in 2003.