STATISTICS FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SPAIN
VATICAN CITY, 29 OCT 2010 (VIS) - For the occasion of Benedict XVI's apostolic trip to the Spanish capital Madrid to preside at twenty-sixth World Youth Day, statistics have been published concerning the Catholic Church in that country. The information, updated to 31 December 2010, comes from the Central Statistical Office of the Church. The Pope's journey is due to take place from 18 to 21 August.
Spain has a surface area of 505,992 square kilometres and a population of 46,073,000 of whom 42,470,000 (92.2 percent) are Catholic. There are 70 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 22,890 parishes. Currently there are 126 bishops, 24,778 priests, 54,184 religious, 2,826 lay members of secular institutes and 99,581 catechists. Minor seminarians number 1,258 and major seminarians 1,866.
A total of 1,461,899 students attend 5,535 centres of Catholic education, from kindergartens to universities. Other institutions belonging to the Church or run by priests or religious in Spain include 77 hospitals, 54 clinics, 1 leper colony, 803 homes for the elderly or disabled, 391 orphanages and nurseries, 293 family counselling centres and other pro-life centres, 3,323 centres for education and social rehabilitation, and 632 institutions of other kinds.
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