1 billion catholics

[maize]

if there are over 1 billion catholics in the world, i wonder how many of these people are actually practicing catholics?

i assume that the church counts everyone regardless if they have left the church or not in order to bulk up the numbers.

i wonder if theres been any math done to give a truthful estimate.

 

[atassina]

if there are over 1 billion catholics in the world, i wonder how many of these people are actually practicing catholics?

Probably the same amount as any other secular or religious group. Most in any group are nominal, non-committed or uninformed. They have good hearts but don’t give it their all. So what’s the beef?

i assume that the church counts everyone regardless if they have left the church or not in order to bulk up the numbers.

Why would the Church want to bulk up her numbers? What true value would that have?

Didn’t you investigate this before you posted?

 

[NHInsider]

Two part response:

First, the Catholic Church considers you Catholic if you have been baptised into the Church. So the Church is well aware that there are many who are, to borrow a phrase from our evangelical brethren, “unsaved” Catholics. They would still count for statistical purposes.

Second, and perhaps more to your point, the standard source for statistical data regarding religions around the world is the *World Christian Encyclopedia,*published by Oxford University Press. The compiler is not a Catholic (he’s an Episcopalian), so wouldn’t have any particular motivation to pad numbers for the CC.

HTH

 

[atassina]

Saturday 7th Week of Easter 2009
5:52 a.m. California Time

My Hero! :bowdown2: You can pull me out of the waters of ignorance and confusion anytime. :hug3: I bet you have big, strong, rippling theological muscles. :tanning: Thanks for giving to me a good standard answer that I can use to overcome that nuisance objection to Jesus’ Church. Seems to me there is no further substantial reason to continue with this thread. Peace, Anthony
PS- Have a nice piece of cake and relax.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

if there are over 1 billion catholics in the world, i wonder how many of these people are actually practicing catholics?

i assume that the church counts everyone regardless if they have left the church or not in order to bulk up the numbers.

i wonder if theres been any math done to give a truthful estimate.

It’s hard to get an accurate count because in a country like the U.S. about 30% practice the Catholic Faith, another 30% identify themselves as Catholics and intermittently practice the Catholic Faith to various degrees. In other countries a higher percentage practices the Faith. You can’t necessarly just subtract 30% across the board. Technically there is also a smaller percentage that practice the Catholic Faith but have never formally joined the Church.
If a person has formally left the Catholic Church they would not counted.