Vatican reports higher number of Czech Catholics than census

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Prague - The Vatican has reported that over three million Catholics live in the 10-million Czech Republic, that is almost one-third of its population, but the real number of active believers is probably low, according to the latest census, experts addressed by CTK have agreed.
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The latest population census in 2001 showed that over 2.7 million people profess Catholic religion in the Czech Republic, which was almost 1.3 million fewer than in 1991, and 7675 people followed the Greco-Catholic Church.
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The Vatican press centre released the information, based on statistical data valid as of December 31, 2008, ahead of the planned visit by Pope Benedict XVI in September. A total of 10.38 million inhabitants, including 3.29 million Catholics lived in the the Czech Republic as of that date, says the Papal press centre in a report released by the Czech Bishops’ Conference on its website.
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However, the number of Czech Catholics, stated by the Vatican, rather ensues from the number of baptised children and culture tradition, while the current number of active believers who agree with the Catholic Church and regularly attend divine services is not known and will probably be lower, experts told CTK. “The Catholic Church considers everyone who is baptised its member. These people do not have to claim they belong to the church in a census,” Jiri Gracky, from the Czech Bishops’ Conference, said. The Vatican has used data from individual dioceses, the CBK is not gathering them, Gracky added.
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There are no available data on the number of believers from the communist era except for the census in 1950. Religion expert and theologist Ivan Odilo Stampach says there is an immense difference between the number of people who say they follow the church and real believers.According to the Vatican press centre, there are nine church administration units in the Czech Republic, five Bohemian and three Moravian dioceses and the Apostolic Exarchate of the Greco-Catholic Church, with 2576 parishes and another 70 pastoral centres.
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A total of 20 bishops, including three Greco-Catholic ones, 1370 diocesan and 586 monastic priests, 116 monks and 1609 nuns serve the Czech Republic. Besides, 184 theology students are preparing for the priest’s profession. However, Opatrny says the number of candidates for priesthood is not rising in the country.
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ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/vatican-reports-higher-number-of-czech-catholics-than-census/394709
 
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