Читать книгу The Atlas of Religion - Joanne O'Brien - Страница 36

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The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world, with over 1 billion baptized members. While the number of priests worldwide and in Latin America remains steady, in 2003 the Vatican recorded a decrease in European priests and an increase in priests from Africa and Asia. The number of nuns worldwide has dropped significantly, particularly in Europe and North America, where there were 15,000 fewer in 2003 than in the previous year. In contrast there was an increase of nearly 4,000 nuns in Asia and 1,285 in Africa. Overall, however, Europe and the Americas still have the largest number of nuns, with 74 percent of the world total of 776,269. The Catholic Church is governed by the Holy See in Rome, officially known as the State of the Vatican City. It is the world’s only sacerdotal government and as such has official diplomatic representation. There are three types of pontifical representative: nuncios, for nations with a Catholic majority; pro-nuncios, for nations with a Catholic minority; and, permanent observers or delegates who are appointed to certain international organizations.

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