Roman Catholic Global Population Hits 1.1B

aux.link: BBC NEWS Europe Catholic nuns and monks decline

Although the article link above primarily points out the decline in religious orders, it's worth noting that the data are nearly 3 years old. For some reason, current statistics are not mentioned and I'd be curious as to what they are now in 2008.

While the overall Roman Catholic population increase is good news that we continue to attract and procreate strongly internationally, it drives home one of the intentions we pray for at Mass every Sunday- an increase in clergy. I hope Pope Benedict can stem the recession under JPII and turn the tide so the Church can keep track with not only their own population, but the global population as well.