Bishop Okpaleke In Vatican’s Pontifical Yearbook 2017 Records

(More proof the Vatican and Pope Francis were not kidding at all).

Published 25.07.2017

If you are still in doubt about the Vatican’s choice of Bishop Peter Okpaleke as shepherd of Ahiara Diocese, you better wake up to reality. On page 25 of the official Pontifical Yearbook of 2017, details about the Ahiara Diocese and its bishop can be found there. {See a snapshot below}

The Pontifical Yearbook 2017, edited by the Central Office of Church Statistics of the Secretariat of State and printed by the Vatican Press has now been in circulation for a while.

(Above) Cover page of the Annuario Pontificio 2017
(Above) Snapshot of page 25 of the Pontificio Annuario 2017

Other interesting details about the contents of the Pontifical yearbook and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2015 found on the the Vatican.va website read:

“The number of baptized Catholics has continued to grow globally, from 1,272 million in 2014 to 1,285 million in 2015, with a relative increase of 1 %. This represents a total of 17.7% of the total population. If a medium term perspective is adopted, for example with reference to 2010, a more robust growth of 7.4% is shown. The dynamic of this increase varies from continent to continent: while, indeed, in Africa there is an increase of 19.4%, with the number of Catholics passing from 186 to 222 million in the same period, in ……...”

“The increased weight of the African continent is also confirmed, with an increase from 15.5% to 17.3% of global baptized faithful. There is, however, a sharp decline in Europe, from 23.8% of faithful worldwide in 2010 to 22.2% in 2015; America instead remains the continent to which almost 49% of baptized Catholics belong. Asian Catholics continue to represent around 11% of the world total 2015. The proportion of Catholics in Oceania also remains stable, although with a figure of less than 0.8% of the world’s Catholic population.”


The number of bishops has increased over time, satisfying the needs of an increased number of faithful and a numerical and functional balance with regard to the priestly body. In the last five years there has been an increase of 3.9%. Such movement of growth occurs in all continents, although the variation is more pronounced for the Asian continent (+ 5.4%) and Europe (4.2%) and below the general trend for America (+ 3.7%) and Africa (+ 2.3%). It can also be seen that the relative weight of each continent has remained, in the period, virtually unchanged and commensurate to the relative importance of the individual continental situations. In particular, in 2015, America holds 37.4% of all prelates, followed by Europe (with 31.6%), Asia (with 15.1%), Africa (13, 4%) and Oceania (2.5%).

“Africa is the continent with the highest increase of religious, from 66,375 in 2010 to 71,567 in 2015, with a relative increase of 7.8% for the entire period and an average annual growth rate of 1.6%. It is followed by South East Asia, where professed women religious have increased in number from 160,564 in 2010 to 166,786 in 2015, an increase of 3.9% over the entire period and an annual average growth rate of 0.78%. ……..”

“In Africa, for example, the number of major seminarians in the period under examination has steadily increased, with an increase of 7.7% for the entire period. In all areas of America we have witnessed a continuous decline in vocations, resulting in a variation of -8.1%. In the Middle East, the decrease was accentuated until 2013 and the subsequent development does not show unique trends; conversely in South East Asia, the initial growth ended in 2012 (+ 4.5% compared to 2010), and was followed by a marked decline which brought the number of major seminarians in 2015 at a level 1.6% less than the maximum of 2012.”

“Finally, the datum that merits particular attention relates to the progress of priestly vocations. Indeed, the number of seminarians, after reaching a maximum in 2011, has suffered a gradual reduction. The sole exception remains Africa, which does not yet seem to be affected by the crisis in vocations and is confirmed as the geographical area with the greatest potential.”

The Pontifical Yearbook 2017 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2015, compiled and edited by the Central Office of Church Statistics, are currently being distributed in bookstores.


    Mbaise Catholics’ Forum

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    Covering and documenting events and developments in Ahiara Diocese and involving Mbaise Catholics. Follow us : @MbaiseCatholics

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