STATISTICS FOR THE CHURCH IN POLAND

VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 1999 (VIS) - Statistics for the Church in Poland have been published on the occasion of the Pope's eighth apostolic trip to his native country - his 87th trip outside of Italy - from June 5 to 17. The statistics are drawn from the latest Statistical Yearbook of the Church, updated to December 31, 1997.

Poland has a population of 38.6 million inhabitants of whom 36.8 million - 95.4 percent - are Catholic. There are 43 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 9,723 parishes and 800 pastoral centers of other types. Bishops number 120 (on April 30, 1999), priests 26,435 and religious 26,963. There are 925 lay members of secular institutes, 11,413 catechists, 670 minor seminarians and 6,762 major seminarians.

A total of 242,309 pupils attend the 668 Catholic study centers from kindergarten to university. There are also other centers owned by the Church and run by ecclesiastics or religious: 60 hospitals, 51 clinics, 165 homes for the elderly or the handicapped, 222 orphanages and nurseries, 1,650 family consultancies and other centers for the protection of life as well as 82 special education centers.

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