STATISTICS ON THE CHURCH IN SLOVENIA

VATICAN CITY, SEP 16, 1999 (VIS) - On September 19, John Paul II will make his second pastoral visit to Slovenia, his 88th outside Italy. The visit is motivated by the beatification of the first bishop of Maribor, Servant of God Anton Martin Slomsek.

Statistics on the Church in Slovenia have been published recently. They are taken from the latest Statistical Yearbook of the Church, dated December 31, 1997.

Slovenia has a population of 1.9 million people of whom 1.6 million - 81.9 percent - are Catholic. There are three ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 801 parishes and 53 pastoral centers of other types. There are 9 bishops (as of August 1, 1999), 1,137 priests, 850 religious, 17 lay members of secular institutes and 301 catechists. Minor seminarians number 61 and major seminarians 177.

A total of 1,898 pupils attend the 10 schools and one university that either pertain to the Church or are directed by clergy or religious. There are also 8 homes for the elderly or sick and 2 orphanages or nurseries, in addition to 8 family consulting centers and other centers for the protection of life, that are either the property of the Church or run by priests or religious.

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