Communication on June 16, 2006
* Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2005 Published
The Catholic Conference of Korea published Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2005 on June 10, 2006. According to the Statistics, about one fourth of Korean Catholics attended Sunday Mass last year.
As of December 31, 2005, the number of Catholics amounted to 4,667,283 or 9.5% of the total population. It indicates an increase of 129,439 or 2.9% from the previous year.
Those newly baptized were 148,175, an increase of 9,460 from the previous year. Among them 76,398 were men and 71,777 were women. Since 1995 when the new method of collecting statistics was introduced, it is the first time that men outnumbered women in the number of those newly baptized.
As only 26.9% of the faithful attended Sunday Mass and 23.4% received the Sacrament of Penance during the Advent and the Lent, it seems necessary that fundamental measures be made for the re-evangelization of the faithful.
The Statistics also categorized the faithful by sex (male 41.7%; female 58.3%), by age (53.6% of the faithful were in their 20s to 40s. However, the number of those over 70 increased rapidly, indicating the aging of the Catholic Church in Korea.) and by diocese (The Archdiocese of Seoul has the most number of faithful, followed by the Diocese of Suwon and the Archdiocese of Daegu).
Meanwhile, this Statistics showed significant difference in the number of Catholics from those published on May 25 by the Korea National Statistical Office. According to the governmental statistics, the number of Catholics was 5,146,147 or 10.9% of the total population, indicating a gap of some 480,000 from that of the Church statistics.
In this regard, the Pastoral Institute of Korea (Editor: Rev. Peter Pai Young-ho) made an announcement that this gap was originated from the different way of collecting data. The Church statistics counted only those faithful who were baptized and registered in parishes. On the other hand, it is assumed that the governmental statistics counted all those who considered themselves as "Catholics," including catechumens and the lukewarm Catholics.
The announcement also continued that from this statistics the Catholic Church could recognize the need "to make more efforts not only for the growth but also for the qualitative development of the Church."
The Catholic Conference of Korea published Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2005 on June 10, 2006. According to the Statistics, about one fourth of Korean Catholics attended Sunday Mass last year.
As of December 31, 2005, the number of Catholics amounted to 4,667,283 or 9.5% of the total population. It indicates an increase of 129,439 or 2.9% from the previous year.
Those newly baptized were 148,175, an increase of 9,460 from the previous year. Among them 76,398 were men and 71,777 were women. Since 1995 when the new method of collecting statistics was introduced, it is the first time that men outnumbered women in the number of those newly baptized.
As only 26.9% of the faithful attended Sunday Mass and 23.4% received the Sacrament of Penance during the Advent and the Lent, it seems necessary that fundamental measures be made for the re-evangelization of the faithful.
The Statistics also categorized the faithful by sex (male 41.7%; female 58.3%), by age (53.6% of the faithful were in their 20s to 40s. However, the number of those over 70 increased rapidly, indicating the aging of the Catholic Church in Korea.) and by diocese (The Archdiocese of Seoul has the most number of faithful, followed by the Diocese of Suwon and the Archdiocese of Daegu).
Meanwhile, this Statistics showed significant difference in the number of Catholics from those published on May 25 by the Korea National Statistical Office. According to the governmental statistics, the number of Catholics was 5,146,147 or 10.9% of the total population, indicating a gap of some 480,000 from that of the Church statistics.
In this regard, the Pastoral Institute of Korea (Editor: Rev. Peter Pai Young-ho) made an announcement that this gap was originated from the different way of collecting data. The Church statistics counted only those faithful who were baptized and registered in parishes. On the other hand, it is assumed that the governmental statistics counted all those who considered themselves as "Catholics," including catechumens and the lukewarm Catholics.
The announcement also continued that from this statistics the Catholic Church could recognize the need "to make more efforts not only for the growth but also for the qualitative development of the Church."