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SYNOD-STATISTICS Oct-13-2009 (420 words) xxxi
Synod official highlights growth of church in Africa
By Gustavo Solis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Statistics released during the October Synod of Bishops for Africa illustrate significant growth among African Catholics and point toward a hopeful future for the continent, according to a leading Vatican official.
The numbers indicate growth in the Catholic population, the number of church-run organizations providing health and education services, and even in the number of African martyrs, said Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general for the Synod of Bishops, in a report read to the synod's first general assembly Oct. 5.
The number of African Catholics increased by more than 62 million people from 1994, the year in which the first African synod was held, to the end of 2007. The rate of growth among Catholics during that period, about 60 percent, was almost twice as high as the rate of growth among the general population in Africa, which was about 33 percent.
The church in Africa saw a rise in the number of bishops, priests, deacons, people in consecrated life and laypeople. The number of priests increased by 49 percent, seminarians by 44 percent and lay missionaries by 94 percent.
Archbishop Eterovic referred to this recent growth as "many gifts bestowed on the church in Africa," and thanked God for "the great dynamism witnessed in the statistics."
He lauded 521 pastoral workers who gave their lives in Africa from 1994 to 2008. These African martyrs include 248 victims of the 1994 Rwandan conflict and 40 seminarians murdered in Burundi in 1997.
"Undoubtedly, the pastors of the particular churches will recognize candidates for canonization, not only to increase the number of African saints but also to obtain more intercessors in heaven," Archbishop Eterovic said.
The statement also called attention to an increase in the number of Africa's charitable, medical and educational organizations. There are 53 Caritas programs and 42 justice and peace commissions that offer the African population a wide variety of services in the areas of economic justice, peace-building and human development.
At the end of 2007, there were 16,178 pastoral health care institutions on the African continent. They include hospitals, orphanages, rehabilitation centers, clinics, marriage-counseling centers, houses for the elderly and disabled, and multiple centers that respond to different needs.
African Catholic schools serve more than 19 million students, ranging from preschool to high school. Higher institutions of learning have more than 54,000 students; about 11,000 of those students are enrolled in ecclesiastical studies.
Archbishop Eterovic said the data on these organizations was a "laudable, important testimony to many Christians, above all to Catholics who work tirelessly."
END
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