Under Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals has become less European
Pope Francis’ picks for the College of Cardinals have tilted the leadership structure away from its historic European base and toward countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Pope Francis’ picks for the College of Cardinals have tilted the leadership structure away from its historic European base and toward countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Between 2010 and 2018, the share of Chinese adults who identify with Christianity remained stable at about 2%.
Indonesia is about 87% Muslim and 11% Christian. Roughly 242 million Muslims and 29 million Christians live in Indonesia.
Immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa tend to be more religious than U.S.-born Black adults or immigrants from the Caribbean.
Based on formal religious identity, China is the least religious country in the world – with just 10% of Chinese adults self-identifying with a religion.
In Brazil – home to the world’s largest Catholic population – a majority of Catholics are in favor of allowing priests to marry.
Mexico is home to not only the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, but one of the biggest Catholic populations, too.
A historic event within global Christianity is set to take place Friday as Pope Francis meets Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Cuba – the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches since the Orthodox tradition broke away from Catholicism nearly 1,000 years ago.
A majority of all Hispanic adults identify as Catholic and a large majority of Hispanic Catholics speak Spanish fluently. Eight-in-ten Hispanic Catholics use mostly Spanish or are bilingual. In fact, they are more likely to be Spanish speakers than non-Catholic Hispanics (68%).
The three countries on the pope’s itinerary — Uganda, Kenya and the Central African Republic — all have sizable Catholic populations. But they also have seen violent clashes in recent years.
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