VATICAN CITY (AP) - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.
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(Photo: AP Images / Vadim Ghirda)Romanian Roman Catholic worshipers attend the Easter religious service at the St. Iosif cathedral in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday March 23 2008.
"For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook.
He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2 percent.
"It is true that while Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer," the monsignor said.
Formenti said that the data refer to 2006. The figures on Muslims were put together by Muslim countries and then provided to the United Nations, he said, adding that the Vatican could only vouch for its own data.
When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said.
Spokesmen for the Vatican and the United Nations did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Sunday.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Also, just some more information here...
I found this blog article to be interesting...
http://haroonbaloch.blogspot.com/2007/05/future-is-islam.html
Here is a YouTube video regarding the phenomenon...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmP9a6LIvTg
And another website with some detailed statistics...
http://www.arabicbible.com/christian/islam_in_america.htm
Obviously Islam is not only growing due to its unparalleled birth rates.
Either Islam is right and Christianity is wrong, or Islam is wrong and Christianity is right...
All I can say is that I would hate to be on the wrong side.
What is the commotion?
I dunno why Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said what he did... Muslims are more than Catholics...
That is like saying Christians (note, I am not saying Protestants or Catholics, rather I'm using an all inclusive label, "Christians") are more than the Sunnis!
Yes Muslims are populating the world by their birth rate, agreed... But in reality... the increase of Muslims due to conversion is astonishingly ever increasing as well...
Proof? Here...
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
In the above link, it shows Islam as the only growing religion.
As for the growth rate of Christianity and Islam:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/growth_isl_chr.htm
According to the above link, at current rates the dominant religion during the latter part of the 21st Century will be Islam.
Just some figures for thought...
What did you expect? Christians will continue going down in number and influence in the world so long as they continue in fighting one another. Some Churistian denominations have no other reason to be except to oppose and condemn other Christian groups. Christ asked us to go and evangelize those who do not believe in him, such as Muslims. Until we obey Christ and start doing just that, Christianity will keep going down and down in the world.
David Barton , a brilliant researcher of Christian faith and Early America has wonderful documentaries on www.wallbuilders.com of how the BIble and CHristian leadership built America. Not observing precedent in our early roots, law has left young persons confused and untrained in CHristiam in principles. Commitment to our vows and holiness must be demanded. God is love/ "By this shall they know you are my disciples, that you love one another". Abstinence before marriage is a must.
The problem with these numbers is that it includes secular Muslims and secular Catholics as well. The difference however is that culturally Muslims will tend to stay true to their heritage in profession without any convictions.
I am glad however that the point was made that it is a matter of child birth. Many are confused thinking that Islamic growth reflects some sort of proselytizing or that people are converting from Christianity.
pburwell
so you differentiate too between catholocism and christianity?
To Blue:
I agree, the numbers that muslim countries send to the UN are the countries complete population total because in their arrogance they say that if your father is muslim you are a muslim...
Part of me want to believe that the only reason the Islamic population is more numerous than the the Roman Catholic population is because most children of Muslim families really have no choice but to be Muslim. I think that is very evident in the recent Egyptian court ruling that declared that no Muslims can legally change relgion, or that children must take the religion of their father, and thus can not attend schooling any other way. So, children grow up so deeply rooted with Islamic culture that legally, and eventually socially, they do not know otherwise.
And of course, in more democratic societies some people do end up changing religions from one denomination to another or so so. I would assume that Catholic children usually grow up to be Catholic, at least that is what my family is used to. But the point is ability and willingness; did the Vatican take that into account? If not, then is a forced religion upon a culture - Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, the 5 'stans' - condiered valid when debating this point?
This is certainly an eye opener. The number means that although Christians actually make up around 33 percent of the world population, it is being challenged by a rapidly growing numbers of Muslim (19.2 percent, Sunni + Shiite) – thus Christians Mission have to be amplified and more effective in getting more souls to the body of Christ and established churches needs to give better example in adhering and unity to the Words of the Living God.
Please note I did NOT say "Catholics" I said "Christians". :)
Of course the facts are a little different...
The number of underground Christians in Communist countries and Muslim countries is staggeringly large and GROWING ...
Beautiful picture by the way
Joe,
I don't comment on other articles written about different faiths or denominations, I'm quite frankly not interested in them. However, if there is an article dealing with Catholicism and quoting Catholic leaders then I'm interested in commenting. Why others are drawn to an issue discussing the viewpoints of Catholic leaders is there own business. As for why this article is written about one "denomination" of Christianity should be quite evident.
so what?
Two thoughts:
God is still omnipotent, sovereign and utterly in control of everything.
&
Maranatha!
DannyPoo,
I understand and agree. Just my opinion of course, but popular media seems to be more focused on grabbing readers and sensationalism than reporting the truth and and nothing but the truth. Christian media should stand above this, but does not succeed sometimes.
Thanks for your feedback!
john14-6,
Well said; I agree with your observation. May the Lord give us all discernment to understand the times in which we live.
Joe12234,
I am not a member of a specific church, although I attend an Assemblies of God, and I agree with you, a church is not the way to heaven, only through Christ and his work, not through mine or my attendance in any group.
I was just pointing out that, this article combines the Muslim sects/denominational-types, and compares that number to a single Christian-type denomination, rather than all.
If this article wanted to be more accurate, they could combine the Christian sect/denominational-type groups and compare that number to the Muslim sect/denominational type groups. But they didn't do that because the way it is written is made to surprise you.
Not that this is a competition between Christians and Muslims it's just an argument for accuracy in writing. Mr. By Alessandra Rizzo who wrote this article should have been more specific that she is combining all the Muslim sects and comparing them to one "denomination" of Christianity, but likely the article writer is not even aware that Muslims have sects, many people are ignorant to that fact.
truthandjustice1:
DannyPoo did not use the word "Protestant". I have seen in your comment and other comments you have made in other articles that you often want to highlight the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism.
Romans 3:10-12: "as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.'"
thus by nature, all religion is flawed (because it is man's effort), including Catholicism and Protestantism. Religion is man's attempt to reach God, Jesus is God's attempt to reach man.
Who is Jesus to you? I am not judging you, I am only asking the question.
Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance of our many sins is the only hope we have (not the church). Church should be the means by which we worship God and fellowship to help each other along the way, not tear down each other.
Christians still outnumber Muslims, this figure only includes Catholics. There are over 2 billion Christians in the world. However, I think these statistics point toward a disastrous future coming for the entire world. I see the handwriting of Revelation, Ezekiel and Daniel, etc, on the wall, so to speak.
Danny,
I agree with you the Islamic faith is just as divided as the Protestant faith. However, it is disturbing that the unity of the Catholic faith is no longer larger than all these protestant and Islamic faiths.
danny what you said is true..but still i feel..we christians must be alert..and keep close look at the numbers!
the fact that they outnumbered catholics itself is a great thing..and surely must rise a lot of passion in us to do better..and faster..
;-)
This article is somewhat written poorly. Muslims, just like Christians have sects/denominational-type groups. Ex: Shiites, Sunni's. This article combines all those groups and calls them Muslims then uses Catholics, which is a sect of Christianity as it's comparison group. So it is probably an innappropriate comparison.
If you were to combine all the Christian-type groups, it is still far larger than the combined Muslim groups. This article is written to produce a surprise in you, and maybe even upset you.
1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.
This is really a serious issue guys!
You know the impact Muslims can have on the world...if they are expanding in this rapid pace
It will surely cause huge damages to the society..The expansion of Christianity and Christians would only build peace!