Islam is the world's largest religion

[Al-khiyal]

Muslims more numerous than Catholics

VATICAN CITY, March 30, 2008 - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.

"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.

[Al-khiyal]

Number of Muslims ahead of Catholics, says Vatican

March 31, 2008 -- The number of Muslims has overtaken that of Roman Catholics for the first time, the Vatican said yesterday.

Muslims account for 19.2% of the world's population, while Catholics make up 17.4%, according to the Vatican's new statistics yearbook, which is based on figures for 2006.

"For the first time in history we are no longer at the top: the Muslims have overtaken us," said Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who edited the yearbook.

"While it is known that Muslim families continue to have many children, Christian families are having fewer," he said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

The Vatican data showed that Christians as a whole, including Orthodox and Protestant groups as well as Catholics, made up 33% of the world's population.

Applying the percentages to the 2006 world population of about 6.5 billion, Muslims would have made up 1.25 billion of the total, Catholics 1.13 billion and all Christians 2.15 billion.

The numbers were published as a dialogue begins between Muslims and the Vatican to try to patch up a series of differences, starting in 2006 when Pope Benedict gave a speech in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor claiming that Islam was inherently violent.

The Pope again ruffled feathers at Easter by publicly baptising into the Catholic church a formerly Muslim journalist who had described Islam as characterised by intolerance.

The Vatican later distanced itself from the journalist's views.

Formenti said the information on Muslim numbers had been released by the United Nations, while the Vatican's data on Catholics was based on questionnaires sent out to dioceses worldwide.

"Latin America remains the stronghold for Catholicism, while the American continent as a whole has 49.8% of the world's total," he said.

Formenti said that the number of Catholic priests was on the rebound, particularly in Asia, "where there are few Catholics, but they are driven by great spirit". He described Africa as a "grand resource" for the church, while Europe and North America were struggling. The number of nuns was undergoing a "drastic reduction".

As for the enrolment of seminarians, Guadalajara in Mexico had the largest number, with two seminaries "packed full".

France, the Netherlands and Belgium were bottom of the league, while Italy was seeing a "small, very small reprise".

[Al-khiyal]

L’islam dépasse le catholicisme

Mardi 1 Avril 2008 -- D’après le Journal officiel du Vatican, l’islam aurait désormais dépassé le catholicisme romain et serait aujourd’hui la religion la plus répandue au monde. “Pour la première fois dans l’histoire, nous ne sommes plus en tête : les musulmans nous ont dépassés”, a déclaré Mgr Vittorio Formenti, auteur de l’annuaire statistique 2008 de l’État pontifical, lors d’une interview pour L’Osservatore Romano. Ce journal avance ainsi un chiffre stable pour la population catholique alors que la population musulmane a connu une importante augmentation. Si 17,4% de la population mondiale est catholique, les musulmans représentent, eux, 19,2%. Cependant, si l’on prend en compte tous les chrétiens et non pas seulement les catholiques, les chiffres montent : 33% de la population mondiale est, en effet, chrétienne.

[queensRebel]

wrong, it goes for catholicism not Christianity which is the largest religion

[Al-khiyal]

wrong, it goes for catholicism not Christianity which is the largest religion

There are said to be approximately 38,000 Christian denominations in the world, none of which are in perfect agreement with each other, theologically. In what sense can they be said to constitute 'one religion' ?

[momo007]

abu bakr razi said in his book makharek al anbiya:

"if the people of this religion are asked about the proof for the soundness of their religion, they flare up, get angry and spill the blood of whoever confronts them with this question. They forbid rational speculation, and strive to kill their adversaries. This is why truth became thoroughly silenced and concealed"