THE FOLLOWING REPORT IS PROVIDED BY THE INTERNATIONAL DIACONATE CENTER (IDC), WHICH IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CONTENT.
(Sources: 2002 Vatican Yearbook/Country Reports Received by the IDC)1
According to the 2002 Vatican Yearbook, published in the Spring of 2004, there were 4,217, 572 people engaged in pastoral ministry; this number included 4,695 bishops, 405,058 priests, and 30,087 permanent deacons. The higher numbers of deacons reflected in the following statistics reflect even more recent data provided by the various countries. The following statistics include deacons in the Eastern Catholic Churches as well as the Latin Catholic Church, and also include both diocesan deacons and those in religious communities.
AFRICA: 336 Deacons in 25 countries (2001: 361 deacons in 28 countries; 1998: 331 deacons in 25 countries).
Algeria: 1 (1)
Angola: 1 (1)
Botswana: 1 (1)
Cameroon: 16 (18)
Djibouti 1 (0)
Egypt: 3 (12)
Equatorial Guinea: 2 (1)
Ethiopia: 1 (1)
Gabon: 1 (1)
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Ghana: 4 (2)
Ivory Coast: 5 (6)
Kenya: 1 (1)
Mozambique: 3 (0)
Nigeria: 6 (5)
Numibia: 46 (42)
Réunion: 13 (13)
Rwanda: 2 (2)
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Senegal: 1 (1)
Seychelles: 1 (1)
South Africa: 203 (217)
Sudan: 4 (4)
Tanzania: 4 (1)
Uganda: 1 (1)
Zambia: 3 (3)
Zimbabwe: 12 (12) |
THE AMERICAS: 20,318 deacons in 34 countries (2001: 18,371 deacons in 33 countries; 1998: 16,022 deacons in 35 countries).
Antigua: 4 (4)
Argentina: 596 (525)
Bahamas: 15 (14)
Barbados: 1 (1)
Belize: 2 (1)
Bolivia: 76 (62)
Brazil: 1,395 (1,157)
Canada: 918 (918)
Chile: 664 (568)
Colombia: 270 (161)
Costa Rica: 2 (2)
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Cuba: 61 (48)
Dom. Repub.: 309 (231)
Ecuador: 69 (69)
El Salvador: 3 (3)
Fr. Guyana: 6 (5)
Grenada: 4 (5)
Guadalupe: 10 (3)
Guatemala: 8 (6)
Guyana 1 (0)
Haiti: 3 (3)
Honduras: 1 (1)
Jamaica: 32 (32)
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Mexico: 775 (670)
Nether. Antilles: 1 (1)
Nicaragua: 28 (30)
Panama: 66 (66)
Paraguay: 125 (120)
Peru: 47 (51)
Puerto Rico: 402 (418)
St. Lucia: 9 (8)
Uruguay: 65 (63)
USA: 14,693 (13,000)
Venezuela: 122 (104)
Virgin Islands: 28 (18)
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ASIA: 146 deacons in 22 countries (2001: 128 deacons in 23 countries; 1998: 142 deacons in 22 countries).
East Timor: 1 (1)
Hong Kong: 5 (3)
India: 38 (21)
Indonesia: 15 (14)
Iran: 5 (5)
Iraq: 5 (7)
Israel: 4 (6)
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Japan: 13 (8)
Kazakhstan: 2 (2)
Kuwait: 1 (1)
Lebanon: 4 (4)
Malaysia: 2 (1)
Pakistan: 2 (3)
Philippines: 6 (17)
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Qatar: 2 (2)
Russia (Asian): 2 (1)
Saudi Arabia: 1 (1)
Syria: 11 (12)
Taiwan 1 (0)
Thailand: 1 (1)
Turkey: 3 (4)
Vietnam: 21 (11)
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AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA: 195 deacons in 16 countries (2001: 180 deacons in 16 countries; 1998: 160 deacons in 13 countries).
Australia: 56 (47)
Marshal Isl.: 1 (2)
Fr. Polynesia: 30 (23)
Guam: 8 (7)
Kiribati: 1 (1)
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Marianas: 1 (2)
Micronesia: 41 (39)
Nauru: 1 (2)
New Caledonia: 4 (3)
New Zealand: 3 (2)
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Papua N. Guinea: 9 (8)
Samoa: 21 (24)
Samoa (US): 16 (16)
Tokelau: 1 (1)
Vanuattu: 1 (1)
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EUROPE: 9, 978 deacons in 35 countries (2001: 9,198 deacons in 35 countries; 1998: 7,408 deacons in 34 countries).
Austria: 509 (428)
Belgium: 559 (543)
Bosnia-Herz.: 1 (1)
Bulgaria 1 (0)
Croatia 5 (0)
Czech Rep.: 147 (141)
Denmark: 4 (3)
Finland: 1 (3)
France: 1800 (1800)
Germany: 2582 (2451)
Great Britain: 601 (533) 2748
Greece: 3 (2) |
Hungary: 52 (46)
Ireland: 6 (2)
Italy: 2748 (2439) +12.7%
Latvia: 1 (1)
Lichtenstein: 1 (1)
Lithuania: 3 (3)
Luxemburg: 7 (7)
Moldavia: 2 (1)
Monaco: 1 (1)
Netherlands: 308 (214)
Norway: 14 (3)
Poland: 7 (13) |
Portugal: 143 (125)
Romania: 1 (3)
Russia: 1 (2)
San Marino: 1 (1)
Slovakia: 20 (21)
Slovenia: 9 (9)
Spain: 246 (231)
Sweden: 21 (17)
Switzerland: 150 (139)
Ukraine: 16 (14)
Yugoslavia: 7 (1) |
In summary, by the end of 2003 approximately 30,973 [2001: 28,238; 1998: 24,063] permanent deacons served in 131 countries [Russia, although divided into Asian and European sectors for reporting purposes, is counted as a single country.] This is a worldwide increase of 9.7%. Of these, 30,450 deacons are diocesan clergy [2001: 27,720], and 511 [2001: 520; 1998: 544] are in religious institutes or societies of apostolic life [see additional statistics below.] Secular deacons are incardinated into approximately 1,300 church entities (dioceses, prelatures, etc.) As indicated above, these data are drawn largely from Vatican sources and augmented by country reports, where available.
AFRICA: 10 Deacons in 6 countries
Egypt 1
Ivory Coast 1 |
Kenya 1
South Africa 2 |
Tanzania 4
Zambia 1 |
The AMERICAS: 152 Deacons in 17 countries
Argentina 14
Bolivia 8
Brazil 27
Canada 6
Chile 7
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Columbia 7
Costa Rica 1
Dom. Republic 2
Ecuador 2
El Salvador 1
Guatemala 4
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Mexico 8
Paraguay 1
Peru 7
Uruguay 1
United States 55
Venezuela 1 |
ASIA: 66 Deacons in 11 countries
Cambodia 2
East Timor 1
India 30
Indonesia 1 |
Israel 1
Japan 6
Lebanon 1
Malaysia 1 |
Philippines 2
Taiwan 1
Viet Nam 20 |
AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA: 3 Deacons in 2 countries
EUROPE: 280 Deacons in 21 countries
Austria 18
Belgium 9
Croatia 1
Czech Rep. 4
Denmark 1
France 33
Germany 23
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Great Britain 6
Ireland 1
Italy 86
Lithuania 2
Netherlands 12
Norway 12
Poland 6
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Portugal 3
Romania 1
Switzerland 8
Slovakia 1
Slovenia 1
Spain 44
Ukraine 8 |
In summary, 511 permanent deacons are members of religious institutes or societies of apostolic life in 57 countries. Of these deacons, 444 are in religious institutes of pontifical right and 67 in societies of apostolic life of pontifical right.
AFRICA: 23 Deacons in 3 countries
| Cameroon 1 |
Namibia 19 |
South Africa 3 |
THE AMERICAS: 244 Deacons in 16 countries
Argentina 5
Bahamas 2
Bolivia 5
Brazil 19
Canada 21
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Chile 6
Cuba 5
Dom. Republic 4
Ecuador 20
Jamaica 3
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Mexico 2
Panama 4
Peru 9
Uruguay 3
United States 129
Venezuela 7 |
ASIA: 32 Deacons in 5 countries
| India 1 |
Indonesia 3
Iraq 4 |
Japan 1
Viet Nam 23 |
AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA: 19 Deacons in 6 countries
Australia 2
Fr. Polynesia 5 |
Micronesia 8
Papua New Guinea 2 |
Samoa (US) 1
Vanuatu 1 |
EUROPE: 304 Deacons in 12 countries
Austria 64
Belgium 8
Czech Republic 21
France 56 |
Germany 45
Great Britain 7
Hungary 35
Italy 34 |
Portugal 17
Spain
Switzerland 15
Yugoslavia 1 |
In summary, 622 deacons are entrusted in 42 countries with pastoral care of parishes in accordance with c. 517 .2.