| rdfs:comment
| - According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Church's worldwide membership at the end of 2003 was 1,085,557,000, about half of the estimated 2.1 billion Christians worldwide. In the case of countries whose census returns include information on religion, these figures report only those who classify themselves as Roman Catholics. Because of obstacles to regular contacts, Catholics in mainland China and a few other places are also not included.
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| abstract
| - According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Church's worldwide membership at the end of 2003 was 1,085,557,000, about half of the estimated 2.1 billion Christians worldwide. In the case of countries whose census returns include information on religion, these figures report only those who classify themselves as Roman Catholics. Because of obstacles to regular contacts, Catholics in mainland China and a few other places are also not included. The number of Catholics in the world continues to increase, particularly in Africa and Asia, although the religion has lost much of its political influence in the "First World" (e.g. Europe, USA). The increase between 1978 and 2000 was 288 million. Protestant evangelicals have succeeded in making inroads into parts of Latin America, but remain a small percentage of the population. In most industrialized countries, church attendance has decreased since the 19th century, though it remains higher than that of other "mainline" Churches. According to canon law, members are those who have been baptized in, or have been received into, the Catholic Church on making a profession of faith. They remain members, even if unfaithful to their obligations or even if excommunicated, unless they formally renounce membership by, for instance, joining another religion or denomination. However, in countries where a question on religion is included in the census, the number given in the Statistical Yearbook of the Church (see above) is that of the census returns; thus, for instance, in the case of New Zealand, where 27.5% of the population classified themselves in the 2001 census as being of no religion, the number of canonical Catholics is doubtless higher than the number appearing in the Statistical Yearbook of the Church.
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