The number of Catholics in South Korea has passed 10 percent for the first time since the faith was established here in 1784.

According to the latest figures from the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Korea, Catholics numbered a little over five million, or 10.1 percent of the national population of 50,643,781, at the end of 2009.

The figures are part of a comprehensive set of statistics on today’s Catholic Church in Korea:

• Females represent 2,992,774, or 58.5 percent, of all Catholics.
• The figure for male Catholics stands at 2,119,601.
• 52.3 percent are aged 30-59, 28.3 percent are under 30 and 19.2 percent are over 60.
• There are now 4,404 priests, an increase of 200 from 2008.
• 4,193 of the priests are native Koreans.
• There are presently 30 bishops including one cardinal.
• There are 10,073 female religious, a small increase from 9,951 in 2008.
• There are 1,555 male religious, an increase of just two from 2008.
• There are 1,571 parishes, an increase of 28 compared to 2008, but 1,017 mission stations, a decrease of 20.
• Finally, there are 15 dioceses plus one military ordinariate.

Related reports
Catholic population passes 5 million mark
Ricci symposium brings together East and West
Japanese and Koreans pray for peace in China

KO09955.1605