“The Church in Korea is young,” according to the Korean bishops’ conference.

That would be the people and not the institution itself the conference said after revealing statistics on the Catholic Church in Korea for 2010 in a press release yesterday.

According to the statistics, 18 percent of Catholics are males in their 20’s, and more than half the priests are in their 30s and 40s.

“So, the future of the Church is bright,” the conference said.

It said the figures reflect the efforts of the youth ministry and shows education and local Church initiatives like Korea Youth Day are bearing fruit.

As of December 31, 2010, the total number of Korean Catholics stood at 5,205,589 or 10.1 percent of the population – an increase of 85,497 on 2009.

Related reports
Statistics Show Increase In Number Of Priests, Decrease In Seminarians
Catholic statistics show numbers falling in Japan