Catholicism By the Numbers

Many people in America and Europe may not realize it, but there are a fair number of Catholics in Turkey, my late father's country, in addition to a sizable Jewish community, particularly in the largest city of Istanbul.

Though I'm not a Catholic myself, I thought that with the crowning of a new papal head in Pope Francis I of Argentina and the fact that tomorrow is Easter Sunday, I thought I would post an entry to look at how many Catholics live in countries where they are in the minority.

The image above is of a Catholic church in Buyukada, an island in the inland Marmara Sea that is considered to be part of Istanbul; this is also where one sees many horse carriages as seen below.

In addition to Catholic churches in Istanbul, there are congregations in Izmir and Mersin.

And, as one might expect, Wikipedia states that there are very few Catholics in Afghanistan; here is a look at some of the numbers we found:

1. Afghanistan 200

2. Armenia 110,000

3. Cyprus 10,000

4. Jordan 170,000

5. Kuwait 140,000

6. Serbia 411,000

7. Turkey 35,000

http://www.catholic.org

http://www.adalarturizm.org