Vatican City, Feb 19, 2006 / 22:00 pm
On Saturday, the Holy See’s Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano presented Pope Benedict XVI with the Vatican’s annual report on the state of the Church which, this year, summarized the first year of his pontificate.
Also on hand for the presentation were Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs, and various officials responsible for compiling and printing the volume.
The 2006 “Annuario Pontificio," or pontifical yearbook, showed that in 2005, 15 new Episcopal sees were created as well as one metropolitan see, and one apostolic administration; 170 new bishops, it said, were also appointed.
Likewise, it clarified the fact that from 2003-2004, Catholics compiled a population of 1,098 million within a greater world population of 6,388 million.