Vatican City, Jan 3, 2012 / 16:26 pm
Over 2.5 million people took part in various Vatican events with Pope Benedict in 2011, outdoing the numbers reported over the last three years.
The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household estimated 400,000 attendees at general audiences, 101,800 at private audiences, 846,000 at liturgical celebrations, and 1,206,000 at Angelus and Regina Coeli prayers last year.
Statistics only include events at the Vatican or the Pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
The prefecture said that the numbers are approximate and are based on the amount of requests to participate in events with the Pope, the number of tickets distributed, and the estimations of people present at events like the Angelus or large celebrations in St. Peter’s Square.