Church grows across the globe

■ The Irish Independent in the last sentence of its editorial (‘Church must recognise its own shortcomings’, March 9) states: “Talk of inclusion and humility in a declining Church would be far more meaningful were it backed up by a greater recognition of the value and rights of more than 50pc of its congregation.”

However, the Church’s worldwide membership is far from being a declining religious entity. Membership of the universal Catholic Church is burgeoning – despite perceived faults.

According to the Pew Research Centre (February 2013) the number of Catholics around the globe tripled from an estimated 291 million in 1910 to 1.1 billion as of 2010. According to the Vatican’s 2012 statistics, the global Catholic population reached 1.228 billion by end 2012 – an increase of 14 million, or 1.14pc year on year.

It would appear that sometimes Irish people tend to take an Irish-centric view of the Catholic Church; the statistics, shown above, tell a different story.

Micheal O’Cathail Dún Laoghaire, Dublin