Pope Francis will make a Nov. 28-30 apostolic visit to Turkey.
In the lead-up to his visit, the following statistical data on the Catholic Church in the country is provided by the Central Office of Church Statistics:
Turkey has an area of 774,815 square kilometres and a population of 76,140,000 inhabitants of whom 53,000 are Catholics, making up 0.07% of the population.
Looking at the Church itself, there are seven ecclesiastic circumscriptions, 54 parishes and 13 pastoral centres.
To carry out the work of the apostolate, there are six bishops, 58 priests, seven men religious and 54 women religious, and two permanent deacons. There are four major seminarians in Turkey.
Looking at laity, there are two lay members of secular institutes, seven lay missionaries and 68 catechists.
Also, the Catholic Church in Turkey has 23 educational centres consisting of pre-schools, primary schools, middle schools and secondary schools, as well as six centers of special education.
Regarding health facilities, there are also three hospitals, two clinics and five homes for the elderly and disabled.
Pope Benedict XVI visited Turkey on nearly the same dates in 2006: Nov. 28-Dec. 1.
