Roman Catholicism

RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF
WORLD POPULATION: 17 percent
The term catholic is derived from a Greek word meaning universal or worldwide,
The adjective Roman is not part of the name of the Catholic Church but identifies its
distinguishing feature: accep- tance of the supreme authority of the bishop of Rome (the pope).
There are somewhat more than one billion Roman Catholics in the world. Of these, around 13
percent are in Africa, 21 percent in North and Central America, 29 percent in South America,
10 percent in Asia, 26 per- cent in Europe, and 1 percent in Oceania. The heaviest concentration
of Catholics is in Central and South America, where they form approximately 85 percent of the
population.