No analysis just the article:
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO
Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.
"For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us,'' Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook.
He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population - a stable percentage - while Muslims were at 19.2 percent.
"It is true that while Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer,'' the monsignor said.
Formenti said that the data refer to 2006. The figures on Muslims were put together by Muslim countries and then provided to the United Nations, he said, adding that the Vatican could only vouch for its own data.
When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said.
Spokesmen for the Vatican and the United Nations did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Sunday.
Original source here.
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10 comments:
Yuck! You took my post :(
I had a very interesting analysis on this...you beat me to it!!!!
oh haha so sorry, i didn't post an analysis so just take my post off and repost it or post your analysis above my post. i'm in the middle of writing a paper that's due midnight of which i only have the introductory paragraph done that's why i didn't provide an analysis to the article. but please do post it:)
Interesting. Would this have any relation to the Pope making a huge deal of Magdi Allam's conversion?
What is this analysis you speak of Brother Affad?
Muslims may now make up the largest religion in the world, not because it is such a wonderful relgion but because of the un-even playing field for world religions. Muslims have been welcomed with open arms in Europe, North and South America where they are free to practice and spread their religion whereas non-Muslim religions are outlawed in many Muslim countries. Christians missionary are even executed in some Muslim countries. Given the rules under which the Muslims play, it is only a matter of time before there are more Muslims than all other religions combined and when they will rise up and control the world, and that is exactly what they plan to do.
I think anonymous needs to be reminded of the shared historical development of any religion.
I doubt the pagans of Europe would enjoy the spread of Christianity. Nor the spread of Christianity is much appreciated in the America's. The Australians just apologized for something along this line.
Either way, RELIGION is a tool used for political means. I recognize how millions of Persians who were Sunni were forced to become Shia due to the Safavid desire to set up a counter to the Ottomans.
But heck, lets keep them pesky missionaries out, in fact lets keep them from waking me up 9 in the morning on a Sunday?
An interesting comment I read on this article which I agree with - the best thing about the survey is that all Muslims are considered as one group. I hope the day never comes when we are split into "Sunni" and "Shia"...
woo hoo! we're winning! yeay!
GO MUSLIMS!
I'm not sure this has much to do with winning.
In fact, considering the weak state the Muslim ummah is in (it's not the worse in Islamic history and it is getting better but nonetheless one must confess it's not great at the moment) this survey reminds me of a hadith of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) regarding the weakening of the ummah.
According to the hadith, during that time Muslims will be in large numbers but they will have no real weight or effect. Why? Their love of this world (dunya) and their hatred of death.
Something to reflect upon. What are our large numbers doing for us?
I can not agree with annonymous #3 more.
I mean this is statistics. At the end of the day, just because we are having more babies doesnt mean we will/can keep those people in Islam.
They might be cultural or even secular Muslims. What good is that?
subhana'Allah. Some of the readers of this blog were in middle school when Muslims made up 20% of the population of the world. One in five has risen to one in four. Given everything that's going on, who would have expected it. 0.5 billion is a huge increase.
At the same time, I agree with Anonymous 3. Our 'ish is in shambles and our numbers seem to just be a FAKE security blanket.
Let's talk about the literacy and poverty rates amongst this largest group of believers in the world...
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