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Islam Overtakes Catholicism as World's Largest Religion


BryanS

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Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism to become the world's largest single religious denomination, according to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

In an interview with the paper Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, compilier of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook, said "For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us." He said that figures for 2006 showed that Catholics accounted for 17.4 per cent of the world population while Muslims accounted for 19.2 per cent.

Asked for an explanation Monsignor Formenti observed 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". He said the figure for the Muslim global population was derived from data submitted to the United Nations by Muslim countries.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle3653800.ece

Thoughts?

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In France they will pay you to have more kids.

In Italy it was projected, I read, that the country would be majority immigrant within a few decades.

Europeans in particular just don't have kids at replacement rates. South Americans probably do.

I am surprised that Muslims have so many kids. Where is this all happening? Egypt?

Edited by N Judah
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My thoughts are: Since when is Islam a "denomination?" I thought it was a "religion."

Wouldn't "denominations" be Shia or Sunni?

IMO, A more apt comparison would be Christinatity (rather than Catholicism) versus Islam.

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IMO, A more apt comparison would be Christinatity (rather than Catholicism) versus Islam.

Yep, but keep in mind that these stats come from the Vatican itself, so as far as it's concerned Catholicism and Protestantism are two separate groups. A fact that really kind of skews the outcome here.

Edited by cottonmather0
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My thoughts are: Since when is Islam a "denomination?" I thought it was a "religion."

Wouldn't "denominations" be Shia or Sunni?

IMO, A more apt comparison would be Christinatity (rather than Catholicism) versus Islam.

You beat me to the punch. With the exception of the article briefly mentioning "Christian" numbers versus Islamic numbers, this almost sounds like propoganda.

Personally, the possibility of this part of the story scares the hell out of me

"In a provocative short story entitled "The Last Christmas" (L'Ultimo Natale) the popular Italian writer Valerio Massimo Manfredi imagines a future in which Islam has become the dominant religion in Italy, with the Pope obliged to leave St Peter's and make way for an Imam"

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In France they will pay you to have more kids.

In Italy it was projected, I read, that the country would be majority immigrant within a few decades.

Europeans in particular just don't have kids at replacement rates. South Americans probably do.

I am surprised that Muslims have so many kids. Where is this all happening? Egypt?

Pakistan and India (and possibly Indonesia)

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It IS propaganda, FOR the Catholic church, they are trying to increase numbers in order to make more money and using ISLAM as a whole to be a threat against Catholisism and not Christianity as a whole, because they don't want people joining other christian denominations as it would take away from their mone........I mean devout worshippers.

Edited by TJones
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Dear Catholics,

Love,

El Papa

:o

He said that -- pretty much -- a few years ago, though it was directed specifically to Italians. I'm sure there would be a great deal of schadenfreude on the part of other, smaller, denominations to see the pope's backyard turned into a Muslim state but I do think a lot of Italian culture might be lost.

They're trying, they're trying... The Church can't get it in our heads enough: birth control and abortion are sins! ... We need people!

Don't other Christian denominations say that? Do Muslims believe that? Just curious.

Edited by Subdude
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It IS propaganda, FOR the Catholic church, they are trying to increase numbers in order to make more money and using ISLAM as a whole to be a threat against Catholisism and not Christianity as a whole, because they don't want people joining other christian denominations as it would take away from their mone........I mean devout worshippers.

Well, I think it would be delusional to expect the Vatican newspaper to view the demographic change as a triumph of Islam and tout the virility of Muslim men. Was that what you were expecting?

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They're trying, they're trying... The Church can't get it in our heads enough: birth control and abortion are sins! ... We need people!

Every Christian denomination I can think of believes that abortion is a sin and several are starting to change their stance on the pill as well.

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Well, I think it would be delusional to expect the Vatican newspaper to view the demographic change as a triumph of Islam and tout the virility of Muslim men. Was that what you were expecting?

Not the point the Vatican is trying to throw out there. The message from the Vatican is, "To be a good Catholic you each should have at least 3 kids ! We are falling behing, and the Lord WANTS you to have more children, so get busy !"

Edited by TJones
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