• Pope Francis will visit Chile and Peru from the 15th till the 22nd January 2018. In Chile, he will visit the capital Santiago, Temuco and Iquique and in Peru he will pass through Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo. It will be the pope’s sixth trip to Latin America. He has already been to Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Cuba, Mexico and he will visit Colombia in September of this year.

    Here are statistics of the Catholic Church in Chile and Peru as of 31st December 2015:

  • Table 1 – Population and ecclesiastical structure

      Chile Peru
    Area (km2) 756,626 1,285,216
    Population (in thousands) 18,006 31,152
    Density (inhabitants/km2) 24 24
    Catholics (in thousands) 13,329 27,911
    Catholics per 100 inhabitants 74.0 89.6
    Ecclesiastical circumscriptions 27 45
    Parishes 960 1,645
    Other pastoral centres 3,779 6,303
    Catholics per pastoral center 2,813 3,512

  • Table 2 – People engaged in activities of the apostolate

      Chile Peru
    Bishops (Situation on 15.12.2017) 50 68
    Diocesan priests 1,175 2,088
    Religious priests 1,108 1,273
    Total priests 2,283 3,361
    Permanent deacons 1,138 65
    Men religious (other than priests) 546 422
    Professed women religious 4,006 5,568
    Members of secular Institutes 472 179
    Lay missionaries 1,473 11,120
    Catechists 43,547 51,367

  • Table 3 – Indicators of pastoral workload

      Chile Peru
    Catholics per priest 5,838 8,304
    Catholics per pastoral worker 249 387
    Priests per pastoral center 0.48 0.42
    Priests per 100 people engaged in activities of the apostolate 4.36 4.75

  • Table 4 – Priestly Vocations

      Chile Peru
    Minor seminarians 39 689
    Major seminarians 568 1,539
    Major seminarians per 100,000 inhabitants 3.15 4.94
    Major seminarians per 100,000 Catholics 4.26 5.51
    Major seminarians per 100 priests 24.88 45.79

  • Table 5 – Educational centers owned/managed by ecclesiastics or religious

      Chile Peru
    Schools:
    Pre-school and primary 957 995
    Lower middle and secondary 597 524
    Higher and university 27 90
    Students in:
    Pre-school and primary schools 258,366 248,171
    Lower middle and secondary schools 392,582 196,165
    Higher and university institutes 321,105 68,768

  • Table 6 – Charitable and social centers owned/managed by ecclesiastics or religious

      Chile Peru
    Hospitals 18 38
    Clinics 39 323
    Leper colonies 1 4
    Homes for the elderly and disabled 318 90
    Orphanages and nurseries 205 244
    Family consultation centers 30 145
    Special centers for social education or rehabilitation 43 36
    Other institutions 447 581

  • Source: Zenit