A Vatican report showed that the number of Catholic priests and believers in the world is on the rise, with gains in Africa and Asia offsetting a slump in Europe and the Americas.

The gain outstripped the increase in the global population, which rose by 1.23 percent over the same period, the report said.
The biggest rise among believers was seen in Africa (up 4.3 percent) and Asia (up 2.0 percent), while America while numbers in Europe were broadly flat, up 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the total number of Catholic priests globally grew from 405,067 in 2001 to 413,418 at the end of 2011.
Again this rise was driven by Africa -- where the number jumped 39.5 percent -- and Asia, up 32 percent.
Over the same period, Europe saw a 9.0 percent drop in priest numbers.
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The majority of Catholics live in the Americas (48.8 percent), followed by Europe (23.5 percent), Africa (16 percent), Asia (10.9 percent) and Oceania (0.8 percent).
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