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[7] [8] [9] In 2024, the World Christian Database reported 1.278 billion Catholics. [1] That figure does not include independent denominations that self-identify as Catholic, numbering some 18 million adherents subscribing to Old Catholicism and other forms of Independent Catholicism.
The largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion baptized members. [9] The second largest Christian branch is either Protestantism (if it is considered a single group), or the Eastern Orthodox Church (if Protestants are considered to be divided into multiple denominations).
[8] [9] Within these six main traditions are various Christian denominations (for example, the Coptic Orthodox Church is an Oriental Orthodox denomination). Protestantism includes many groups which do not share any ecclesiastical governance and have widely diverging beliefs and practices. [10]
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and, sometimes, a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any ...
In 2010, 87% of the world's Christian population lived in countries where Christians are in the majority, while 13% of the world's Christian population lived in countries where Christians are in the minority. [1] Christianity is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and Sub-Saharan Africa. [1]
The list of religious populations article provides a comprehensive overview of the distribution and size of religious groups around the world. This article aims to present statistical information on the number of adherents to various religions, including major faiths such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others, as well as smaller religious communities.
The first edition, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World A.D. 1900–2000 (WCE), by David B. Barrett, was published in 1982 by Oxford University Press. [1] Barrett was a trained aeronautical engineer who became a missionary with the Church Missionary Society (Anglican).
Some academics studying the subject have divided religions into three broad categories: world religions, a term which refers to transcultural, international faiths; Indigenous religions, which refers to smaller, culture-specific or nation-specific religious groups; and new religious movements, which refers to recently developed faiths. [5]