How many Bishops?

Answer 1

The last published statistics taken in February, 2011 claim that there were 5,065 Catholic bishops in the world. This statistic is provided by the Vatican. The Vatican also cites that there are 1.18 billion Catholics in the world.

Answer 2

Catholic Answer:
In the early years of the Church (and even today) there were (are) a number of bishops in Rome but only one successor to Saint Peter. Peter was under no heavenly command to make Rome the headquarters of the Church. He could just as easily chosen Antioch or Jerusalem as the capitol of Christianity. Rome, at the time, was the center of the civilized world. All roads led to Rome. Peter did, in fact, rule the Church from Antioch during the years when Emperor Claudius exiled all Jews, both Orthodox and Christianized, from Rome.

During nearly 7 decades of the Avignon papacy the pope ruled from France and not Rome. While not the 'bishop of Rome' he was still the pope and successor of Peter.

Even today, Pope Francis could decide to move the papacy to Buenos Aires or some other location. He would still be pope but not bishop of Rome. He would then choose the new bishop of Rome who would rule only the diocese of Rome, not the entire Church.

Therefore, to answer the question, there have been 266 successors of Saint Peter, all of whom were bishops, but not all of them were the Bishop of Rome. There were (are) also many bishops assigned to work in Rome who were (are) not popes.

Answer 3

The Catholic Church current list has 266 bishops of Rome, although this list has been subject to change over the century, as former 'popes' have been relegated to the status of antipope, or otherwise. Scholars say that there were not really any bishops of Rome until well into the second century, so the five bishops attributed to the first century and probably several of the second century could be regarded as spurious.

Answer 4

Roman Catholic AnswerThere were 4,541 bishops in the Church in the year 2000. That grew to 5,002 in the year 2008.

Answer 5

According to UAC (United Anglican Church) News, the number of bishops worldwide was closing in on around 5,000 as of 2007.

Answer 6

there are 250

Answer 7

[we have 265 bishops