Who are the members of the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerAccording to Vatican's Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae the statistics as of 2007 are 1.147 billion for the world wide Catholic population.

In 2008, the latest year for which there are statistics, the Church listed 1.2 billion members worldwide.

There are about 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide as of 2011.

AnswerStatistically, there are approximately 1.2 Billion Catholics in the world. How many of these Catholics believe in the Catholic Faith is unknown. AnswerApproximately 1 billion people are Catholic, at least through baptism even if they neglect its practice. This means 1 out of every 6 people on earth is a Catholic.

There are 1.20 billion Catholics in the world.

Answer 2

Catholic AnswerFormal membership in the Church usually comes about through Baptism by a Priest or Deacon; or through conversion and a formal oath to accept all the truths of the Catholic Church. In the case of Baptism, by Church law, your Baptismal certificate must be kept at the Church where you were baptized. Anytime you need a copy of it, say for Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, etc. you have to write or call the church where you were baptized and get an updated copy of your Baptismal certificate. Then, after the new sacrament, say Marriage, has occurred, the priest would made a note of it on your certificate and send it back to the original Church where the record would be updated.

So the short answer would be: anyone who was baptised or converted to the Church is a member of the Catholic Church. Father Hardon, in his Modern Catholic Encyclopedia says that anyone who is validly baptized and believes in the Nicene Creed (in its traditional interpretation) is a member of the Catholic Church. In his dissertation: A Comparative Study of Bellarmine's Doctrine on the Relation of Sincere Non-Catholics to the Catholic Church, Father Hardon discusses at great length exactly what a Catholic is and who is a member of the Church. Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas also discusses this topic at length in his book, Salvation Outside the Church?, which may be purchased at any major bookseller. In both of these books, they discuss, as Vatican Council II addressed, who, exactly, is a member of the Church, and whether that membership is visible or invisible. In the later case (sincere baptized protestants who believe in Jesus Christ) they are at a severe disadvantage as not having access to God's grace as He gives it to us in the sacraments, and not having access to His teaching on how to accomplish one's salvation. The Bible used by protestants is defective both in deleted several books of the Bible, and in its translation and interpretation.

Answer 3

Roman Catholic AnswerThere can only be one Catholic Church, this was spelled out by Our Blessed Lord who promised that all would be One, and He would send the Holy Spirit to make sure that we all stayed One.

Answer 4

Only God knows

A: Approximately 1 Billion, 150 million and growing.