In view of Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Sweden (31 October to 2 November) to participate in the joint Lutheran-Catholic commemoration to mark 500 years since the Reformation, the Central Church Statistics Office has published the statistics relating to the Catholic Church in the country, last updated as of 31 December 2015.
Sweden has a surface area of 449,964 km2 and a population of 9,851,000 inhabitants, of whom 113,000 are Catholics, equivalent to 1.15% of the population.
There is one ecclesiastical circumscription and 45 parishes. There are currently two bishops, 141 priests, 253 religious (17 male and 235 female), and 419 catechists. There are 15 seminarians.
The Church has 13 centres for Catholic education, from pre-school to secondary level.
With regard to charitable and social centres belonging to the Church or directed by ecclesiastics or religious, in Sweden there are two homes for the elderly, sick or disabled.
