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News, of the hour, on the hour, from Catholic Information Radio.
I’m Bryan Douglas in Philadelphia, and at this hour….
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Lead:
The latest Vatican statistics show a slight increase in Catholics as a percentage of the world's population, and a slow but steady rise in the number of priests and seminarians worldwide.

The statistics, from the end of 2008, were presented along with the new Vatican yearbook on February 20th.

The Vatican said the number of Catholics reached 1.166 billion, an increase of 1.7 percent from the end of 2007. During the same period, Catholics as a percentage of the global population grew from 17.33 percent to 17.4 percent, it said.

The number of priests stood at 409,166, an increase of 1,100 over 2007. Since the year 2000, the Vatican said, the number of priests has increased by nearly 4,000, or about 1 percent. Looking at the way priests are distributed around the world, it said: 47.1 percent were in Europe, 30 percent in the Americas, 13.2 percent in Asia, 8.7 percent in Africa and 1.2 percent in Oceania.

The number of seminarians around the world rose from 116,000 at the end of 2007 to 117,000 at the end of 2008, an increase of more than 1 percent, it said. The increase in seminarians varied geographically: Africa showed an increase of 3.6 percent, Asia an increase of 4.4 percent, and Oceania an increase of 6.5 percent, while Europe had a decrease of 4.3 percent and the Americas remained about the same.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
Victims of the abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Dublin said they are close to despair because they say the church will not take full responsibility for the covering up of the abuse. Clergy abuse survivors met with Dublin Archbishop Deermid Martin to discuss the outcome of the meeting of Irish bishops with Pope Benedict XVI and senior officials from the Roman Curia. The meeting reviewed a November report by an independent commission that investigated how the Dublin Archdiocese handled complaints of clerical child abuse between 1975 and 2004. Maeve Lewis, director of the One in Four abuse survivors' group, said that the statement issued by the Vatican only accepted the failure of Irish church authorities , but did not go far enough towards complete acceptance by the pope.

Story 3:
Nineteen Catholic scholars of theology and history are asking Pope Benedict XVI to slow the process of the sainthood cause of Pope Pius XII. Saying that much more research needs to be done his papacy, the scholars said in letter to Pope Benedict that "history needs distance and perspective" before definitive conclusions can be reached on the role of Pope Pius during World War. Leading the effort are Father John Pawlikowski, professor of ethics at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and Father Kevin Spicer, associate professor of history at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. Copies of the letter were also sent to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan and Cardinal Walter Kasper.

Story 4:
This Easter, thousands will enter the Catholic Church, and the U.S. bishops are encouraging all faithful to find ways to welcome the newest members. The conference publicized a list of suggestions for building this welcoming attitude. The message explained that Lent is the moment of final preparation for those who will receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass and encourages parishes to begin praying now for the candidates.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
Britain’s House of Commons is set to vote on legislation this week that would introduce a program of sex education to primary school children from as young as 5 years of age. The "Children, Schools and Families Bill" also contains many other clauses which, critics say, is not so much a denial of Catholic teaching “as a whole uprooting of the natural law relationship between parents, children and the state.” The bill, which Members of Parliament will vote on Tuesday, is causing widespread concern among United Kingdom priests and laity who see it as further erosion of legitimate freedoms of religious belief.

Story 6:
Benedict XVI entrusted his spiritual exercises that started Sunday to the intercession of the Blessed Mother, asking her to pray that Lent be a time lived with joy. The Pope said this Sunday before praying the midday Angelus with those in St. Peter's Square. It was his last public audience until next weekend, as he began his seven-day spiritual exercises. The Holy Father's address touched on what it means to enter into the Lenten journey, and said the Gospel from yesterday’s liturgy -- detailing Christ's temptations in the desert -- illustrates the meaning of what we all face at we journey through the Lenten experience..

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And that’s top news of the hour.
I’m Bryan Douglas, CIR NEWS, for Catholic Information Radio.