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July 25, 2008 7:35:31 AM CDT

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Muslims Outnumber Catholics: Vatican

Posted Mar 30, 08 4:09 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Islam has topped Roman Catholicism as the world's biggest religion for the first time, the Vatican said today. About 1.1 billion people are still Catholic, but Muslims have pulled ahead with 1.3 billion members. “For the first time in history we are no longer at the top: the Muslims have overtaken us,” said a prelate who compiled the Vatican's yearbook of 2008 statistics.

Higher birthrates continue to propel the Muslim population, he said. But he added that if all Christian groups are counted, Christians still exceed Muslims with 2 billion members, or 33% of the population. Yet the Vatican can back up only its own stats; Muslim numbers were tallied by several countries and issued by the United Nations, Reuters reports.

Source Reuters

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Pope Benedict XVI waves from his pope mobile as he is driven through the crowd at St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People under umbrellas, are seen attending mass led by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008.   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Kashmiri Muslims pray as the head priest displays the holy relic believed to be a hair from the beard of Prophet Mohammad in Srinagar, India, Friday, March 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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