2017 Cologne Liturgical Conference: March 29 - April 1

TRUTH AND FORM: Tenth Anniversary of the Motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum"

His Grace Archbishop Alexander Sample has confirmed his
participation at the 2017 Cologne Liturgical Conference.

In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop of Marquette, Michigan and then in 2013 Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, His Grace Archbishop Sample is internationally known as a tradition-bound bishop wi
th particular care for the Sacred Liturgy. He represents the personal responsibility that a bishop--and indeed every shepherd of the Church--has for the Holy Liturgy. He leads by personal example in living the hermeneutic of Continuity of the Rites as Pope Benedict XVI has called for in his Motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum". Archbishop Sample is an outstanding representative of the episcopate who understands the tradition of the liturgy as the mainstay of pastoral care.

--Plinthos translation.

N. B. The 2015 Conference.

Three Helpful Definitions

ars est recta ratio factibilium (regarding making)

prudentia est recta ratio agibilium (regarding action)

scientia est recta ratio scibilium seu speculabilium (regarding knowledge)



The key here being recta ratio which needs also to be defined.

recta here means right or proper, good in the sense of proper proportion and right relation

ratio here means plan, pattern, mode of action that has been reasoned out, exemplar idea

And the overarching principle here is that ars, prudentia and scientia are virtues: i.e. habits of mind and soul (i.e. dispositions) toward right action.

Cf. Roy J. Deferrari, A Latin-English Dictionary of St. Thomas Aquinas: Based on The Summa Theologica and selected passages of his other writings, St. Paul Editions: Boston, 1986, 893. 889.

Atheism's Arrogance

Contemptorum dei: Dürer

Many assert that it is arrogant to say that God can give us the truth.

It is contempt for God, rather, to say that we have been born blind and that the truth is not our issue.

Ratzinger argues that, in the end, it is the relativist who is arrogant, because it is arrogant to deny that God can give us the truth.

James Corkery, S.J., Joseph Ratzinger's Theological Ideas, Paulist Press: Mahway, NJ, 2009, 94.

"Sometimes the little things last the longest" "Give extra, get extra"

Twenty ways to spend time with your kids.

1. Ask them what they would like to do.
2. Consider ways to save time, e.g. make a daily schedule for yourself.
3. Read them a story.
4. Have a little "time for tickling," doesn't have to be much.
5. In daily activity at home it is often enough to be there, close by, where you can notice one another.
6. Meals together must be cultivated, cold turkey, without media! Turn everything off!
7. Going out on errands?, take a child or two along.
8. Board games, cards, etc. in which everyone can play.
9. Even some simple video games together, but keep it simple.
10. Bring the child/children to show off your workplace, on occasion.
11. Go out with your friends and with the children.
12. Go with the children to visit the grandparents, which usually benefits mutually.
13. Do household chores, projects, cooking, etc. together.
14. Have your children, as young as possible, join in your favorite sports or exercises.
15. The Public library.
16. Watch a movie or t.v. program together as a family, and discuss it.
17. Go to the movies, the theater, the circus, the zoo, etc., especially when there is a family special.
18. Travel time together whether by car or mass transit can be a great time for bonding.
19. Go on a family spiritual retreat or pilgrimage with the local Parish or other Catholic Church organization, and have especially regular (even daily) family prayer. Sunday Mass is basic.
20. Nature: e.g. invite the kids for a stroll around the block.

"Indefectibility of Gender Difference:" Italy's High Court Annuls Foreign Homosexual "Marriages"

L'osservatore Romano, Italian daily edition

October 28, 2015

The Council of State on marriages between homosexuals

ROME, 27. A decision of the [Italian] Council of State annulled the City of Rome's recognition of marriages between homosexuals with licenses issued abroad. Marriage between homosexuals - say the judges of the Council of State - lack an essential requirement for equal recognition in Italian jurisprudence, namely "the condition of the indefectibility of gender difference between those to marry" according to the text of the decision.

Palazzo Spada seat of the High Court
The Council of State

The judgment was delivered on October 8, but only now hit the press. At issue, the highest body of judicial administration of the nation confirmed the decision of first instance: starting from the fact that, pursuant of international law, "the conditions of legality of marriage" are those governed "by the national law of each betrothed ", it is clearly stating that "the first condition for the validity and efficacy" for Italy is "the difference in sex." Otherwise analyzing what are the powers and duties of civil officials to whom the request to register weddings abroad may come, the administrative judges recalled that the Presidential Decree 396/2000 (Regulations for the revision and simplification of the civil order ) requires them to accertain the "elements" and the "content" for the act to be valid. Which requirement is lacking in this case, because the same law requires a "declaration of the spouses to want to take each other respectively as husband and wife."

Consequently: every gay "marriage" celebrated abroad and recorded in Italy will be definitively canceled. Without any possibility of appeal. Avennire

This year the mayors of several Italian cities, including Rome and Milan, had transcribed in their municipal registers as married couples homosexual couples who had married abroad.

Interior Minister, Angelino Alfano declared this inadmissible. Homosexual couples and the Roman mayor Ignazio Marino, have submitted a counter-action suit. The Eponymous Flower

"If You Have No Head You're Dead"

That was my 7 year old niece's assessment of our first chicken beheading, plucking, etc. last week (we spared the children the beheading though they did see the second beheaded chicken that day flapping headless).

My first thought went to the girl's astuteness and poetic wit and the rich metaphor involved. Her sound-bite is a multi-layered metaphor on life!

E.g. without the Papacy (and Holy Orders generally) there is no organic unity or clear direction in the Church or in the world! No head, you're dead! (N.B. "Cephas" [Hebrew for "rock"] was the name given Simon ["Peter" in Latin and Greek: cf. Matthew 16:18], which also means head in Greek. Both "Cephas" and "Peter" are thence used in the Greek New Testament to refer to Saint Peter, thus the head and the rock of the Church.)

A significant historical coincidence is that Cephas--"The Head"--was not beheaded in his execution (as neither had Christ Himself been--the invisible Head of the Church [from the Ascension onward]--of Which Peter is the visible Head [Christ's representative: "The Vicar of Christ on Earth"]). Both were crucified, Jews and non-Romans that they were. Pope Francis is Peter. He still has his head!

The girl's observation made me next think of Saint Denis, the famous cephalophore, patron and first bishop of Paris.

Saint Denis and his companions were so effective in converting people that the pagan priests became alarmed over their loss of followers. At their instigation, Roman Governor arrested the missionaries. After a long imprisonment, Denis and two of his clergy were executed (c. 250 AD) by beheading[4] on the highest hill in Paris (now Montmartre), which was likely to have been a druidic holy place. The martyrdom of Denis and his companions is popularly believed to have given the site its current name, derived from the Latin Mons Martyrum "The Martyrs' Mountain",[1]

After his head was cut off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked ten kilometres (six miles) from the summit of the hill, preaching a sermon the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores in hagiology. Of the many accounts of this martyrdom, this is noted in detail in the Golden Legend and in Butler's Lives Of The Saints.[7] The site where he stopped preaching and actually died was marked by a small shrine that developed into the Saint Denis Basilica, which became the burial place for the kings of France. Another account has his corpse being thrown into the Seine, but recovered and buried later that night by his converts.[2][4]

So, the rebuttal to my niece's "if you have no head you're dead" is "unless you're a saint." Saints have walked carrying their heads in their hands! They are the cephalophores. Nothing is impossible with God.

P.S. There's a great idea for Holloween--All Hallowed's Eve--a very refined way to sanctify and rechristianize the gore! Have the kids dress as cephalophores this year. All you need is a portable head!

A Midday Breviary Translation

Rector Potens (Sext Chant of the Breviary)

Rector powerful, veracious God,

Who temper the vicissitudes of things,

You illuminate the morning with splendor,

and the midday with fire:

Extinguish the flames of contention,

take away the heat of harm,

confer health upon the body,

and true peace to the heart.

Stand ready most pious Father,

and You, Only Equal to the Father,

with the Spirit Paraclete,

reigning through all times/worlds.

-Plinthos Translation

Pope's (Typical) Anticlerical Final Words at the Synod (Supposedly) on the Family

Here is the very last section (footnote 8) of the document released as the Pope's final discourse of the Synod yesterday, wherein the Holy Father once again clearly denounces the scandalous sins of clergy (surprise, surprise! [I guess the world, which will not tolerate being told of the specifically anti-family sins of contraception, abortion, homosexuality, divorce, adultery, etc., does not tire of hearing of the sins of the clergy!, nor does the Pope, in his political correctness, tire of repeating them]) while neglecting to mention the new scandalous sins against the family such as homosexual unions and the consequent orphans by design. In his summary of the family mission it is very significant that the Holy Father does not mention nor allude to neither heterosexuality nor contraception nor abortion.

If within the context of the defense of the family by the Church you must mention the sexual abuse of clergy (which does not seem obvious), wouldn't it be logical and necessary to denounce at the same time the grave scandal of incest (which is much less rare than priest abuse) and call for a rectification, purification and repentance of that too, a reality at least as gravely damaging to the fabric of the Church and of society? or statutory rape, for that matter (which is very prevalent and even largely accepted in today's world). There are myriad men (and homosexual women) who are having sex with minors today, all over the world, and the vast majority of those men (and grossly perverse women) are not Catholic priests, you can be sure of it!!! This distorted (because it is vague) summary statement, therefore, is simply a politically correct presentation of "the family" which could have been written by the staff of The New York Times!, Hillary, or the devil himself.

The only acceptable anathema is the anathema against anathemas! "The Church's first duty is not to hand down condemnations or anathemas, but to proclaim God's mercy, to call to conversion, and to lead all men and women to salvation in the lord (cf. John 12:44-50)." This statement is a fine summary of the false dichotomies, confusion and apparent parsing of the faith involved in this new magisterium which presumes that sinners will repent without being instructed regarding sin. The new teaching is ignore the sin and love the sinner, and presume that sinners are saints, without any sure indication of repentance.

This is the "be nice to one another" secular humanist gospel best exemplified in the Holy Father's dreamy response to the oppressed and disoriented youth of Cuba, completely devoid of any reference to Christianity, Christ, the Church, the Sacraments, Christian asceticism, morality, catechesis, studying or teaching the faith. Nothing. A discourse typical of the over half-century dictatorship, pretending everything is OK if we just try to get along!

The last section of Pope Francis' official statement at Synod

[8] An acrostic look at the word “F.A.M.I.G.L.I.A.” [Italian: “famiglia”] can help us summarize the Church’s mission as the task of:

Forming new generations to experience love seriously, not as an individualistic search for a pleasure then to be discarded, and to believe once again in true, fruitful and lasting love as the sole way of emerging from ourselves and being open to others, leaving loneliness behind, living according to God’s will, finding fulfilment, realizing that marriage is “an experience which reveals God’s love, defending the sacredness of life, every life, defending the unity and indissolubility of the conjugal bond as a sign of God’s grace and of the human person’s ability to love seriously” (Homily for the Opening Mass of the Synod, 4 October 2015: L’Osservatore Romano, 5-6 October 2015, p. 7) and, furthermore, enhancing marriage preparation as a means of providing a deeper understanding of the Christian meaning of the sacrament of Matrimony;

Approaching others, since a Church closed in on herself is a dead Church, while a Church which does [not] leave her own precincts behind in order to seek, embrace and lead others to Christ is a Church which betrays her very mission and calling;

Manifesting and bringing God’s mercy to families in need; to the abandoned, to the neglected elderly, to children pained by the separation of their parents, to poor families struggling to survive, to sinners knocking on our doors and those who are far away, to the differently able, to all those hurting in soul and body, and to couples torn by grief, sickness, death or persecution;

Illuminating consciences often assailed by harmful and subtle dynamics which even attempt to replace God the Creator, dynamics which must be unmasked and resisted in full respect for the dignity of each person;

Gaining and humbly rebuilding trust in the Church, which has been gravely weakened as a result of the conduct and sins of her children – sadly, the counter-witness of scandals committed in the Church by some clerics have damaged her credibility and obscured the brightness of her saving message;

Labouring intensely to sustain and encourage those many strong and faithful families which, in the midst of their daily struggles, continue to give a great witness of fidelity to the Church’s teachings and the Lord’s commandments;

Inventing renewed programmes of pastoral care for the family based on the Gospel and respectful of cultural differences, pastoral care which is capable of communicating the Good News in an attractive and positive manner and helping banish from young hearts the fear of making definitive commitments, pastoral care which is particularly attentive to children, who are the real victims of broken families, pastoral care which is innovative and provides a suitable preparation for the sacrament of Matrimony, rather than so many programmes which seem more of a formality than training for a lifelong commitment;

Aiming to love unconditionally all families, particularly those experiencing difficulties, since no family should feel alone or excluded from the Church’s loving embrace, and the real scandal is a fear of love and of showing that love concretely.

This Synod was the Synod on Pope Francis, not a Synod on the Family. The true Synod on the Family happened in 1980, which today seems entirely forgotten by the Chief Visible Shepherd of the Church. This one was all about him! The Holy Father is absolutely right when he warns us that clerics are not perfect, not even the Chief Cleric!

The Definition of "Family"

The Holy Martin Family

Vir et mulier matrimonio coniuncti cum suis filiis familiam constituunt...

Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae, 2202

A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family...

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2202

Un hombre y una mujer unidos en matrimonio forman con sus hijos una familia...

Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica, 2202

...It should be considered the normal reference point by which the different forms of family relationship are to be evaluated. CCC, 2202

There are three essential documents for any present-day discussion of the family.

• Casti conubii (Pope Pius XI, 1930 Encyclical Letter on Christian Marriage, responding to the dual problem of the contraceptive condom and divorce, i.e. adultery).
• Humanae vitae (Blessed Pope Pius VI, 1968 Encyclical Letter de propagatione humanae prolis recte ordinanda, ["on the begetting of human offspring, rightly considered"] responding to the dual problem of chemical contraceptives ["the pill"] and the increasingly "free sex" culture).
• Familiaris consortio (Pope Saint John Paul II, 1981 Apostolic Exhortation de familae christianae muneribus in mundo huius temporis ["on the role/duties of the christian family in the world of these times"], resulting from the 1980 Synod on the Family)

It would seem that the now concluded 2015 Synod should also result in an apostolic exhortation or another encyclical on marriage and the family in response to the present worldwide climate of gaydom: so-called "gay" "marriage" and abortion (surgical, and chemical [viz. abortifacients, esp. "the morning after pill"]), the greatest destroyers of the logic and reality of marriage and the family today.

Cf. Pope Francis, in his discourse at the end of the Synod yesterday (be forewarned that the English translation has some serious typos), did include mention of the true nature of marriage, but that discourse was largely another defensive harangue against the supposed pharisees. His Holiness Pope Francis needs to remember that the relativists can be the greatest pharisees of all! and the most tyrannical and unbending in their false ideologies, and, yes, even self-righteous in their obstinate error (often perhaps without even realizing their error)! Consider the case of the Christian-killing zealous Jew Saul of Tarsus, before he became Saint Paul through Christ's confronting and calling him. Pope Benedict and Pope Saint John Paul II knew the insidious dangers of relativism and, therefore, clearly showed that in the truth there is no necessary contradiction between letter and spirit! "Perfect charity demands perfect truth!" The simple one line definition of the family, from the Catechism above, is worth more, much more, than all of the wasted "dialogue" of this ideologically charged, heavy-handed, and unbalanced "synod".

The great take-away lesson of this most confusing of Synods is that the Church and the sensus fidei is much greater than the wit and clever schemes of any particular pope, bishop or priest. Thanks be to God. One more point. This is perhaps a most fitting way to celebrate the fifty year anniversary of the modern Synodal experiment, to show us that the Catholic Church's faith is far greater, stronger, and much more enduring than the opinions of Synods and the petty committees thereof! Cf. Ratzinger's 2004 remarks on the inherent limits and defects of the synod process.

FYI, What I am enjoying right now, in honor of my recently deceased dearest and saintly mother, "Mamá," requiescat in pace. By the little known Sicilian born opera composer Giovanni Pacini.

Here is another Requiem. If you like Listz and Messiaen, you'll love the Roman born Giovanni Sgambati. Glorious! Thank you YouTube! for automatically playing this for me after the preceeding! A great find.

Sgambati Te Deum without words. Wow!

Juan Pablo II al encuentro de los jóvenes

John Paul II for an Encounter with the Youth

The Most Christian Countries in the World

Christianity by country

Country	Christians	% Christian	% Catholic	% Protestant/ Orthodox/ Other	GDP/Capita PPP World Bank 2012
Pitcairn Islands (details)	50	100.0%		100%
Vatican City (details)	836	100.0%	100%
Romania (details)	21,380,000	99.5%	5.7%	93.8%	16,518
Armenia (details)	3,250,000	98.7%	3%	95%	6,645
Equatorial Guinea (details)	683,000	98.6%	98%		30,233
East Timor (details)	1,152,000	98.4%	98%	1%
American Samoa (details)	70,000	98.3%	20%	78%
Greece (details)	11,000,000	98.0%		98%	24,667
Zambia (details)	12,939,000	97.6%	25%	72%	1712
Moldova (details)	3,480,000	97.53%		93%	3,424
Grenada (details)	101,000	97.3%	53%	45%	10,827
Cape Verde (details)	487,000	97.0%	93%	4%	4,430
Malta (details)	400,000	97.0%	97.0%		29,013
Papua New Guinea (details)	6,800,000	97%	27%	70%	2,898
Puerto Rico (details)	3,878,000	97.0%	50%	47%
San Marino (details)	31,000	97.0%	97%
Greenland (details)	55,000	96.6%		96.6%
Haiti (details)	9,597,000	96.0%	80.0%	16%	1,228
Paraguay (details)	6,260,000	96%	88%	7.9%	6,138
Peru (details)	27,635,000	96%	81%	15%	10,940
Micronesia, Federated States of (details)	106,000	95.4%			3,824
Dominican Republic (details)	9,734,000	95.2%	80%		10,204
Iceland (details)	300,000	95.0%	2.5%	92.5%	37,533
Seychelles (details)	80,000	94.7%	82%	15.2%	27,008
Falkland Islands (details)	3,000	94.3%		94%
Poland (details)	36,090,000	94.3%	86.3%	8%	21,903
Ireland (details)	4,220,000	94.1%	82%	12%	42,662
Andorra (details)	78,000	94.0%	90.1%	3.9%
British Virgin Islands (details)	23,000	94.0%	85%	9%
Ecuador (details)	14,099,000	94.0%	74%	20%	9,738
Faroe Islands (details)	46,000	94.0%		94%
Rwanda (details)	9,619,000	93.6%	56.9	26	1,354
Serbia (details)	7,260,000	93.5%	4.97%	79.4%	11,544
Congo, Democratic Republic of (details)	63,150,000	92%	50%	42%	422
Mexico (details)	107,780,000	92%	82.7%	9.7%	16,676
Panama (details)	3,057,000	92.0%	80%	12%	16,615
Croatia (details)	4,107,000	91.06%	86.28%	4.78%	20,532
Congo, Republic of (details)	3,409,000	90.7%	50%	40%	4,426
Anguilla (details)	15,000	90.5%	3%	87%
Brazil (details)	175,770,000	90.2%	63%	27%	11,909
Argentina (details)	37,561,000	90%	77%	13%	12,034
Colombia (details)	47,000,000	90%	75%	15%	10,587
Lesotho (details)	1,876,000	90.0%	45%	45%	1,963
Namibia (details)	1,991,000	90.0%	13.7%	76.3%	7,488
Bolivia (details)	9,730,000	89.0%	76%	13%	5,281
Liechtenstein (details)	30,000	89%	75.9%	12.8%
Dominica (details)	59,000	88.7%	61%	27%	12,643
Georgia (details)	3,930,000	88.6%	0.9%	87.7%	5,902
Uganda (details)	29,943,000	88.6%	41.9%	46.7%	1,352
Aruba (details)	98,000	88%	80.8%	7.8%
Honduras (details)	6,660,000	88%	47%	41%	4,194
Venezuela (details)	28,340,000	88.0%	71%	17%	13,475
Guatemala (details)	14,018,000	87%	47%	40%	5,100
Norway (details)	4,210,000	86.2%	3%	83.5%	62,767
Cook Islands (details)	19,000	86%	16.8%	69.6%
Monaco (details)	30,000	86.0%
Liberia (details)	1,391,000	85.5%[30]		85.5%	655
Kenya (details)	34,774,000	85.1%	23.4%	61.7%	1,761
Cuba (details)	9,523,000	85.0%	85%
Philippines (details)	86,500,000	85%[34][35]	80%	5%	4,413
Zimbabwe (details)	10,747,000	85.0%	7%	77%	559
Lithuania (details)	2,827,000	84.9%	77.2%	7.6%	23,487
Nicaragua (details)	5,217,000	84.6%	58.8%	25.8%	4,072
Bulgaria (details)	6,364,000	84.0%	1%	83%	15,933
Portugal (details)	10,110,000[36]	84%	81%	3.3%	25,305
Costa Rica (details)	3,912,000	83%	69%	14%	12,943
Italy (details)	53,230,000[29]	83%	81.2%	2%	32,512
Swaziland (details)	994,000	82.7%	25%	57.7%	5,246
El Salvador (details)	5,073,000	81.9%	52.6%	29.3%	7,069
Finland (details)	4,380,000	81.6%		81%	38,230
Bahamas (details)	350,000	81%	13.5%	67.6%	31,629
Denmark (details)	4,610,000	81%	1%	80%	41,388
Tonga (details)	84,000	81.0%	16%	65%	5,026
Central African Republic (details)	2,302,000	80%	29%	51%	857
South Africa (details)	40,243,000	80%	5%	75%	11,440
Malawi (details)	12,538,000	79.9%			902
Cyprus (details)	863,000	79.3%		75%	30,597
Slovenia (details)	1,610,000	79.2%	57%	22.2%	26,801
Montenegro (details)	500,000	78.8%	3.4%	72.07%	14,206
Palau (details)	16,000	77.9%	65%	12.9%	19,031
Belize (details)	247,000	76.7%	40%	36.7%	7,529
Slovakia (details)	4,730,000	76.0%	62.0%	14.0%	24,896
Angola (details)	17,094,000	75%	50%	25%	6,105
Burundi (details)	7,662,000	75.0%	60%	15%	560
Antigua and Barbuda (details)	66,000	74.0%	10%	64%	19,964
Barbados (details)	244,000	74%	4.2%	70%	18,805
Cayman Islands (details)	42,000	73.8%
Spain (details)	36,240,000	73%	71%	2%	32,129
United States (details)	246,780,000	73%	22%	51%	49,965
Gabon (details)	1,081,000	72.0%	50%	22%	16,086
Botswana (details)	1,416,000	71.6%	5%	66%	16,986
Austria (details)	6,119,000	71.4%	61.4%	10%	43,324
Luxembourg (details)	360,000	71%	69%	2	88,318
Switzerland (details)	5,700,000	71%	38%	33%	5,246
Ghana (details)	16,741,000	68.8%	13.1%	55.5%	2,048
Chile (details)	9,900,000	68%[23]	55%	13%	22,655
Canada (details)	22,102,700	67.3%[22]	38.7%	29%	42,693
Sweden (details)	6,320,000	67.2%	2%	65%	42,217
Jamaica (details)	1,784,000	65.3%	2%	63.3%	7,083
Macedonia, Republic of (details)	1,334,000	65.1%			11,710
Cameroon (details)	13,390,000	65.0%	38.4%	26.3%	2,324
Bermuda (details)	44,004	64.7%	15%	50%
Fiji (details)	540,000	64.4%	8.9%	55.5%	4,943
Belgium (details)	6,860,000	64.1%	57%	7%	38,884
Ethiopia (details)	52,580,000	64%	0.7%	63.4%	1,139
Australia (details)	14,000,990	63%	25.8%	37%	44,462
Eritrea (details)	3,310,000	62.9%	60%	2%	566
Tanzania (details)	27,118,000	62.0%			1,601
Germany (details)	50,000,000	61%	30%	31%	40,394
South Sudan (details)	6,010,000[44]	60.5%[45]	30%	30%
United Kingdom (details)[49]	33,200,417	59.3%	8.9%	50%	35,819
Uruguay (details)	2,127,000	58.4%	47%	11%	16,037
Trinidad and Tobago (details)	774,000	57.6%	21.5%	33.4%	26,647
Guyana (details)	434,000	57.0%	8%	49%	3,399
Latvia (details)	1,250,000	57%	25%	32.2%	21,005
Mozambique (details)	13,120,717	56.1%	28.4%	27.7%	1,024
Belarus (details)	5,265,109	55.4%[21]	7.1%	48.3%	15,579
France (details)	27,683,920-40,560,000	55%[25]-60%[26]	41%-50%[27]	5-10%	35,845
Hungary (details)	5,240,000[28]	53.0-72%[28]	39.0-53.5%[28]	13.8-18.9%%[28]	21,570
Bosnia and Herzegovina (details)	2,120,000	52.0%	15%	37%	9,235
Kazakhstan (details)	8,152,000	51.0%	0.16	50%	13,892
Nigeria (details)	80,510,000	50%	14%	36%	6,204
Suriname (details)	262,000	48.4%)[46]	21.6%	26.8%	8,858
Russia (details)	66,000,000-99,775,000[37][38]	46.6%[39]-77.0%[40][41]	<0 .1="" td="">	46.6%-77.0%	23,549
New Zealand (details)	2,000,000	43%	11%	32%	31,499
Benin (details)	3,943,000	42.8%	27%	15%	1,583
Lebanon (details)	1,647,000	41.0%	26%	15%	16,610
Madagascar (details)	8,260,000	41.0%			978
Chad (details)	3,833,000	35.0%	20%	15%	1,493
Netherlands (details)	5,750,297	34%	23.7%[32]	10.2%[33]	42,938
Ukraine (details)	15,070,965[48]	33.6%	5.9%	27.7%	7,418
Côte d'Ivoire (details)	7,075,000	32.8%	28.9%	3.9%	2,039
Mauritius (details)	418,000	32.2%			15,649
Sierra Leone (details)	1,751,000	30.0%	3%	27%	1,359
Korea, South (details)	14,601,297	29.2%	10.9%	18.3%	30,722
Togo (details)	1,966,000	29.0%			1,051
Estonia (details)	310,481	23.9%		23%	23,024
Burkina Faso (details)	3,746,000	22.0%	18%	4%	1,513
Egypt (details)	13,892,000	18.0%		18%	6,723
Singapore (details)	900,000	18.0%[1]	5.7%	12%	61,803
Albania (details)	580,000	17.0%	10%	7%	9,443
Kyrgyzstan (details)	944,000	17.0%		17%	2,409
Kuwait (details)	458,000	15.0%	3.2%	12.8%	49,001
Qatar (details)	262,675	13.8%			86,507
Czech Republic (details)	1,175,091	11.2%	10.4%	0.8%	26,426
Brunei (details)	45,000	11.0%			53,348
Hong Kong (details)	710,000	10.1%	5%	5%	51,946
Guinea (details)	1,032,000	10.0%	5%	5%	1,069
Guinea-Bissau (details)	165,000	10.0%	10%		1,192
Indonesia (details)	24,000,000	10%	3%	7%	4,956
Syria (details)	2,251,000	10.0%		10%	5,436
Malaysia (details)	2,820,000	9.2%[31]			17,143
Bahrain (details)	77,000	9.0%		9.0%	23,886
Gambia (details)	158,000	9.0%	2%	7%	1,948
Turkmenistan (details)	466,000	9.0%		9%	10,583
United Arab Emirates (details)	424,000	9.0%	7%	2%	42,384
Vietnam (details)	703,000	8.0%	7%	1%	3,635
Myanmar (details)	3,790,000	7.9%	1%	6.9%
Sri Lanka (details)	1,531,000	7.5%	6.1%	1.4%	6,247
Senegal (details)	900,000	7.0%	4.2%	3%	1,944
Djibouti (details)	53,000	6.0%	1%	5%	2,784
Jordan (details)	388,000	6.0%			6,148
Mali (details)	726,000	5.0%			1,214
Niger (details)	795,000	5.0%		5%	665
Saudi Arabia (details)	1,500,000	5%[42]
Azerbaijan (details)	450,000	4.8%		4.8%	10,624
Korea, North (details)	480,000	4.0%
Israel (details)	266,000	3.5%		3.5%	28,809
Iraq (details)	944,000	3.0%		3%	4,246
India (details)	31,850,000	2.6%	1.6%	1	3,876
Uzbekistan (details)	710,000	2.6%	2.6%
Oman (details)	73,000	2.5%	2.1%	0.4%	27,015
People's Republic of China (details)	31,219,740[24]	2.3%	0.3%	2%	9,233
Laos (details)	145,000	2.2%	1%	1%	2,926
Comoros (details)	15,000	2.1%			1,230
Mongolia (details)	58,000	2.1%			5,462
Morocco (details)	651,000	2.1%	0.1%	2%	5,193
Algeria (details)	270,000	2%	1%	1%	8,515
Japan (details)	3,548,000	2.0%	1%	1%	35,204
Libya (details)	131,000	2.0%	0.5%	1.5%	17,665
Sudan (details)	?	2%
Pakistan (details)	2,500,000	1.6%	0.8%	0.8%	2,891
Tajikistan (details)	99,000	1.4%	0.1%	1.3%	2,247
Thailand (details)	778,000	1.2%	0.6%	0.6%	9,815
Bhutan (details)	7,000	1.0%	0.1%	0.9%	6,699
Cambodia (details)	148,000	1.0%	0.15%	0.85%	2,494
Nepal (details)	269,000	0.9%	0.1%	0.8%	1,484
Iran (details)	300,000	0.4%		0.4%	11,395
Bangladesh (details)	420,000	0.3%	0.3%		1,883
Tunisia (details)	24,000	0.2%		0.2%	9,795
Turkey (details)	120,000[47]	0.2%			17,651
Mauritania (details)	5,000	0.14%			2,603
Maldives (details)	300	0.08%			9,072
Western Sahara (details)	200	0.04%	0.04%
Afghanistan (details)	6,250	0.02%			1,399
Yemen (details)	3,000	0.013%	0.013%		2,489
Somalia (details)	1,000[43]	0.01%	0.0002%	0.01%
Total[50]	2,384,311,733	33%	17%	16%	-

Unrecognised states[edit]

Note: Includes non-United Nations member states not recognized by any state, non-UN member states recognized only by non-UN members and non-UN member states recognized by at least one UN member.

Country	Christians	% Christian
South Ossetia (details)	69,000	96.4%
Nagorno-Karabakh (details)	136,000	96.0%
Transnistria (details)	510,000	95.0%
Abkhazia (details)	130,000	68.0%
Palestine (details)	173,000	11.1%
Kosovo (details)	150,000	8.3%
Taiwan (Republic of China) (details)	902,000	3.9%
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (details)	200	0.03%