In the city of Venice itself, there were 714 priests in 1969, shortly after the close of the Second Vatican Council. According to the most recent county, which dates from 2022, the total now stands at 266.
The pope’s participation will mark the first time a pontiff has taken part in a G7 summit, which has been meeting on a regular basis since 1975 and is considered the most important annual gathering of the leaders of the major Western powers.
As the central African nation of Gabon attempts to build a new future in the wake of a military coup last August, the centrality of religious faith in African cultures is reflected in the fact that the public face of the project is a Catholic priest.