by Francis X. Rocca’

In the first nine and a half months of Pope Francis’ pontificate, more than 6.6 million people participated in papal events at the Vatican, including weekly general audiences, group audiences, liturgies and recitations of the Angelus and “Regina Coeli” on Sundays and holy days.

The statistics, compiled by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household and released Jan. 2, do not include figures from Pope Francis’ trip to Brazil for World Youth Day in July, 2013, or his visits to Italian locations outside the Vatican.

From his election March 13 until the end of 2013, at least 1.5 million people attended Pope Francis’ 30 general audiences; over 87,000 participated in group audiences; almost 2.3 million participated in papal liturgies; and over 2.7 million joined the pope for the Angelus or the “Regina Coeli” in St. Peter’s Square.