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Gabon
Population: 1.2 million Life expectancy male/female: 52/55 years Infant mortality rate: 94‰	Religions: Animists 49.5%; Catholics 40%; Protestants 10%; Muslims 05% Independence: 17 August 1960 (from France) GDP per capita: US$ 3,850 (1995)

Spiritan presence: since 1844; 32 professed members (1 bishop; 26 priests, 3 brothers, 2 scholastics).

With hardly more than one million inhabitants, Gabon has considerable economic potential (above all from oil), and this has attracted a large African immigration (about one fifth of the population).

The Church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1994, but unlike the neighbouring Churches, there are still very few experienced diocesan clergy. One of the four bishops from Gabon was succeeded by a French Spiritan in 1997. Following the suggestion of the Spiritan General Council in 1991, a diversification of foreign personnel is taking place; after the arrival of Claretians and Salesians, others have followed them in recent years: Piarists, Josephites, Premonstratentions and African "Fidei Donum" priests.

Some of the priorities adopted by the District 15 to 20 years ago are now bearing fruit. The accent put on the formation of the laity has encouraged a spiritual renewal and a greater involvement in the life of society. There has been a significant increase in the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the last few years as a result of a more active concentration on this area.

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