Dec. 19, 2006 (AsiaNews) - China’s state-run Central Television network (CCTV) has acknowledged that the country’s Catholic population is growing, the AsiaNews service reports.
 
 CCTV, which operates under the direction of Communist Party propaganda officials, broadcast a December 18 news report that featured a young man’s story of his conversion to Catholicism, using his case to illustrate a report on growth in the Church.
 
 Official figures place China’s Catholic population at 5 million; AsiaNews estimates that a more accurate figure would be 12 million.