Patrick Comerford
The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to surprise me. These figures have passed the million mark twice this month, reaching the 32 million mark very early today (19 April 2026), soon after midnight, having passed the 31 million mark earlier in the month (8 April 2026).
This blog passed the million figure in readership numbers no less than five times last month, reaching the 30 million mark by 29 March, 29 million four days earlier (25 March), 28 million on 20 March, 27 million on 12 March, and 26 million at the beginning of that month (1 March). The number of hits on two days last month were the highest daily figures I have ever recorded: 323,156 on 27 March 2026 and 318,307 on 1 March.
This year so far has seen a phenomenal amount of traffic on this blog, reaching a volume of readers that I never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (16 million) have been within little more than seven months, since 6 September 2025. The total hits last month were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), following on the heels of the previous month’s record total of 3,386,504 in February 2026.
At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 11 million hits or visitors in 2026, with more than 1.7 million hits so far in April.
I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, six were last month alone, three were in February, one was in January, and two were in January 2025:
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 280,802 (26 February 2026)
• 273,022 (27 February 2026)
• 270,983 (25 March 2026)
• 261,422 (13 January 2026)
• 256,384 (18 April 2026)
• 234,737 (26 March 2026)
The number of readers continues to be overpowering and the daily averages are running at more than 91,000 or more hits a day so far this month. Ten years ago, the daily average was around 1,000.
To put today’s figure of 32 million in context:
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned last week that a potential ‘triple shock’ of energy, food, and economic issues stemming from an Iran war could push 32 million people into poverty, with developing nations most affected.
The Salvation Army is the largest non-government provider of social services in the US and one of the largest in the world, spending more than $3.6 billion a year and assisting more than 32 million people in the US alone.
The Trump administration has spent more than $1 million per person to deport some migrants to countries they have no connection to, only to see many sent back to their home nations at further taxpayer expense, according to a new congressional investigation. A 30-page report from Senate foreign relations committee Democrats released in February revealed the US government paid more than $32 million to five foreign governments – including some of the world’s most corrupt regimes – to accept about 300 third-country nationals deported from the US.
The report also detailed how the administration had struck a deal with Iran to deport 400 Iranian nationals, including Christian converts, ethnic minorities and political dissidents. According to a detailed report in the Guardian, at least eight people on the first flight begged not to be sent because they feared for their lives.
About 32 million people live in both Saudi Arabia and Mozambique. Compare this figure with Chongqing in China, widely cited as the world’s largest city proper with over 32 million residents. However, this figure represents the entire administrative municipality – an area as large as Austria containing substantial rural, mountainous, and agricultural regions, and not just the dense urban core.
Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in terms of population with about 32 million Sikhs around the globe.
32 million square metres is 32,000 sq km and 32 million metres is 32,000 km. 32,000 sq km is the land area of the State of Maryland in the US and the autonomous region of Catalunya (Catalonia) in Spain.
Asteroid (99942) Apophis will pass within 32,000 km of the Earth’s surface on 13 April 2029, and should be visible to the naked eye without telescope or binoculars. NASA says the ‘potentially hazardous asteroid’ will come closer than many orbiting satellites. It is named Apophis after an Egyptian deity known as the god of chaos and eternal darkness. However, there is no risk of it hitting Planet Earth for the next 100 years.
The London to Calcutta bus service was a long-distance international bus route that operated between London and Calcutta from 1957 to 1976. It was the longest bus route in the world in its day, covering about 16,000 km (10,000 miles) one way, and over 32,700 km on the round trip, taking about 50 days to complete each leg. The route passed through several countries and became associated with the overland ‘Hippie Trail’ of the 1960s and 1970s.
32 million minutes is about 60 years, 10 months and 2 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take almost 61 years, from June 1965, to reach today’s latest figure of 32 million.
It is now more than four years since I retired from active parish ministry on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number are reading my current series of postings on churches in the Rugeley and Stafford areas, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 800-1,000 or more people each week.
This afternoon, I am very grateful to the real readers among those 32 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I remain thankful to the faithful core group of about 100-120 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each day.
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