This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Lead section could be clearer, less confusing, and generelly updated to better present scope in question. Please help improve this article if you can.(April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Distribution of Catholics[1]
Percentage of Catholics by country (2010)
Number of Catholics by country (2010)
v
t
e
The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope)."[2] The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the "Temple of the Holy Spirit", among other names.[3] According to Vatican II's Gaudium et spes, the "church has but one sole purpose–that the kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished."[4][5]
This communion of churches comprises the Latin Church (or the Roman or Western Church) as well as 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, canonically called sui juris churches, each led by either a patriarch or a major archbishop in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. Historically, these bodies separated from Eastern Christian communions, either to remain in or to return to full communion with the Catholic Church. Vatican II decree on Eastern Catholic Churches, however, explicitly recognizes Eastern Catholic communities as "true Churches" and not just rites within the Catholic Church.[6] This Communion of Churches "exists among and between the individual Churches and dioceses of the universal Catholic Church. Its structural expression is the College of Bishops, each of whom represents and embodies his own local church."[7] In addition to Eastern Catholic Churches, the Catholic Church oversees the Catholic Charismatic renewal, the largest Charismatic movement of a single institution in 2020, with over 100 million members, primarily in the Global South.[8] The Catholic Church is also described as an "amalgam of parts" (i.e., thousands of individual dioceses, religious orders, etc.) globally dispersed, but in communion with Rome.[9]
The Catholic Church is the "world's oldest continuously functioning international institution."[10] It is also the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world,[11] while the diplomatic status of the Holy See facilitates the access of its vast international network of charities. Some of these entities include 5,000 hospitals, 10,000 orphanages, 95,000 elementary schools and 47,000 secondary schools.[12]
^"PEW Research Center: Christian Population as Percentages of Total Population by Country 2010". Retrieved 13 October 2015.
^Richard P. McBrien. The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism. (New York: Harper One, 2008) p.447
^Ibid., 2.
^Ibid., 3.
^"Gaudium et spes". Vatican.va.
^Edward P. Hahnenberg. A CONCISE GUIDE TO THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II (Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2007).
^McBrien, 447.
^Dr. Todd M. Johnson, "Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity" World Christian Encyclopedia 3rd edition, Edinburgh University Press, 2019.
^Michael W. Higgins, "Promises to keep," The Tablet, 2 July 2022, 10. As Canadian bishops noted in the article, there is no "Catholic church of Canada" (i.e., no national church as the Anglican "Church of Canada" or "Church of England"), only a "Catholic Church in Canada." "Its dioceses report to Rome, not to Ottawa; the Church is not a national or univocal entity but an amalgam of separate parts." Each diocese operates self-reliantly or independently of the others.
^Mark A. Noll. THE NEW SHAPE OF WORLD CHRISTIANITY (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 191.
^Agnew, John (12 February 2010). "Deus Vult: The Geopolitics of Catholic Church". Geopolitics. 15 (1): 39–61. doi:10.1080/14650040903420388. S2CID 144793259.
^Johnson, "Catholicism Worldwide," World Christian Encyclopedia, Edinburgh University Press, 2019.
and 29 Related for: Catholic Church by country information
Distribution of Catholics The CatholicChurch is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with...
The CatholicChurch in Georgia, since the 11th-century East–West Schism, has been composed mainly of Latin ChurchCatholics; a very large community of...
political influence that the CatholicChurch in Poland once enjoyed. On the other hand, a 2023 survey of 36 countries with large Catholic populations using data...
The Eastern CatholicChurches or Oriental CatholicChurches, also called the Eastern-Rite CatholicChurches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern...
The Italian CatholicChurch, or CatholicChurch in Italy, is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch in communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference...
The CatholicChurch in China (called Tiānzhǔ Jiào, 天主教, literally "Religion of the Lord of Heaven" after the Chinese term for the Christian God) has a...
The Brazilian CatholicChurch, or CatholicChurch in Brazil, is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome...
The CatholicChurch in Japan is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. As of 2021, there were approximately...
The hierarchy of the CatholicChurch consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means...
The French CatholicChurch, or CatholicChurch in France is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch in communion with the Pope in Rome. Established in the...
The Australian CatholicChurch or CatholicChurch in Australia is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch under the spiritual and administrative leadership...
As part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, the CatholicChurch in the Philippines (Filipino: Simbahang Katolika sa Pilipinas, Spanish: Iglesia Catolica...
2018[update], the CatholicChurch is the country's second-largest religious grouping after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian...
percentage of membership in the CatholicChurch as an indicator, Slovakia is the third most Catholic Slavic country, after Poland and Croatia. Archdiocese...
The CatholicChurch in Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais Chaitligeach ann an Alba; Scots: Catholic Kirk in Scotland) overseen by the Scottish Bishops'...
The CatholicChurch in Sweden is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch in communion with the Pope in Rome. It was established by Archbishop Ansgar in Birka...
The Mexican CatholicChurch, or CatholicChurch in Mexico, is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, his Curia...
The CatholicChurch, also known as the Roman CatholicChurch, is the largest Christian church, with 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2022...
Romanian Catholics, like Catholics elsewhere, are members of the CatholicChurch under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome. The administration...
The CatholicChurch in Lebanon (Arabic: الكنيسة الكاثوليكية في لبنان) is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch under the spiritual leadership of the Pope...
related to ChurchesbyCountry. List of Christian denominations by number of members CatholicChurchbycountry Eastern Orthodoxy bycountry Oriental Orthodoxy...
The CatholicChurch in Indonesia (Indonesian: Gereja Katolik di Indonesia) is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of...
The CatholicChurch in Morocco is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch (particularly the Latin Church), under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in...
Eritrean CatholicChurch or Eritrean Eastern CatholicChurch is a sui iuris (autonomous) Eastern Catholicchurch based in Eritrea. As a particular church of...
particular church (Latin: ecclesia particularis) is an ecclesiastical community of followers headed by a bishop (or equivalent), as defined byCatholic canon...
The CatholicChurch in Russia is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. According to the 2016 Annuario...
CatholicChurch in Nigeria is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Catholic Bishops'...
The CatholicChurch in Norway (Norwegian: Den katolske kirke i Norge) is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch. As of May 2014[update], there were over...
Global Information
