Roman Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter.
The Catholic Church is the largest Christian Church and the largest organized body of any world religion.[1] According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, the Church's worldwide recorded membership at the end of 2004 was 1,098,366,000 or approximately one in six of the world's population.[2]
The Catholic Church is a worldwide organization made up of one Western or Latin-Rite and 22 Eastern Rite particular Churches, all of which have the Holy See of Rome as their highest authority on earth. It is divided into jurisdictional areas, usually on a territorial basis. The standard territorial unit is called a diocese in the Latin Rite and an eparchy in the Eastern Rites, each of which is headed by a bishop. At the end of 2005, the total number of all these jurisdictional areas (or "Sees") was 2,770.[3]
- ↑ Major Branches of Religions. adherents.com. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
- ↑ Central Statistics Office (2006). Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2004. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 88-209-7817-2.
- ↑ Central Statistics Office (February 2006). Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 88-209-7806-7.
