List of churches sui iuris }|2=3,200 }}
Ecclesiology In
Catholic ecclesiology, a
church is an assembly of the
faithful, hierarchically ordered, both in the entire world (the
Catholic Church), or in a certain territory (a particular church). To be a
sacrament (a sign) of the
Mystical Body of Christ in the world, a church must have both a head and members (
Col. 1:18). The sacramental sign of
Christ the head is the sacred
hierarchy – the
bishops,
priests and
deacons. More specifically, it is the local bishop, with his priests and deacons gathered around and assisting him in his office of teaching, sanctifying and governing (
Mt. 28:19–20;
Titus 1:4–9). Thus, the church is fully present sacramentally (by way of a sign) wherever there is a sign of Christ the head, a bishop and those who assist him, and a sign of Christ's body, Christian faithful. Each
diocese is therefore considered a
particular church. On the worldwide level, the sign of Christ the head is the
Pope, and, to be Catholic, particular churches, whether local churches or autonomous ritual churches, must be in communion with this sign of Christ the head. Through this
full communion with
Saint Peter and his successors the church becomes a universal sacrament of
salvation to the
end of the age (
Mt. 28:20). In this sense of "church", the list of churches in the Catholic Church has only one member, the
Catholic Church itself (comprising Roman and Eastern Churches). Within the Catholic Church there are local particular churches, of which dioceses are the most familiar form. Other forms include
territorial abbacies,
apostolic vicariates and
apostolic prefectures. The
1983 Code of Canon Law states: "Particular Churches, in which and from which the one and only Catholic Church exists, are principally dioceses. Unless the contrary is clear, the following are equivalent to a diocese: a territorial prelature, a territorial abbacy, a vicariate apostolic, a prefecture apostolic and a permanently established apostolic administration." A list of Catholic dioceses, of which on 31 December 2011 there were 2,834, is given at
List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical). Within the Catholic Church there are also aggregations of local particular churches that share a specific liturgical, theological, spiritual, and
canonical heritage, distinguished from other heritages on the basis of cultural and historical circumstances. These are known as autonomous ("
sui iuris") churches. The 1990
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches defines such a church as follows: "A group of Christ's faithful hierarchically linked in accordance with law and given express or tacit recognition by the supreme authority of the Church is in this Code called an autonomous Church." There are 24 such autonomous Catholic churches: One
Latin Church (i.e.,
Western) and 23
Eastern Catholic Churches", a distinction by now more historical than geographical. Although each of them has its own specific heritage, they are all in full communion with the Pope in
Rome. Unlike "families" or "federations" of churches formed through the grant of mutual recognition by distinct ecclesial bodies, the Catholic Church considers itself a single church ("
full communion, "one Body") composed of a multitude of particular churches, each of which, as stated, is an embodiment of the fullness of the one Catholic Church. For the particular churches within the Catholic Church, whether autonomous ritual churches (e.g.,
Coptic Catholic Church,
Melkite Catholic Church,
Armenian Catholic Church, etc.) or dioceses (e.g.,
Archdiocese of Birmingham,
Archdiocese of Chicago, etc.), are seen as not simply branches, divisions or sections of a larger body. Theologically, each is considered to be the embodiment in a particular place or for a particular community of the one, whole Catholic Church. "It is in these and formed out of them that the one and unique Catholic Church exists."
Particular churches sui iuris There are 24 autonomous churches: one
Latin Church and twenty-three
Eastern Catholic Churches, a distinction by now more historical than geographical. The term
sui iuris means, literally, "of its own law", or self-governing. Although all of the particular churches espouse the same beliefs and faith, their distinction lies in their varied expression of that faith through their traditions, disciplines, and
canon law. All are in communion with the
Holy See. For this kind of particular church, the 1983
Code of Canon Law uses the unambiguous phrase "autonomous ritual Church" (). The 1990
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, which is concerned principally with what the
Second Vatican Council called "particular Churches or rites", shortened this to "autonomous Church" ().
Local particular churches In
Catholic teaching, each
diocese (Latin Church term) or
eparchy (Eastern term) is also a local or particular church, though it lacks the autonomy of the autonomous churches described above: The
1983 Code of Canon Law, which is concerned with the Latin Church alone and so with only one
autonomous particular church, uses the term "particular Church" only in the sense of "local Church", as in its Canon 373: The standard form of these local or particular churches, each of which is headed by a
bishop, is called a
diocese in the Latin Church and an
eparchy in the Eastern churches. At the end of 2011, the total number of all these jurisdictional areas (or "sees") was 2,834.
Local particular church of Rome The
Holy See, the
Diocese of Rome, is seen as the central local church. The
bishop, the
Pope, is considered to be, in a unique sense, the successor of
Saint Peter, the chief (or "prince") of the
apostles. Quoting the Second Vatican Council's document , the
Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, 'is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful. All the Catholic particular churches, whether Latin or Eastern, local or autonomous—are by definition in
full communion with the
Holy See of Rome. == Rites ==