The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the
largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
Catholics
worldwide .
It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a prominent role in the history and development of
Western civilization
human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Clemetino Inv305.jpg, upPlato, arguably the most influential figure in all of Western philosoph ...
.
O'Collins O'Collins is a common anglicized surname of two ancient families of Irish origin: O'Cuilleain and O'Coilean.
Origin of O'Cuilleain
O'Cuilleain or Cuilliaéan is an extremely ancient Irish name from Gaelic ''cuileann'' and primitive Gaelic '' ...
, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24
''sui iuris'' churches, including the
Latin Church
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, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...
and 23
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
, which comprise almost 3,500
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provin