Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ , so to respect the diversity of gifts and ministries necessary for genuine unity.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is headed [note 6] by the pope, currently Pope Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013 by a papal conclave. [191] The office of the pope is known as the papacy. The Catholic Church holds that Christ instituted the papacy upon giving the keys of Heaven to Saint Peter.
The order of precedence in the Catholic Church is organized by rank within the hierarchy according first to order, then jurisdiction, and finally to titular or ad personam honors granted to individuals despite a lack of jurisdiction. Emeritus ecclesiastics are counted among the latter.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Catholic Church: . Catholicism – largest denomination of Christianity.Catholicism encompasses the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole.
The central leadership body of the Catholic Church in the United States is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of bishops (including archbishops) of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands, although each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Holy See. The USCCB elects a president to ...
the binding of the Catholic Hierarchy to a universal and comprehensive system of transparency and accountability relating to their governance of the Church; the mandatory empowerment of the laity to a degree of oversight and scrutiny at every level of the Church – local, diocesan, provincial, national / bishops conference , international ...
Catholic religious orders began as early as the 500s, with the Order of Saint Benedict being formed in 529. The earliest orders include the Cistercians (1098), the Premonstratensians (1120), the Poor Clares founded by Francis of Assisi (1212), and the Benedictine reform movements of Cluny (1216).
In the Catholic Church, bishops have authority over the diocese, which is both sacramental and political; as well as performing ordinations, confirmations, and consecrations, the bishop supervises the clergy of the diocese and represents the diocese both secularly and in the hierarchy of church governance.