ABSTRACT
The Roman Catholic Church, considered in its broadest sense, is both globally widespread and historically long-lived. There are over a billion Catholics now on earth, almost a sixth of the world’s population. Both widespread and ancient, the Roman Catholic Church can also be compared to other major, long-standing civilizations, such as India and China. According to the Catholic Almanac this global church is organized into 217,000 parishes divided into 2,667 dioceses, which are themselves members of over 100 conferences. To add to this complexity, there is a second structure comprising religious communities that include monks and nuns, such as the Benedictines and Trappists; friars, like the Franciscans and Dominicans; and dedicated men and women in more recently formed communities, like the Jesuits and the Holy Cross Fathers, as well as many communities of nuns. In addition, the Catholic Church also operates many schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, cooperatives, orphanages and other social service facilities.
