How is the Catholic Church organised locally into dioceses and parishes?
The universal Catholic Church is structured geographically and pastorally into local churches called dioceses (or archdioceses), each entrusted to a bishop as its chief pastor.
A diocese is not merely an administrative branch office of Rome; it is the Church of Christ fully present and active in that locality. Within a diocese, the bishop divides pastoral care into individual parishes and chaplaincies, appointing priests to pastor them.
The parish or hospital chaplaincy is where ordinary believers gather for the Sunday Eucharist, receive the sacraments, receive instruction in the faith, and build fraternal charity. In this way, every local Catholic is united through their parish priest to the diocesan bishop, and through the bishop to the Pope and the universal worldwide Church.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 833
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2179
- Code of Canon Law, can. 369
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.