The Catholic Church [D0GM4]

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, claiming 1.2 billion members worldwide.[1][2][3] It is among the oldest institutions in Christianity and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation.[4] The Catholic hierarchy is led by the Pope and includes cardinals, patriarchs and diocesan bishops. The Church teaches that it is the one true Church divinely[5][6][7][8] founded by Jesus Christ,[9][10] that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles and that the Pope is the sole successor to Saint Peter who has apostolic primacy.[11][note 1][12][note 2][note 3]
The Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it presents as definitive is infallible.[13][14][15][16][note 4] There are a variety of doctrinal and theological emphases within the Catholic Church,[17] including the Eastern Catholic Churches, the personal ordinariates and religious communities such as the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans.