The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with 1.2 billion members. The Catholic hierarchy includes cardinals and bishops and is led by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. The Church teaches that it is the one true church divinely founded by Jesus Christ. It also teaches that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles and that the Bishop of Rome, as the successor to the head of the apostles, Saint Peter, has supreme authority over the Church. The Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it presents as definitive is infallible. Within the Church there are a variety of doctrinal and theological traditions, including the Eastern Catholic Churches, the personal ordinariates and religious communities.

The Catholic Church is Trinitarian and defines its mission as spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity. Catholic worship is highly liturgical, focusing on the Mass or Divine Liturgy, in which the sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated. The Church teaches that when consecrated by a validly ordained priest the bread and wine used during the Mass become the body and blood of Christ through transubstantiation. The Catholic Church practices closed communion and onlybaptised members of the Church in a state of grace are ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. It holds the Virgin Mary, as mother of Jesus Christ, in special regard and has defined four specific Marian dogmatic teachings, namely her Immaculate Conception without original sin, her status as the Mother of God, her perpetual virginity and her bodily Assumption into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.

Catholic social teaching emphasizes support for the poor and the afflicted through the corporal works of mercy. These include social programmers and institutions throughout the world, including Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, missions and shelters, as well as charities such as Catholic Relief Services and Caritas that help families, the poor, the elderly and the sick. Catholic spiritual teaching emphasizes spread of the Gospel message and growth in spiritual discipline through the spiritual works of mercy.

The Catholic Church is among the oldest institutions in the world and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilization, inspiring art, culture and philosophy. In the Middle Ages, the Church replaced the Roman Empire as a unifying force in Europe and the papacy became involved in politics. In recent decades, the Church has been criticisedfor its doctrines concerning sexual issues and the ordination of women as well as for its handling of sexual abuse cases.