Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Catholic Church in Dominican Republic | |
|---|---|
| Iglesia Católica en República Dominicana | |
| Classification | Catholic |
| Orientation | Latin |
| Scripture | Bible |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Governance | Episcopal Conference of the Dominican Republic |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| President | Héctor Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez |
| Language | Spanish, Latin |
| Headquarters | Santo Domingo |
| Origin | 1494 |
| Members | 6 million (2020) |
| Official website | Episcopal Conference of the Dominican Republic |
The Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian Church, and its largest religious grouping. There are an estimated 5 million Catholics in the Dominican Republic (48% of the population).[1] In 2020, just over 50% of Dominicans identified as Catholic,[2] served by 1,140 priests across 709 parishes.[3]
Hierarchy
Within the Dominican Republic the hierarchy consists of:
- Archbishopric
- Bishopric
Church in society
The Dominican Republic offers religious freedom, and Catholicism is the official religion of the state; this was signed into law by the 1954 concordat with the Vatican. Under Rafael Trujillo's government, the power of the Catholic Church was limited.
