The Latin Church is the largest particular church within the Catholic Church. It is a particular church not on the level of the local particular churches known as dioceses or eparchies, but on the level of autonomous ritual churches, of which there are 23, the remaining 22 of which are Eastern Catholic Churches.
The Latin Church developed in the Western Roman Empire (Western Europe and North Africa) where, from classical antiquity to the Renaissance, Latin was the principal language of education and culture. The various Latin liturgical rites that developed in that area also use or have used that language.
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