List of The Catholic Dioceses of The United States

List Of The Catholic Dioceses Of The United States

The following is the list of the Catholic dioceses and archdioceses of the United States. This list includes not only dioceses of the Latin or Western Church but also the eparchies (dioceses) of the Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.

The Catholic Church in the United States comprises 195 particular churches, of which the 194 dioceses and one apostolic exarchate are each led by a bishop. In the United States, state, counties or county equivalents are usually used to determine boundaries of most territorial dioceses. There are also nationwide or large area dioceses defined by rite for many Eastern Catholics. In addition to the 195 territorial dioceses and exarchate, there is the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, which ministers to Catholics serving in the military or diplomatic corps and their dependents. Dioceses led by archbishops are called archdioceses. There are 32 archdioceses whose archbishops serve as the metropolitans of 32 Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in the United States. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, is not a metropolitan see.

In addition to the 195 dioceses and the single exarchate whose bishops are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), there are several other dioceses in the nation's unincorporated territories (i.e., in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands).

The United States Catholic population is mainly of the Latin rite, but eparchies and archeparchies of the Eastern Catholic Churches exist in the nation. These particular Churches are also organized into ecclesiastical provinces of their own or are exempt dioceses immediately subject to the Holy See.

Dioceses and archdioceses are normally named by the city in which the bishop or archbishop has his seat. The diocese may take in a much wider area: e.g., the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark for Syrian Rite Catholics actually serves all Syrian Catholics in the entire United States and Canada; the Diocese of Albany serves not just the city of Albany, NY, but also a large portion of central New York State.

All Catholic bishops from the United States and the U. S. Virgin Islands—whether diocesan, coadjutor, or auxiliary; Latin Rite or Eastern Rite—are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishops from Puerto Rico form the Episcopal Conference of Puerto Rico, while bishops in the overseas dependencies in the Pacific Ocean are members of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter was established on January 1, 2012 for former Anglicans to join the Catholic Church.