Catholic Chaplaincy Resources
- Jan 30
- 2 min read
About Roman Catholic Christianity
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination. There are between 1.27 and 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. The Church consists of 24 autonomous churches: the Latin (Roman, or Western) Church, which is the largest and most familiar here in Canada, and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. Together, they comprise around 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world, each overseen by one or more bishops. The Pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the head of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are expressed in the Nicene Creed.
The Catholic Church in Canada is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. It has a decentralised structure. Each diocesan bishop is autonomous, but under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. It has the largest number of adherents to a Christian denomination and a religion in Canada, with 29.4% of Canadians (10.8 million) being Roman Catholics according to the 2021 census. There are 73 dioceses in Canada.
Attitudes to death
Catholics believe that death is the door to eternal life and that all must pass through it.
Prayers, rites, and rituals are very important as a person is dying.
The priest may also offer the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, a healing
ritual that is appropriate at any time in the patient’s illness.
The church does not allow euthanasia for terminally ill patients.
The church believes that patients should be kept as free from pain as possible until they die a natural death.
