People in the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor, first cathedral of the New World.

The Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

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 1140 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.

See also

References and notes

  1. ↑ Latinobarometro, Opinion Publica Latinoamericana, Enero 2018.
  2. ↑ International Religious Freedom Report 2022 Dominican Republic, US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
  3. ↑ Catholics And Culture website, retrieved 20234-08-01
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