section_path: Organization/Dioceses, parishes, organizations, and institutes
section_name: Dioceses, parishes, organizations, and institutes
paragraph_text: Dioceses, parishes, organizations, and institutes
  
  Individual countries, regions, and major cities are served by particular churches known as dioceses in the Latin Church, or eparchies in the Eastern Catholic Churches, each of which are overseen by a bishop. As of 2021, the Catholic Church has 3,171 dioceses globally. The bishops in a particular country are members of a national or regional episcopal conference.
  
  Dioceses are divided into parishes, each with one or more priests, deacons, or lay ecclesial ministers. Parishes are responsible for the day to day celebration of the sacraments and pastoral care of the laity. As of 2016, there are 221,700 parishes worldwide.
  
  In the Latin Church, Catholic men may serve as deacons or priests by receiving sacramental ordination. Men and women may serve as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, as readers (lectors), or as altar servers. Historically, boys and men have only been permitted to serve as altar servers; however, since the 1990s, girls and women have also been permitted.
  
  Ordained Catholics, as well as members of the laity, may enter into consecrated life either on an individual basis, as a hermit or consecrated virgin, or by joining an institute of consecrated life (a religious institute or a secular institute) in which to take vows confirming their desire to follow the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. Examples of institutes of consecrated life are the Benedictines, the Carmelites, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Missionaries of Charity, the Legionaries of Christ and the Sisters of Mercy.
  
  "Religious institutes" is a modern term encompassing both " religious orders " and " religious congregations ", which were once distinguished in canon law. The terms "religious order" and "religious institute" tend to be used as synonyms colloquially.
  
  By means of Catholic charities and beyond, the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world.