The Catholic Church, also called the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with an estimated 1.28 to 1.41 billion baptized members worldwide as of 2026. It consists of 24 autonomous
St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the largest Catholic church building in the world
The first use of the term "Catholic Church", meaning "universal church", was by the Church Father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans in c. 110 AD. Ignatius of Antioch also is credited with the first recorded use of the term Christianity ten years earlier, in c. 100 AD. He died in Rome, with his relics located in San Clemente al Laterano.
A c. 1481–1482 fresco by Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel showing Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter
The Last Supper in the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church in Milan, Italy, a late 1490s mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, depicting the Last Supper of Jesus and his twelve apostles, depicts the final meal of Jesus before his crucifixion and death.
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peter's Basilica, is a church of the Italian Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of
Catholic Church
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Main façade and dome of Saint Peter's Basilica, seen from St. Peter's Square
View from the Tiber on Ponte Sant'Angelo and the Basilica. The iconic dome dominates the skyline of Rome.
The dome viewed from the Vatican Museum
Panorama of St. Peter's Square