The Diocese of Rome, also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As the Holy See, the papacy is a sovereign entity with diplomatic relations, and civil jurisdiction over the Vatican City State located geographically within Rome. The Diocese of Rome is the metropolitan diocese of the province of Rome, an ecclesiastical province in Italy. According to Catholic tradition, the first bishop of Rome was Saint Peter in the first century. The incumbent since 13 March 2013 is Pope Francis.
The Papal Cathedra, the throne of the Pope in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran
Image: Petrus Canisius van Lierde (1965)
Image: Virgilio Noè (cropped)
Image: Angelo Cardinal Comastri
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
Like other dioceses, the Diocese of Rome has a cathedra, the official seat of the Bishop of Rome.
St Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Armagh in the Church of Ireland