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In Catholic theology and canon law, a particular church is any of the individual constituent ecclesial communities in full communion with the Church of Rome: "The phrase 'particular church,' which is first of all the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession.... Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome..." (Catechism of the Catholic Church §833-4 (http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm)). "Particular Churches, in which and from which the one and only catholic Church exists, are principally dioceses. Unless the contrary is clear, the following are equivalent to a diocese: a territorial prelature, a territorial abbacy, a vicariate apostolic, a prefecture apostolic and a permanently established apostolic administration" (Can. 368 (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1B.HTM#N)). "Each manifestation of the Universal Church is called the [a] particular Church." [1] (http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Faith/2001-02/burke.html)
These distinct bodies may be conceived broadly, in the form of the numerous sui iuris ecclesial communities. E.g., "It is within the competence of the supreme authority alone to establish particular Churches; once they are lawfully established, the law itself gives them juridical personality" (Can. 373 (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1B.HTM#N)). These communities, obedient to the Pope, are frequently thought of in terms of Latin and Eastern Rites, although "Rite is not [typically] a constitutive element of sui iuris Church" [2] (http://www.kottayamdiocese.com/sui_juris.htm) (Cf. Can. 372 §2 (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P1B.HTM#N)). A communion of particular Churches existed since the Apostles: "Among these manifold particular expressions of the saving presence of the one Church of Christ, there are to be found, from the times of the Apostles on, those entities which are in themselves Churches (32: Cf. Ac 8:1 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=51&ch=008&l=1), Ac 11:22 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=51&ch=011&l=22), 1 Cor 1:2 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=53&ch=001&l=2), 1 Cor 16:19 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=53&ch=016&l=19), Gal 1:22 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=55&ch=001&l=22), Rev 2 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=73&ch=002), Rev 1:8 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=73&ch=001&l=8), etc.), because, although they are particular, the universal Church becomes present in them with all its essential elements (33: Cf. PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL COMMISSION (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/pcb_index.htm), Unité et diversité dans l'Eglise, Lib. Ed. Vaticana 1989, especially, pp. 14-28.)" (CN §7 (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_28051992_communionis-notio_en.html)).
Owing to the commonplace nature of the constituent words, the phrasing "particular church" may often be used without carrying this theological significance. For example, one could discuss "adapting themselves to the pastoral needs of their own particular Church," [3] (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cevang/documents/rc_con_cevang_doc_20010612_istruzione-sacerdoti_en.html) which while not devoid of the theological significance, is not a phrase that appears actively to evince it. One might also refer to the architecture at one's own "particular church" without intending to refer to the theological relationship between the particular and the universal. Catholic canon law requires that the faithful "carry out with great diligence their responsibilities towards both the universal Church and the particular Church to which by law they belong" (Can. 209 (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_PT.HTM#2X)).
The importance of communion with the Church of Rome in Catholic theology is among the chief reasons that outsiders refer to all such churches in communion with Rome as Roman Catholicism, wheras Catholics themselves often prefer to use that term only to refer to Catholicism's Latin Rite.
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