Portal:Christianity/Selected article/July 2008

frame|100px|Miami Archdiocese Coat of Arms The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties in Florida. The archdiocese is the metropolitan see for the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Florida. The current archbishop is John Favalora. As archbishop, Favalora also serves as pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Mary, the mother church of the archdiocese. Also serving are 428 priests, 160 Permanent Deacons, 50 Religious Brothers and 300 Religious Sisters who are members of various Roman Catholic religious orders. These priests, deacons and religious serve a Catholic population in South Florida of 1,300,000 in 118 parishes and missions. Because of the vast number of immigrants, Catholic Mass is offered in at least a dozen languages in parishes throughout the archdiocese.

Several social service organizations are operated by the archdiocese which include two hospitals, nine health care centers, three homes for the aged, and two cemeteries. Charities include homeless shelters, legal services for the poor, Pro Life centers, an HIV/AIDS ministry, the Missionaries of Charity and Society of Saint Vincent de Paul ministries to the poor. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, is a separate non-profit organization operated by the archdiocese. It claims to be the largest non-governmental provider of social services to the needy in South Florida.

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