The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church in full communion

Full communion

In Christian ecclesiology, full communion is a relationship between church organizations or groups that mutually recognize their sharing the essential doctrines....

 with the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

. With more than 68.5 registered million members, it is the largest single religious denomination in the United States

Christianity in the United States

Christianity is the largest and most popular religion in the United States, with around 77% of those polled identifying themselves as Christian, as of 2009. This is down from 86% in 1990, and slightly lower than 78.6% in 2001. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation...

, comprising about 22 percent of the population. According to a new 2011 study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, "The US Catholic population is currently 77.7 million." The United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 has the fourth largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Catholicism arrived in what is now the United States during the earliest days of the European colonization of the Americas

European colonization of the Americas

The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...

.