<P> This list of the Catholic dioceses and archdioceses of the United States includes both the Dioceses of the Latin Church, which uses the Roman Rite, and various dioceses, primarily the Eparchies (dioceses) of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which use various (Byzantine and other) rites and which are in full communion with the Pope, the Bishop of Rome . The Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA is not a metropolitan diocese . The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter was established on January 1, 2012 for former Anglicans who join the Roman Catholic Church . </P> <P> The Roman Catholic Church has a total of 197 particular churches--consisting of 32 territorial archdioceses, 145 territorial dioceses, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (serving members of the US Armed Forces and Diplomatic Corps, and those in facilities of the Veterans Administration and their dependents), and the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter (serving Catholics who were formerly Anglicans) within the Roman Rite; and two archieparchies and 16 eparchies in the Eastern Catholic Churches--in the 50 United States and the US Virgin Islands . The pastor of any particular church other than an ordinariate must be episcopally ordained, but his title conforms to that of his jurisdiction: the pastor of an archdiocese is an archbishop, the pastor of a diocese is a bishop, the pastor of an archieparchy is an archieparch, the pastor of an eparchy is an eparch, and the pastor of an exarchate is an exarch . The pastor of an ordinariate, titled the "ordinary" (which is a term also used generically for the pastor of any particular church), may be either a bishop if celibate, or a presbyter (priest) if married, but he holds the same power of governance of his ordinariate that a bishop has of his diocese in either case; Pope Benedict XVI deliberately instituted this provision to permit married, former Anglican bishops who come into full communion with the Catholic Church along with many of their congregants to accede to office while respecting sensitivities in ecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, which also maintain a celibate episcopacy . The pastor of each particular church is, ex officio, a full member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Auxiliary and retired bishops are also members of the Conference but have no vote . </P> <P> In the United States, each archbishop is also the metropolitan bishop of an ecclesiastical province that encompasses several adjacent dioceses . Likewise, each archieparch is also the metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province that encompasses all of the eparchies of the same sui iuris particular church in the United States . Most provincial and diocesan boundaries conform to state, county, borough (in Alaska), or parish (in Louisiana) political boundaries . The sui iuris Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the US has an ecclesiastical province consisting of an archieparchy and three eparchies, and the sui iuris Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church has an ecclesiastical province consisting of an archieparchy and three eparchies; the boundaries of these jurisdictions also generally conform to those of states . Most of the remaining eparchies are national in territory, but two particular churches, namely the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in the United States and Canada and the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, are international, encompassing all of the United States and Canada; their pastors also are ex officio members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). </P>

How many dioceses are there in the united states