Episcopal conference in the context of "Motu proprio"

According to the Catholic Church, a Church Council is ecumenical ("world-wide") if it is "a solemn congregation of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him". The wider term "ecumenical council" relates to Church councils recognised by both Eastern and Western Christianity.

In Catholicism, in addition to ecumenical Councils, there are "particular Councils". Current Canon Law recognises two kinds of particular Councils: plenary councils involve the bishops of an episcopal conference (usually a single country), while provincial councils involve the bishops of an ecclesiastical province.

A national shrine is a Catholic church or other sacred place which has met certain requirements and is given this honor by the national episcopal conference to recognize the church's special cultural, historical, and religious significance.

The Italian Episcopal Conference (Italian: Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church. The conference was founded in 1971 and carries out various tasks, including setting the national liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi was appointed its president by Pope Francis in 2022.

In 1986, Pope John Paul II suppressed 101 Italian dioceses. As of 2024 there are 226 dioceses in all. As of 2024 Italy has a total of 41 dioceses united in persona episcopi, or “in the person of the bishop.”

The Mexican Episcopal Conference (Spanish: Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano) is an organization of Catholic bishops, known as an episcopal conference. It is the official leadership body of the Catholic Church in Mexico.

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland (BCOS), under the trust of the Catholic National Endowment Trust, and based in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, is an episcopal conference for archbishops and bishops of the Catholic Church in Scotland. The conference is primarily made up of the presiding bishops of Scotland's eight dioceses as well as bishops who have retired.

As of 2024, the president of the conference is Bishop John Keenan of the Diocese of Paisley.

The Catholic Church in Germany (German: Katholische Kirche in Deutschland) or Roman Catholic Church in Germany (German: Römisch-katholische Kirche in Deutschland) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope, assisted by the Roman Curia, and with the German bishops. The current "Speaker" (i.e., Chairman) of the episcopal conference is Georg Bätzing, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg. It is divided into 27 dioceses, 7 of them with the rank of metropolitan sees.

Growing rejection of the Church has had its impact in Germany; nevertheless, 28.5% of the total population remain Roman Catholic (23.9 million people as of December 2022). Before the 1990 reunification of Germany by accession of the former German Democratic Republic (or East Germany), Roman Catholics were 42% of the population of West Germany. Religious demographic data is relatively accessible in Germany because, by law, all Christian taxpayers must declare their religious affiliation so that the church tax can be deducted by the state and passed on to the relevant church in the state where the taxpayer lives.

The Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. As of 2021, there were approximately 431,100 Catholics in Japan (0.34% of the total population), 6,200 of whom are clerics, religious and seminarians. Japan has 15 dioceses, including three metropolitan archdioceses, with 34 bishops, 1,235 priests, and 40 deacons spread out across 957 churches (parishes, quasi-parishes, mission stations, and assembly centres).

The bishops of the dioceses form the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, the episcopal conference of the nation. The main liturgical rites employed in Japan are those of the Latin Church.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB; French: Conférence des évêques catholiques du Canada) is the national assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in Canada. It was founded in 1943, and was officially recognized by the Holy See in 1948. Since the Second Vatican Council, it became part of a worldwide network of episcopal conferences, established in 1965. Until 1977, it was called the Canadian Catholic Conference, when the present name was adopted.

According to its statutes, together the bishops exercise certain pastoral functions for Catholics in Canada, respecting the autonomy of each bishop in the service of his particular church.

The German Bishops' Conference (German: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz) is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrators.