This article incorporates text from the Catholic Encyclopedia, which is in the public domain. The Catholic Encyclopedia is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 under the auspices of the Catholic University of America, designed to give authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. // History The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11, 1905 under the supervision of... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

Chapter (Latin capitulum) designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Catholic Church. The word is said to be derived from the chapter of the rule book, which it was the custom to read in the assemblies of monks. By degrees the meeting itself was called the chapter and the place of meeting the chapter house. From these conventual chapters or meetings of monks for the transaction of business connected with their monasteries or orders, the designation passed over to somewhat analogous assemblies of other ecclesiastics. Hence we speak of collegiate chapters and of cathedral chapters. In general a chapter may be defined as an association of clerics of a certain church forming a moral body and instituted by ecclesiastical authority for the purpose of promoting the divine worship by means of choir service. If it be a cathedral chapter, however, its principal object is to assist the bishop in the government of his diocese, and the choir service is only secondary. Members of chapters are called canons. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Ecclesiology, a term taken from the Greek word ecclesia, is a branch of Christian theology that deals with the doctrine pertaining to the Church: its role in salvation, and its origin, its discipline, and its leadership. ... The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ... A chapter is one of the main divisions of a piece of writing of relative length, such as a book, being comprised of multiple pages. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ...