The Australian Catholic Church is one of the largest religious bodies operating in the world. When the church was established, Apostles were in charge of caring for the faithful and teaching them faith and caring for others. Later, Peter was placed as the head of the Apostles. Through this succession, the hierarchy willed by Jesus still exists today in the Church Structure, where the Pope is the head of Church, who leads the Bishops who then lead the faithful of the local churches. Below given is the detailed hierarchy of the Australian Catholic Church.
- The Pope: The Pope is the head of the College of the Bishop, successor of Peter and stands in the place of Christ on Earth. He is believed to help people and preach religion and faith in the place of Christ and care for those who are in need of nurturing and love of God.
- Bishops: The Bishops are the successors of the Apostles. They are individually in charge of particular dioceses. Together as a group, bishops can exercise power over a number of churches by coming together as a council. They take important decisions with respect to the administration of the church, by taking guidance of the Pope and execute it on their juniors as well as the lay who visit the Church.
- Cardinals: Certain Bishops are granted a special position which is known as the Cardinal. The primary role of the College of Cardinals is to act as special advisors to the pope in important matters. They can come together in order to vote for a successor in case the existing Pope dies. They can taske care of the important decisions in the absence of the Pope and everybody else is bound to follow the decisions taken by the College of Cardinals.
- Episcopal Conference: Every country now has an Episcopal Conference where the new Code of Canon Law is reserved to certain disciplinary decisions of the church for a particular region. The Canon Law allows each region to substitute a different penance if they want to choose, depending upon the current situations.
- Synod of Bishops: The Synod of Bishops is a formal body within the Church which acts as an advisor board to the Pope. It is largely a creature of the Second Vatican Council and must take all the important matters to the pope so that the problems can be solved easily.