Paper short abstract:

The US Archdiocese for the Military Services serves Catholics in the US Armed Forces and Diplomatic Service as well as other (Catholic) government employees outside the boundaries of the United States, thus making it a bishopric with almost worldwide – and probably beyond – jurisdiction.

Paper long abstract:

The US Archdiocese for the Military Services serves Catholics in the US Armed Forces and Diplomatic Service as well as other (Catholic) government employees outside the boundaries of the United States, thus making it a bishopric with almost worldwide – and probably beyond – jurisdiction. The United States maintains a military presence in 150 countries and diplomatic posts in almost every country in the world. Additionally, the US Military Archdiocese provides to spiritual care to personnel of the US Antarctic Program, thus giving the Archdiocese a presence on all continents. It can further be argued that the Archdiocese’s responsibility extends to outer space – at least to Catholic astronauts who are members of the armed forces. A very current example is Colonel Michael S. Hopkins of the US Space Force, Commander of the Dragon Crew-1 mission and serving on the International Space Station from November 2020 to May 2021. He is a practising Catholic who asked the Church for and got special dispensation to receive Holy Communion during his long duration mission(s) in space.