The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney exists to serve the People of God in the city of Sydney, including the Eastern, Southern, inner-Western and South-Western suburbs and the suburbs of the lower-North Shore. Currently there are some 593,300 Catholics in the Archdiocese, with a total population of 2,223,102. The Catholic population is 26.7% of the total. There are 137 parishes, in the pastoral care of around 240 diocesan priests. There are 516 priests in total, including religious priests, working within the Archdiocese, including those on lesser duties and retired priests. There are 1,051 religious sisters and 189 religious brothers and 3 permanent deacons. (Statistics are taken from the Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia 2014/2015)