What is .catholic?
.catholic entered the DNS root zone on December 1, 2016, 9 years ago. It came out of ICANN's New gTLD Program, the 2012 application round that grew the root from 22 generic TLDs to well over a thousand.
Pontificium Consilium de Comunicationibus Socialibus (PCCS) (Pontifical Council for Social Communication) also runs 3 other TLDs, including .католик, .كاثوليك and .天主教.
On the technical side, .catholic is served by 6 authoritative name servers, every one of them reachable over IPv6. It is also DNSSEC-signed: the root zone carries a DS record for .catholic, which lets validating resolvers check its answers cryptographically. Registration data is published over RDAP and WHOIS (the WHOIS server is whois.nic.catholic).
Same registry, other endings
3 other TLDs share this operator.
.catholic FAQ
What does .catholic mean?
.catholic is a generic top-level domain named for the word "catholic", and it's aimed at community, nonprofit & causes. It doesn't belong to any country.
What is .catholic used for?
.catholic is mostly used for community, nonprofit & causes. Like most gTLDs, it's a label of intent rather than a guarantee — check the site, not just the ending.
What country is .catholic?
None. .catholic is a generic top-level domain, so it isn't tied to any country.
Who owns the .catholic domain extension?
Pontificium Consilium de Comunicationibus Socialibus (PCCS) (Pontifical Council for Social Communication) operates .catholic as its registry, under a registry agreement with ICANN.
When was .catholic created?
.catholic was delegated to the DNS root zone on December 1, 2016.
Is .catholic a valid domain?
Yes. .catholic is an active top-level domain in the DNS root zone, delegated in 2016, so .catholic addresses work in every browser.
Can I buy a .catholic domain?
.catholic names are sold through ICANN-accredited registrars. Some gTLDs restrict who can register, so read Pontificium Consilium de Comunicationibus Socialibus (PCCS) (Pontifical Council for Social Communication)'s policy if you're unsure.
Is .catholic DNSSEC-signed?
Yes, the root zone holds a DS record for .catholic.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed December 21, 2023. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
