Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 5

The Good Shepherd - 5th Cent. - Italy

In early Christianity, the word Catholic (or catholic) became one of the Four Marks of the Church, as listed in the 381 revision of the Nicene Creed in Constantinople, "[We believe] in [1] one, [2] holy, [3] catholic, and [4] apostolic Church."  Though the word had been around before then, as I explained in Part 4, it now became very important to be identified as Catholic (or catholic), since the Council meant, besides associating Christianity in a universal, worldwide sense, also meant to convey that those who were not Catholic (or catholic) were heretics.  Ever since, almost all all Christian churches seek to identify themselves as Catholic (or catholic).

The Great Schism of 1054

So as I mentioned in Part 2, both the Orthodox Catholic Church (also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church) and Oriental Orthodox churches claim to be the Catholic Church, even though by general convention, since the schism in 1054, churches who remained in communion with the See of Rome tend to be called Catholic, and those in the Eastern churches tend to be called Orthodox (or Eastern Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church), as well as those in Oriental Orthodox churches.

Church of England - St. John's

What I didn't mention there, and which is important for the English-speaking world, is that when the Church of England (the Anglican Church) split from Rome in 1534, it saw itself as the Catholic Church of England.  Therefore, it was not willing to concede the word Catholic to those who remained with Rome.  So in time, two solutions arose to this problem.  First, those who remained loyal to Rome became to be called "Roman Catholics," and the church they identified with began to be called the "Roman Catholic Church."  In time, even the Catholic Church in Rome at times in official documents identified itself as the Roman Catholic Church.  Second, a convention arose in English (not followed in other languages) whereby Catholic with a capital C was used to identify the Catholic Church (also known as the Roman Catholic Church) with those churches loyal to and in full communion with the See of Rome (23 churches - which I discussed in Part 3).  However, this is not a universal or uniform convention.


So in English, the word Catholic (or Catholic Church) can be used to mean all Christians worldwide (especially those who hold to orthodox beliefs).  It can also be used to refer to the Orthodox Catholic Church (also know as the Eastern Orthodox or simply Orthodox), or to the Oriental Orthodox churches, or even to the Anglican Church (the Church of England or the Catholic Church of England).  It can also refer to the Catholic Church - meaning the 23 churches in full communion with the See of Rome.  While some refer to the latter as the Roman Catholic Church (including the Catholic Church itself - meaning the 23 churches in full communion with the See of Rome), some find objection in this term, even if it might be helpful to avoid confusion.  So the best practice is to clarify what one wants to mean by using these terms.

In any case, most Christian around the world recite the Nicene Creed, asserting they are Catholic (or catholic), usually meaning they are part of the world-wide, universal Body of Christ.  An examination of various versions of the Nicene Creed, both Catholic and Protestant versions, shows they variously capitalize the word Catholic (or catholic), or not, and it basically means the same thing.  (The best practice is to clarify if you want to make a distinction.)

For me, the word Catholic (or catholic) points to a unity in the body of Christ, as Christ prayed for, "My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." (John 17:20-21 - NIV.)

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