User:Pseudo-Richard/Names of the Catholic Church

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The terms "Catholic Church" and "Roman Catholic Church" are names for the entire church that describes itself as "governed by the successor of Saint Peter and by the bishops in communion with him". In its formal documents and pronouncements the church most often refers to itself as the Catholic Church or simply the Church. In its relations with other churches, it frequently uses the name "Roman Catholic Church". Some argue that the only proper name for the Church is "the Catholic Church". In particular, the use of the name "Roman Catholic Church" is controversial due to the fact that it is sometimes used by those outside the Church to suggest the Branch Theory (i.e., that the Church in communion with the Pope is only one part of a divided Catholic Church). The name "Roman Catholic Church" is occasionally used by popes, bishops, other clergy and laity, who do not see it as opprobrious or having the suggested overtone. The use of "Roman", "Holy" and "Apostolic" are accepted by the Church as descriptive names. While the Church is required to use the legal name "Roman Catholic Church" by some US states and the country of England, it has officially "claimed as its title" the name "Catholic Church". It believes that it is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

Some Eastern-rite Catholics reject the description of themselves as "Roman", even though they're a part of the Catholic Church. Others are proud to call themselves Roman Catholics, and "Roman Catholic" sometimes even appears in the compound name of Eastern Catholic parish churches, e.g. St. Mary's Byzantine Roman Catholic Church.

The Advanced Catechism of Catholic Faith and Practice states that the term "Roman" is used within the name of the Church to emphasize that the centre of unity of the Church is the Roman See.

The Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium declares that the phrase "Roman Church" has been applied in the Tridentine Profession of Faith to the Church itself, the Church "governed by the successor of Saint Peter and by the bishops in communion with him". Even as far back as 1208 the adjective "Roman" was applied to the Church "outside which we believe that no one is saved".

The Second Vatican Council did not use the term "Roman Catholic Church", and in one important passage replaced it with an equivalent phrase, "the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in union with that successor", while also giving in a footnote a reference to two earlier documents in which the word "Roman" was used explicitly.

Two US-based Catholic media outlets (EWTN and Our Sunday Visitor), one of which is a member of SIGNIS and whose board of directors contains members of the Catholic hierarchy, used a book by Kenneth Whitehead to explain the Church's name to their worldwide readers. In One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Whitehead states: "The term 'Roman Catholic' is not used by the Church herself; it is a relatively modern term, confined largely to the English language. The English-speaking bishops at the First Vatican Council in 1870, in fact, conducted a vigorous and successful campaign to insure that the term Roman Catholic was nowhere included in any of the Council's official documents about the Church herself, and the term was not included. Similarly, nowhere in the 16 documents of the Second Vatican Council will you find the term Roman Catholic. Pope Paul VI signed all the documents of the Second Vatican Council as "I, Paul. Bishop of the Catholic Church." Simply that -- Catholic Church. There are references to the Roman curia, the Roman missal, the Roman rite, etc., but when the adjective Roman is applied to the Church herself, it refers to the Diocese of Rome!" According to Whitehead, the Church has been legislating in the name of the Catholic Church and has signed the official Council documents with same ever since the First Council of Nicea (325).

Official statements by the Popes written in languages other than English call the Church by terms that include "Roman Catholic Church". The Popes normally signs documents without any mention of "Catholic Church". The First Council of Nicaea used the phrase "the Catholic Church" only twice to refer to the Church, less often than "the Catholic and Apostolic Church" and than "the Church".

One of the two cited US-based Catholic media, the one that is a member of SIGNIS and whose board of directors includes members of the Catholic hierarchy, has also hosted the opinion of Anthony Dragani, who, in response to a viewer's question if what she had heard, apparently from a Father Corapi on EWTN, that the official name of the Church is "The Church of Jesus Christ", stated that he had not heard that before but if it was true, he could not think of a more appropriate name.

It is in the Church's dealings with other Churches that it can be expected to adopt a name to distinguish it officially from other Churches. The names it uses in its internal documents need not necessarily have that precise aim; examples are "the Mystical Body of Christ", "the Church of Christ", "the one true Church", "the people of God", "the Temple of the Holy Spirit" and the others it uses in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 781-810. In its dealings with other Churches, it frequently uses the name "Roman Catholic Church", in particular in agreements signed by the heads of the two Churches, examples of which are given below under the heading "Top-level agreements with other Churches"

In the past and still today, both "Catholic Church" and "Roman Catholic Church" have been used as names in official documents such as agreements with other churches and with governments, but, in them and also in the church's own documents, "Catholic Church" is used in preference to but not to the exclusion of "Roman Catholic Church" (cf. the encyclicals of Pius XII, etc. etc.).

Descriptors

The Greek word "catholic" means "universal" and was first used to describe the then existing Church as a whole, as contrasted with the particular (local) Church, by Ignatius in the late first, early second century. Some different Christian denominations not in communion with The Catholic Church describe themselves as "catholic," (see Catholicism), but in common usage it refers to the body also known as Roman Catholic Church and its members.

<-- Add more here about the descriptors "holy", "apostolic" and "Roman" -->

Early uses

Around the year A.D. 107, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote to his fellow Christians in Smyrna that "Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church" This is the first written mention in history of the phrase "the Catholic Church", by which Ignatius meant the whole church that is one and the same wherever there is a Christian congregation.

Clement of Alexandria wrote: "We say that both in substance and in seeming, both in origin and in development, the primitive and Catholic Church is the only one, agreeing as it does in the unity of one faith." (By "primitive" is meant "ancient", "original", and in the Roberts-Donaldson translation the word "ancient" is chosen.) He used the term "primitive Church" also in Stromata 1:19. In Stromata 7:16 and 7:17 he used "true Church". Normally he wrote simply: "the Church".

First Council of Nicaea

At the first ecumenical council of the Church, held at Nicaea in Asia Minor in the year 325, the bishops called the church "the Catholic Church" twice in the council's official documents, but more frequently called it "the Catholic and Apostolic Church" and even more frequently "the Church".

Sectarian issues

These strong opinions opposing use of "Roman Catholic Church" arise from sectarian issues originating in a dispute with Anglicans about the word "Catholic"

The use of "Roman Catholic" in the United Kingdom has been promoted by Anglicans who support the "branch theory" of the Church, namely, that the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of the creed consists of three major branches, the Anglican, the Orthodox and the so-called Roman Catholic.

Vatican I

During the discussion of the official documents of Vatican I, there was a proposal to change "Roman Catholic Church" to "Catholic Church", but this was rejected overwhelmingly.

The words "Roman", "Catholic", "Apostolic" and "Holy" can be used as descriptors of the church and when used in that context, all of them are considered by the church to be wholly proper and acceptable.

Sources

Early uses

Around the year A.D. 107, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote to his fellow Christians in Smyrna that "Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church" This is the first written mention in history of the phrase "the Catholic Church", by which Ignatius meant the whole church that is one and the same wherever there is a Christian congregation.

Clement of Alexandria wrote: "We say that both in substance and in seeming, both in origin and in development, the primitive and Catholic Church is the only one, agreeing as it does in the unity of one faith." (By "primitive" is meant "ancient", "original", and in the Roberts-Donaldson translation the word "ancient" is chosen.) He used the term "primitive Church" also in Stromata 1:19. In Stromata 7:16 and 7:17 he used "true Church". Normally he wrote simply: "the Church".

Vatican I

During the discussion of the official documents of Vatican I, there was a proposal to change "Roman Catholic Church" to "Catholic Church", but this was rejected overwhelmingly.

The words "Roman", "Catholic", "Apostolic" and "Holy" can be used as descriptors of the church and when used in that context, all of them are considered by the church to be wholly proper and acceptable.

Official documents of the Church

Catechism

• Title

The book containing an official summary of Church beliefs, published by the Vatican, is called the Catechism of the Catholic Church This title given to this most important book does not include the word "Roman" , nor "Apostolic" but names the Church "the Catholic Church". It has a section (751-752) headed "Names and Images of the Church", but this does not address the official name of the Church, or even suggest that there is one; rather it more directly discusses the term "Church".

• Catholic

The Catechism does discuss the Four Marks of the Church in paragraphs 811-870 [6]. One of these four marks is that the Church is "Catholic", and this is treated in the Catechism like any of the other four marks. The term "Roman" is not one of the Four Marks. In the section that deals with the Church as catholic (paragraphs 830-856), paragraph 835 asks "Who belongs to the Catholic Church?" It follows with an explanation that describes the Church headed by the pope and states "Those who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church". Further, within this same section dealing with the Church as Catholic, it goes on to explain in paragraph 843: "The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved." and then in paragraph 846 "Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it".

In all this section on the Church as Catholic, the Church is referred to by the Catechism as "The Catholic Church", never "The Roman Catholic Church", nor "The Apostolc Church" or any other similar names.

The term "Roman Catholic Church" is found nowhere in Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Official names of bishops conferences

According to the Annuario Pontificio, of the 112 official bishops conferences around the world, none of them use the terms "Roman Catholic", "Catholic Apostolic" or the like in their official organizational names.

29 of the 112 use the term "Catholic":

• Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh
• Conferentia Episcoporum Catholicorum Bielorussiae
• Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Conference des Eveques catholiques du Burundi
• Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea
• Assemblea dei Gerarchi Cattolici d'Etiopia ed Eritrea
• Conferenza dei Vescovi Cattolici della Federazione Russa
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Phillipines
• Inter-territorial Catholic Bishops' Conference of The Gambia and Sierra Leone
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of India
• Lesotho Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Liberia
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar
• Namibian Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria
• New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference
• The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
• Conference des Eveques Catholiques du Rwanda
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand
• Magyar Katolikus Puspoki Konferencia
• Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference

The other 83 use the name "(name of country) Bishops' Conference" with no mention of words such as "Catholic" or "Roman" or any other qualification.

2007 Annuario Pontificio

The Annuario Pontificio is in two main parts, the first of which is headed La Gerarchia Cattolica (The Catholic Hierarchy) and lists the official names of all Church officials and dioceses, pp. 21*-110* and 1-1178 in the 2007 edition. The second is headed Curia Romana (Roman Curia), the administrative arm of the Vatican, based in the city of Rome pp. 1179-1968. The book also includes a list of the Popes ("Serie dei Sommi Pontefici Romani"), pp. 1*-20* and the indexes, pp. 1969-2397. The term "Roman Catholic Church" is not found anywhere in this book. Nor do the official diocesan names as given in the book contain the words "Catholic Diocese of X". A small minority of the bishops conferences listed are preceded by the adjective "Catholic".

All official documents of Vatican Councils

All 18 documents of the Vatican Councils (2 of the First Vatican Council and 16 of the Second) are signed in the name of the standing pope as "Bishop of the Catholic Church". The signatures of the other bishops appear without the qualification "Bishop of the Catholic Church". Apart from bulls of canonization, these documents, so few in number, are the only ones that the Pope signs with the formula "I, N., Bishop of the Catholic Church".

Divini Illius Magistri (1929)

In Divini Illius Magistri, Pope Pius XI wrote: "In the City of God, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good citizen and an upright man are absolutely one and the same thing."

The entire document is signed "Pius PP. XI"

Mystici Corporis Christi (1943)

In Mystici Corporis Christi, Pope Pius XII wrote: "If we would define and describe this true Church of Jesus Christ - which is the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church - we shall find nothing more noble, more sublime, or more divine than the expression 'the Mystical Body of Christ'". This is the encyclical of which Pius XII said in Humani Generis (1950) - as indicated by the footnote that he attached to his statement - that in it was explained the doctrine, based on the sources of revelation, that the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same thing.

The entire document is signed "Pius Pp. XII".

Humani Generis (1950)

In Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII wrote "Some say they are not bound by the doctrine, explained in Our Encyclical Letter of a few years ago, and based on the Sources of Revelation, which teaches that the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same thing. Some reduce to a meaningless formula the necessity of belonging to the true Church in order to gain eternal salvation. Others finally belittle the reasonable character of the credibility of Christian faith." Humani generis, n. 44. Pius XII used the term 'Roman' Catholic Church"

He uses the term in a sentence that begins with the words "Some say they are not bound by the doctrine explained in Our Encyclical ... which teaches ..."

The entire document is signed "Pius Pp. XII".

Lumen Gentium (1964)

Lumen Gentium says in the second paragraph of section 8:

This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic (Note 12*), which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd (Jn 24:17), and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority (cf. Mt 28:18), which He erected for all ages as "the pillar and mainstay of the truth" (1Tim 3:15). This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him (Note 13*), although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity

Notes:

12*. Cf. Apostles' Creed: Denz. 6-9 (10-13); Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed: Denz. 86 (150), compare Tridentine Profession of Faith: Denz. 994 and 999 (1862 and 1868).

13* It is called the "Holy (catholic apostolic) Roman Church" in the Tridentine Profession of Faith, ibidem, and in the First Vatican Council, Session III, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius: Denz. 1782 (3001).] Part of this passage from Lumen Gentium is twice quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

SENSE OF THE WORDS "KINGDOM OF GOD", a document by Fr. Most, quoting Cardinal Avery Dulles, and THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF THE CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH, VATICAN II, ‘LUMEN GENTIUM’, a document by the then-Cardinal prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Ratzinger, both discuss this passage from Lumen Gentium and both documents use the phrase "Roman Catholic Church" while discussing this passage.

The entire document Lumen Gentium, just as all official documents of recent Church Councils, is signed by the Pope using the formula "I, (name), Bishop of the Catholic Church". The other bishops signing the Council documents do not use the title "Bishop of the Catholic Church".

Top-level agreements with other Churches

Together with heads of other Churches, the Popes have agreements that call theirs the Roman Catholic Church within the body of the agreement:

• 1965-12-07 Pope Paul VI with Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople
• 1967-10-28 Pope Paul VI with Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople
• 1971-10-27 Pope Paul VI with Patriarch Mar Ignatius Yacoub III of the Syrian Orthodox Church
• 1977-04-29 Pope Paul VI with Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan
• 1982-05-29 Pope John Paul II with Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey
• 2006-11-23 Pope Benedict XVI with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
• 2006-11-30 Pope Benedict XVI with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople

Other examples of papal use of the name "Roman Catholic Church"

Pope John Paul II often spoke of the Church as the Catholic Church. He also called the Church by the name "Roman Catholic Church", especially when specifically distinguishing it from other groups of Christians.

He used the name "Roman Catholic Church" in his talks:

• 1979-09-29 to the President of Ireland, Dr P. J. Hillery
• 1980-11-17 to representatives of the Jewish community in Mainz, Germany
• 1980-06-25 on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana
• 1985-05-18 to the people of Mechelen, Belgium
• 1989-06-07 to representatives of Christian confessions in Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1989-06-29 to a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• 1980-03-24 at a meeting of the Ukrainian Synod in Rome
• 1991-06-05 at a prayer meeting in the Orthodox cathedral of Bialystok, Poland
• 1991-06-09 to the Polish Ecumenical Council in Holy Trinity Church, Warsaw
• 1991-10-18 at an ecumenical meeting in the Aula Magna of the Colégio Catarinense, in Florianópolis, Brazil ("Chiesa Cattolica apostolica Romana")
• 1991-10-20 at the Angelus in São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil ("Chiesa Cattolica Apostolica Romana")

Pope Benedict XVI has done so also:

• 2006-05-25 in Warsaw

Agreements with governments

Most treaties speak of the Church as "the Catholic Church":

• 1940 concordat with Portugal
• 1979 concordat with Spain
• 1984 concordat with Italy
• 1992 agreement with San Marino
• 1993 concordat with Malta
• 1993 concordat with Poland
• 1993 and 1997 treaties with Israel
• 1996 concordat with Croatia
• 1997 agreement with Gabon
• 1997 concordat with Hungary
• 1998 agreement with Kazakhstan
• 2000 concordat with Slovakia
• 2000 basic agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization
• 2000 treaty with Latvia
• 2004 concordat with Portugal

The Church is also referred to by other names, as well as "the Catholic Church", in some treaties. "Apostolic" and "Roman" appear as well as "Holy" and "Catholic" as descriptive names of the Church:

As "la Iglesia" (the Church):

• 1954 concordat with the Dominican Republic
• 1976 agreement with Spain

As "la Iglesia Católica Apostólica Romana"

• 1966 agreement with Argentina

In several treaties, while the Church itself may be referred to as "the Catholic Church" or "the Church", the name given to the religion it upholds includes the word "Roman".

• 1801 Concordat with France
• 1860 Concordat with Haiti
• 1953 Concordat with Spain
• 1954 Concordat with the Dominican Republic
• 1966 agreement with Haiti

Vatican I

Accounts of the proceedings

The opening words of the first chapter of the dogmatic constitution Dei Filius, which in the original draft were "Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia", were voted on on three separate dates. On the first occasion, when this chapter alone was considered, two votes concerned the opening words. The first was on a proposal by a few English-speaking bishops to delete the word "Romana", thus changing "Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia" (The Holy Roman Catholic Church) to "Sancta Catholica Ecclesia" (The Holy Catholic Church). This was overwhelmingly defeated.

The second vote held immediately afterwards was on a proposal to insert a comma, so that "Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia" (The Holy Roman Catholic Church) would become "Sancta Romana, Catholica Ecclesia" (The Holy Roman, Catholic Church). This too was defeated, though not as overwhelmingly as the first proposal.

In a later vote, held on 12 April 1870, the text as a whole, which preserved the same opening words, was approved with 515 affirmative votes (placet) and no opposing votes (non placet); but there were 83 placet iuxta modum votes, asking for retouches, many of them regarding the opening words of chapter I.

In view of the reservations thus expressed, the text presented for a final vote and approved unanimously on 24 April changed the order of the words and added "apostolica", so that "Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia" became "Sancta Catholica Apostolica Romana Ecclesia" (The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church).

Interpretations of the decisions

Richard Faber and Fr. Hughes say that the word "Roman" was not rejected as a prefix for the name: the proposal to eliminate it was rejected, and the word remained in the final text

Kenneth Whitehead says the final vote of the Bishops rejected use of "Roman" in the Church's official name but allowed it to be used as a descriptive name. An anonymous writer in the 1903 American Ecclesiastical Review also said that the Council rejected the form "Roman Catholic Church" (see "American Ecclesiastical Review 2" below).

American Ecclesiastical Review 1

According to a contributor (H.G. Hughes) to the magazine, "The name 'Roman' has been adopted by the Church herself and recognized by the world at large as the proper appellation of the only religion which has any claim to true Catholicism."

American Ecclesiastical Review 2

The same publication that printed the opinion just above, printed an opposing opinion soon afterward. The holder of this second view said: "The Fathers of the fourth century tell us in a hundred different ways that the name of the Church is simply the Catholic Church. All others using the name are forced to adopt prefixes. So it is with the Catholic Church. She is the original possessor of the name. Twice during the nineteenth century the question of the name of the Church came up for authoritative decision, and in both cases the decision was that the ancient name should not be qualified by any prefixes. For there is only one disputed question regarding the name of the Church. Is the word 'Roman' a part of that name? The Council (Vatican I) decided that it is not and hence rejected the form 'Roman Catholic Church'. Then came the question: is the word 'Roman' a proper descriptive word to be used like the word 'Apostolic' in speaking of the Church? To this the Council answered in the affirmative."

Catholic clerics

Cardinal Vaughan

"at the Newcastle Conference of the Catholic Truth Society (Aug., 1901) the cardinal explained clearly to his audience that "the term Roman Catholic has two meanings; a meaning that we repudiate and a meaning that we accept." The repudiated sense was that dear to many Protestants, according to which the term Catholic was a genus which resolved itself into the species Roman Catholic, Anglo-Catholic, Greek Catholic, etc. But, as the cardinal insisted, "with us the prefix Roman is not restrictive to a species, or a section, but simply declaratory of Catholic."

The Cardinal wrote: "I have no objection to the term 'Roman Catholic' provided it is understood. Catholics used it as early as the fifth or sixth century, and the African Bishops wrote that 'to be Roman is to be Catholic'. Our theologians understand by the 'Roman Catholic Church' the Catholic Church which has the Roman See for its centre, and by 'Roman Catholics" Catholics in communion with the See of Peter." (Life, p. 234-235

A well-known Roman canonist in whom the Cardinal had great confidence gave his opinion thus: "There can be no doubt that we can speak of the Catholic Church throughout the world as the Roman Catholic Church. This way of speaking since the sixteenth century has become quite common among our theologians, and is found consecrated in the Profession of Faith which converts are bound to make when received into the Church - 'I profess that I believe the Holy Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church to be the only and true Church established on earth by Jesus Christ.' Here the term 'Roman' plainly applies to the whole Church, and not merely to the local Church of Rome, 'the Mother and Mistress of all Churches'. In the schema of the dogmatic constitution of the Church, prepared by the Vatican Council, there is the following canon: 'Si quis dixerit veram Christi Ecclesiam, extra quam nemo salvus esse potest, aliam esse praeter unam sanctam Catholicam et Apostolicam Romanam, A.S.' ..." (Life, p. 236-237)

Further on, the same Roman canonist said: "It seems to me that of the term 'Roman' added to the term 'Catholic' might be repeated to-day what of old was said of the term 'Catholic' added to that of 'Christian'. Our forefathers used to say, 'Christian is our name, Roman is our surname.' In both cases the use of the surname is justified and required by the use made of the name by those who were not or are not of the true fold." (Life, p. 237)

Cardinal Vaughan himself, while expressing a preference for "Catholic", said: "Let others call themselves, let them call us, what they please. What they think and say is their affair. But let us assert equal liberty for ourselves - 'Roman Catholic' or simply 'Catholic,' just as we please, for both mean the same thing." (Life, p. 239) Soidi (talk) 19:50, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Joseph Fenton

"Each of these documents presents three distinct statements as truths actually revealed by God ... They assert that:... It is a divinely revealed truth that this one true ecclesia is the Roman Catholic Church, the social unit properly termed 'the universal Church of the faithful'" (Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton, The Catholic Church and Salvation in the Light of Recent Pronouncements by the Holy See. Westminster, MA: Newman Press, 1958, chapter I).

Catholic writers

Patrick Madrid

Patrick Madrid says

The formal or official name for the church established by Christ is the Catholic Church. ... Roman catholic is actually a term imposed on Catholics from the outside, stemming mainly from Angilcan efforts in past centuries to portray themselves as also truly Catholic,

Kenneth Whitehead

"It is not, by the way, properly called the Roman Catholic Church, but simply the Catholic Church. The term Roman Catholic is not used by the Church herself; it is a relatively modern term, and one, moreover, that is confined largely to the English language. The English-speaking bishops at the First Vatican Council in 1870, in fact, conducted a vigorous and successful campaign to insure that the term Roman Catholic was nowhere included in any of the Council's official documents about the Church herself, and the term was not included. Similarly, nowhere in the 16 documents of the Second Vatican Council will you find the term Roman Catholic. Pope Paul VI signed all the documents of the Second Vatican Council as "I, Paul. Bishop of the Catholic Church." Simply that -- Catholic Church. There are references to the Roman curia, the Roman missal, the Roman rite, etc., but when the adjective Roman is applied to the Church herself, it refers to the Diocese of Rome!

... So the proper name for the universal Church is not the Roman Catholic Church. Far from it. That term caught on mostly in English-speaking countries; it was promoted mostly by Anglicans, supporters of the "branch theory" of the Church, namely, that the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of the creed was supposed to consist of three major branches, the Anglican, the Orthodox and the so-called Roman Catholic. It was to avoid that kind of interpretation that the English-speaking bishops at Vatican I succeeded in warning the Church away from ever using the term officially herself: It too easily could be misunderstood.

...Very early in post-apostolic times, however. the Church did acquire a proper name--and precisely in order to distinguish herself from rival bodies which by then were already beginning to form. The name that the Church acquired when it became necessary for her to have a proper name was the name by which she has been known ever since-the Catholic Church.

...So the name became attached to her for good. By the time of the first ecumenical council of the Church, held at Nicaea in Asia Minor in the year 325 A.D., the bishops of that council were legislating quite naturally in the name of the universal body they called in the Council of Nicaea's official documents "the Catholic Church." As most people know, it was that same council which formulated the basic Creed in which the term "catholic" was retained as one of the four marks of the true Church of Christ. And it is the same name which is to be found in all 16 documents of the twenty-first ecumenical council of the Church, Vatican Council II.

...It was inevitable that the Catechism of the Catholic Church would adopt the same name today that the Church has had throughout the whole of her very long history."

Snell

There can be no doubt that the use of the expression "Roman Catholic" (even among theologians of the less careful type) arose originally from a deliverate conformity to the Protestant habits of speech during the ages of persecution, with a view to avoiding unnecessary offense to sectarian prejudices....

It is certain that the [Vatican I] Council had no intention of recognizing the expression "the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church" as the official name of the Church...

In the first place, the name of the Universal Christian Society presided over by the successors of S. Peter is simply "the Church." No other body is, or ever can be, entitled to that name. Religious societies with a new and independent organization - that is, those not possessing a true priesthood - are not churches in any proper sense of the word, but simply sects.

The Church needs no name, and leaves names to sectaires. It is a noteworthy fact that the chief masterpiece of Catholic theology, the Summa Theologica of S. Thomas Aquinas, does not even contain the word "Catholic," and the same is true of most of the really great theological literature of the Church. For convenience especially in popular usage the description "the Catholic Church" is unobjectionable since universality - doctrinal, chronological, geographical, jurisdictional and cosmic - is the most striking and distinctive mark of the True Religion. The word "Roman," on the other hand, is not, never has been, and never can be, the name, or any part of the name, or even a designation of the Church of Jesus Christ. The "Holy Roman Church" is the Church of the city or diocese or province of Rome; just as the "Church of New York" signifiies the Catholic body of the city, diocese or province presided over by the incumbent of that See.

Hardon

The terms "Roman Church" and "Roman Catholic Church" date from at least the early Middle Ages, but the stress on these terms became prominent after the Protestant Reformation. The reason was to emphasize the distinctive quality of being not only a Christian, because baptized, but of being a Catholic, because in communion with the Pope. Modern Catholic Dictionary by Father John Hardon, SJ.

The most authoritative teaching of the Church on this important and yet delicate subject is the Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi which Pius XII published in 1943, and in which he simply and unequivocally identifies the Mystical Body on earth with the hierarchical Roman Catholic Church. When seven years later, certain writers were still not convinced, the Pope reprimanded their lack of obedience, declaring that "Some think they are not bound by the doctrine, set forth in our Encyclical Letter of a few years ago and based on the sources of revelation, according to which the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same (Corpus Christi Mysticum et Ecclesiam Catholicam Romanam unum idemque esse)". This removed the last vestige of theological hesitation about the mutual identity, and today the opposite opinion would be considered heretical. Hardon: Church and Dogma

McBrien

Richard McBrien discusses the members of the church In Catholicism (1994), p.4. "Are Catholics who are in communion with Rome, Roman Catholics or just plain Catholics?" Gives arguments

• Ecumenical reasons to add Roman
• Object to "Roman" on ecclesiological grounds - strikes some as contradictory
• Eastern Catholics find the adjective objectionable.

It is "evident from the title which the author finds compelling." "To choose one side, however, is not necessarily to reject the other."

Some unrelated points of theology in McBrien's Catholicism were criticized by the NCCB (US).

The same arguments about nomenclature exist in McBrien's other books, such as The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (2008).

McClintock

The name may be found in a number of Roman Catholic writers, and is generally used in the constitution of those states in which the Roman Catholic Church is recognized as one of the recognized or tolerated State churches. It is, however, not the official name used by the authorities of the Church who rather dislike it, and substitute for it the name 'Catholic' or 'Holy Catholic' Church.

Carolyn Osiek

"The Catholic Church with capital C, more commonly known as the Roman Catholic Church"

Edward Faulk

Catholic deacon.

Writes in the book 101 Questions and Answers on Eastern Catholic Churches:

• "...this term [Roman Catholic] has never been part of the official title of the Catholic Church."
• "Most Eastern Catholics would deny that they are Roman Catholics"
• He also discusses how Melkite Catholics refer to themselves, in Arabic, as Rum Katholique, which freely translates to "Roman Catholic", but that it actually refers to "New Rome", ie Constantinople. (Interestingly, the Melkite's sister Orthodox Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, refers to itsself as Roman for the same reason - and they are clearly not in communion with the Bishop of Rome - while the Maronites, who belong to a sister Eastern Catholic Church, and who claim to have always been united with Rome, not Constantinople, have been known to refer to themselves as Roman Catholics, with clear reference to "Old Rome".)

Catholic Media

Catholic media outlets EWTN and Our Sunday Visitor both use the explanation given by Dr. Kenneth Whitehead in his book One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic to explain the name of the Church and can be viewed here [7]. Both of these worldwide United States media outlets used his explanation on their programs called The Catholic Answer which provides explanations to viewers questions about the Catholic Church. Catholic Answer's editorial staff includes a scholarly academic expert [8] named Colin B. Donovan who was professor of Theology at Aquinas College in Nashville, he is currently the Vice President for Theology at EWTN. There are numerous Catholic experts including several PhD's on the editorial staff of EWTN. EWTN is a member of SIGNIS whose board of directors includes a representive from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is part of the Roman Curia EWTN is part of a worldwide media organization that operates under the Vatican Its own board of directors includes "members of the American hierarchy and clergy" and "a large number of bishops and cardinals from the USA and elsewhere in the world, including members of the Sacred Congregations, have participated and participate in EWTN programmes"

Much of what can be said of EWTN can be said of United States Catholic universities, which are members of ICFU, another of the international Catholic associations approved by the Holy See, as SIGNIS is. Membership of an association such as SIGNIS or ICFU does not involve approval of the Holy See for everything that the individual members do. This applies to EWTN, as well as the three United States universities, all of which are members of ICFU, who recently hosted events promoting sexual license, cross-dressing and homosexual ideologies.

Donovan possesses the basic baccalaureate degree and the higher licentiate degree in Theology but not the doctorate. He was a professor of theology at a Catholic University. Before joining to EWTN in 1995, he taught Theology at Aquinas College in Nashville. This is an institution that offers degrees in liberal arts, business, nursing, and teacher education, but not in theology.

From its inception, EWTN was set up as a non profit civil corporation run by lay people, but the abbess and vicar of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery had permanent seats on its board of directors.

Mother Angelica resigned as CEO and Chairman of the Board of EWTN on March 6, 2000. Accepting her resignation, the board altered its bylaws so that the abbess and vicar of the monastery would no longer hold positions on it.

See also Arroyo's book on Mother Angelica.

EWTN has also hosted the opinion of Anthony Dragani, who states in response to a viewer's question regarding the name of the Church being "The Church of Jesus Christ", as she believed had been stated by a Father Corapi, another of EWTN's "numerous scholary Catholic Church experts": "I haven't heard this before, but if it is true I couldn't think of a more appropriate name!".

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Oxford English Dictionary

OED definition of "Catholic":

II. In ecclesiastical use. The earlier history of this lies outside English, and may be found in such works as Smith's Dict. Christian Antiq. or in Lightfoot's Ignatius I. 398-400, 605-607; II. 310-312. {Hasper} {kappa}{alpha}{theta}{omicron}{lambda}{iota}{kappa}{ghgrave} {elenis}{kappa}{kappa}{lambda}{eta}{sigma}{giacu}{alpha} ‘the catholic church’ or ‘church universal’, was first applied to the whole body of believers as distinguished from an individual congregation or ‘particular body of Christians’. But to the primary idea of extension ‘the ideas of doctrine and unity’ were super-added; and so the term came to connote the Church first as orthodox, in opposition to heretics, next as one historically, in opposition to schismatics. Out of this widest qualitative sense arose a variety of subordinate senses; it was applied to the faith the Church held, to particular communities or even individual members belonging to it, and especially in the East, to cathedrals as distinguished from parish churches, then later to parish churches as opposed to oratories or monastic chapels. After the separation of East and West ‘Catholic’ was assumed as its descriptive epithet by the Western or Latin Church, as ‘Orthodox’ was by the Eastern or Greek. At the Reformation the term ‘Catholic’ was claimed as its exclusive right by the body remaining under the Roman obedience, in opposition to the ‘Protestant’ or ‘Reformed’ National Churches. These, however, also retained the term, giving it, for the most part, a wider and more ideal or absolute sense, as the attribute of no single community, but only of the whole communion of the saved and saintly in all churches and ages. In England, it was claimed that the Church, even as Reformed, was the national branch of the ‘Catholic Church’ in its proper historical sense. As a consequence, in order to distinguish the unreformed Latin Church, its chosen epithet of ‘Catholic’ was further qualified by ‘Roman’; but see sense 7. On this analogy ANGLO-CATHOLIC has been used by some, since about 1835, of the Anglican Church.

And then, from sense 7:

As applied (since the Reformation) to the Church of Rome (Ecclesia apostolica catholica Romana) = ROMAN CATHOLIC, q.v. (Opposed to Protestant, Reformed, Evangelical, Lutheran, Calvinistic, etc.) ROMAN CATHOLIC is the designation known to English law; but ‘Catholic’ is that in ordinary use on the continent of Europe, especially in the Latin countries; hence historians frequently contrast ‘Catholic’ and ‘Protestant’, especially in reference to the continent; and, in familiar non-controversial use, ‘Catholic’ is often said instead of Roman Catholic.

It's definition of "Roman Catholic" is as follows:

B. adj. Of or belonging to the Church of Rome; = CATHOLIC a. 7.

The early twentieth-century Catholic Encyclopaedia quoted the OED (an antiquated edition?) as saying under the heading "Roman Catholic":

The use of this composite term in place of the simple Roman, Romanist, or Romish; which had acquired an invidious sense, appears to have arisen in the early years of the seventeenth century. For conciliatory reasons it was employed in the negotiations connected with the Spanish Match (1618-1624) and appears in formal documents relating to this printed by Rushworth (I, 85-89). After that date it was generally adopted as a non-controversial term and has long been the recognized legal and official designation, though in ordinary use Catholic alone is very frequently employed.

and commented:

Although the account thus given in the Oxford Dictionary is in substance correct, it cannot be considered satisfactory.

The "Oxford Dictionary" is probably right in assigning the recognition of "Roman Catholic" as the official style of the adherents of the Papacy in England to the negotiations for the Spanish Match (1618-24).

1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica

The scholarly 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, speaking of the situation in Europe in 1911 and in languages other than English, states: "On the continent of Europe the equivalent words (e.g. Ger. Katholik, Katholizismus; Fr. catholique, catholicisme) are even more definitely associated with Rome; they have lost the sense which they still convey to a considerable school of Anglicans. The dissident "Catholic" churches are forced to qualify their titles: they are "Old Catholics" (Alt-Katholiken) or "German Catholics" (Deutsch-Katholiken). The Church of Rome alone, officially and in popular parlance, is "the Catholic Church" (katholische Kirche, église catholique), a title which she proudly claims as exclusively her own, by divine right, by the sanction of immemorial tradition, and by reason of her perpetual protest against the idea of "national" churches, consecrated by the Reformation (see Church History, and Roman Catholic Church). The additional qualification of "Roman" she tolerates, since it proclaims her doctrine of the see of Rome as the keystone of Catholicism; but to herself she is "the Catholic Church," and her members are "Catholics." Yet to concede this claim and surrender without qualification the word "Catholic" to a connotation which is at best only universal in theory, is to beg several very weighty questions."[9][10]

1995 edition of Academic American Encyclopedia

from page 211 of Volume 4: [11] "Catholic - The word catholic comes from the Greek word Katholikos, meaning "universal". It was first used by Ignatius of Antioch (d. about AD 107) to distinguish the entire body of Christians from individual congregations. Subsequently, the word distinguished true believers from false believers. After the break (1054) between the Western church and the Eastern church, it was used to identify the Western church, the Eastern church was called orthodox. At the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, the Church of Rome claimed the word catholic as its title over Protestant or Reformed churches. In England, catholic was retained to describe the reformed, national church, although a distinction was made between "Roman" Catholics and members of the Church of England. The term Anglo-Catholic was coined at the time of the Oxford Movement in the 19th century. In popular usage, Catholic commonly designates a Christian affiliated with the Church of Rome." This excerpt was authored by John E. Booty, it is found on page 211 of Volume 4 of Academic American Encyclopedia, year 1995 published by Grolier, Inc. ISBN 0717220591

Catholic Encyclopedia

In the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia, a cooperative effort of five Church scholars, the article onRoman Catholic an article by Herbert Thurston calls "Roman Catholic: a qualification of the name Catholic commonly used in English-speaking countries by those unwilling to recognize the claims of the One True Church. Out of condescension for these dissidents, the members of that Church are wont in official documents to be styled "Roman Catholics" as if the term Catholic represented a genus of which those who owned allegiance to the pope formed a particular species. It is in fact a prevalent conception among Anglicans to regard the whole Catholic Church as made up of three principal branches, the Roman Catholic, the Anglo-Catholic and the Greek Catholic.

With regard to the modern use of the word, Roman Catholic is the designation employed in the legislative enactments of Protestant England, but Catholic is that in ordinary use on the Continent of Europe, especially in Latin countries. ... From about the year 1580, besides the term papist, employed with opprobrious intent, the followers of the old religion were often called Romish or Roman Catholics. ... Neither do the Catholics always seem to have objected to the appellation, but sometimes used it themselves."

After mentioning some writings by Protestants later than 1580, Thurston writes: "A study of these and other early examples in their context shows plainly enough that the qualification "Romish Catholic" or "Roman Catholic" was introduced by Protestant divines who highly resented the Roman claim to any monopoly of the term Catholic... On the other hand the evidence seems to show that the Catholics of the reign of Elizabeth and James I were by no means willing to admit any other designation for themselves than the unqualified name Catholic."

He indicated that the terms "Ecclesia Catholica Romana" and "Eglise catholique romaine" were in common use in Latin and French at the time when a corresponding phrase began to be used in English:

We find similar language used in Ireland in the negotiations carried on by Tyrone in behalf of his Catholic countrymen. Certain apparent exceptions to this uniformity of practice can be readily explained. To begin with we do find that Catholics not unfrequently use the inverted form of the name "Roman Catholic" and speak of the "Catholic Roman faith" or religion. An early example is to be found in a little controversial tract of 1575 called "a Notable Discourse" where we read for example that the heretics of old "preached that the Pope was Antichriste, shewing themselves verye eloquent in detracting and rayling against the Catholique Romane Church" (p. 64). But this was simply a translation of the phraseology common both in Latin and in the Romance languages "Ecclesia Catholica Romana," or in French "l'Eglise catholique romaine". It was felt that this inverted form contained no hint of the Protestant contention that the old religion was a spurious variety of true Catholicism or at best the Roman species of a wider genus.

Thurston also stated that in 1897 and 1901, with regard to a planned address for presentation to the sovereign, who was also head of the Church of England, the British Government "intimated to the cardinal that the only permissible style would be 'the Roman Catholic Archbishop and Bishops in England'. Even the form 'the Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Catholic and Roman Church in England' was not approved." The Catholic bishops agreed to use the expression "Roman Catholic Archbishop and Bishops", and Cardinal Vaughan later explained publicly how the phrase had a meaning that was acceptable to them, namely that the word "Roman" "insists that the central point of Catholicity is Roman, the Roman See of St. Peter."

Thurston's account is as follows:

In two particular instances during the archiepiscopate of Cardinal Vaughan this point was raised and became the subject of correspondence between the cardinal and the Home Secretary. In 1897 at the Diamond Jubilee of the accession of Queen Victoria, and again in 1901 when Edward VII succeeded to the throne, the Catholic episcopate desired to present addresses, but on each occasion it was intimated to the cardinal that the only permissible style would be "the Roman Catholic Archbishop and Bishops in England". Even the form "the Cardinal Archbishop and Bishops of the Catholic and Roman Church in England" was not approved. On the first occasion no address was presented, but in 1901 the requirements of the Home Secretary as to the use of the name "Roman Catholics" were complied with, though the cardinal reserved to himself the right of explaining subsequently on some public occasion the sense in which he used the words (see Snead-Cox, "Life of Cardinal Vaughan", II, 231-41). Accordingly, at the Newcastle Conference of the Catholic Truth Society (Aug., 1901) the cardinal explained clearly to his audience that "the term Roman Catholic has two meanings; a meaning that we repudiate and a meaning that we accept." The repudiated sense was that dear to many Protestants, according to which the term Catholic was a genus which resolved itself into the species Roman Catholic, Anglo-Catholic, Greek Catholic, etc. But, as the cardinal insisted, "with us the prefix Roman is not restrictive to a species, or a section, but simply declaratory of Catholic." The prefix in this sense draws attention to the unity of the Church, and "insists that the central point of Catholicity is Roman, the Roman See of St. Peter."

Thurston himself declared that the argument that adding "Roman" to "Catholic" implies a distinction between a Roman Catholic Church and a Catholic Church that is not Roman "imposes upon Catholics the necessity of making no compromise in the matter of their own name. The loyal adherents of the Holy See did not begin in the sixteenth century to call themselves 'Catholics' for controversial purposes. It is the traditional name handed down to us continuously from the time of St. Augustine."

New Catholic Encyclopedia

So the term Roman Catholic became accepted as a useful designation of those who owed allegiance to the pope, and it passed into legal usage. English Catholics resented the appelation in so far as it implied that they were but a part of the one true Catholic church that also included the Anglo-Catholics and the Orthodox.

"On the other hand, Roman is an apt designation of the true Church. Peter was given a PRIMACY in the Church by Christ; his sucessors continue this office; and as the se successors are in fact the succeeding bishops of Rome, the Church of Christ is by this token Roman."

"There is a further aspect of the term Roman Catholic that needs consideration. The Roman Church can be used to refer, not to the Church universal insofar as it possesses a primate who is bishop of Rome, but to the local Church of Rome, which has the privilege of its bishop being also primate of the whole Church."

New CE, v12, p298-9.

Same encyclopedia under the definition of "Catholic": "Finally the word Catholic is used of individual Christians insofar as they belong to the Catholic Church and are orthodox in their belief."

Other encyclopedias and dictionaries

This section was copied from User:Taam/temp

This section lists independent reliable reference sources (Encyclopedias/Dictionaries), from mainstream sources, and their use/non-use of Roman Catholic(ism) as their main article/section title for information relating to the Church in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

1. "Roman Catholicism" Encyclopedia Britannica article.[12]
2. "Roman Catholic Church" Encarta Encyclopedia: , the largest single Christian body, composed of those Christians who acknowledge the supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome, the pope, in matters of faith.[13]
3. Roman Catholic Church:"the part of the Christian Church which acknowledges the Pope as its head, especially as it has developed since the Reformation. (It is the largest Christian Church, dominant particularly in South America and southern Europe. Roman Catholicism differs from Protestantism in the importance it grants to tradition, ritual, and the authority of the Pope as successor to the Apostle St Peter, and especially in its doctrines of papal infallibility (formally defined in 1870) and of the Eucharist (transubstantiation), its celibate male priesthood, its emphasis on confession, and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and other saints. Much modern Roman Catholic thought and practice arises from scholastic theology and from the response to the Reformation made by the Council of Trent (1545–63). It became less rigid after the Second Vatican Council (1962–5), but its continuing opposition to divorce, abortion, and artificial contraception remains controversial.)" The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 17 August 2009 Print edition ISBN: 0198610572, 2005
4. Roman Catholic Church noun [S] the part of the Christian religion which is ruled by the Pope in Rome. Roman Catholicism noun [U] the beliefs and activities of the Roman Catholic Church. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: © Cambridge University Press 2009
5. Roman Catholic Church. Those churches in communion with the Church of Rome, recognizing the leadership of the pope. The word ‘ Catholic’ means ‘universal’, and thus the addition of ‘Roman’ seems to some contradictory, since they regard the Church under the successor of Peter (see PETRINE TEXTS) as the one, universal Church; other Christians (i.e. those who are baptized and ‘honoured by the name of Christian’, Lumen Gentium, 15) are held to be ‘in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church’ (Unitatis redintegratio, 3). To be in complete communion with the Church of Rome is to belong to the Catholic Church. However, the addition of ‘Roman’ has become more common during the recent decades of ecumenicism, not least in recognition of the status of uniate Churches and of other uses of the world ‘Catholic’; ‘Roman Catholic’ is therefore used in this article and throughout the Dictionary......"Roman Catholic Church" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Ed. John Bowker. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 17 August 2009, Print edition ISBN: 0192800949, 2003
6. "Roman Catholic Church" The Christian Church that acknowledges the pope as its head, especially as this has developed since the Reformation . It has an elaborately organized hierarchy of bishops and priests. Popes are traditionally regarded as successors to St Peter, to whom Christ entrusted his power. In doctrine the Roman Catholic Church is characterized by strict adherence to tradition combined with acceptance of the living voice of the Church and belief in its infallibility. The classic definition of its position was made in response to the Reformation at the Council of Trent ( 1545 – 63 ). A Dictionary of World History. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 17 August 2009 Print edition ISBN: 9780192807007, 2007
7. Roman Catholic Church Use Roman Catholic Church in a Sentence –noun the Christian church of which the pope, or bishop of Rome, is the supreme head. Compare Catholic Church. Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
8. Catholic Church, Roman The largest Christian denomination, comprising around 800 million members, which looks to the infallible authority of the Pope in matters of doctrine, and his supreme guidance in all spiritual affairs. In addition to the Scriptures, its structure and ...(From A Dictionary of Contemporary World History in History)
9. Roman Catholic Church n. The Christian church characterized by an episcopal hierarchy with the pope as its head and belief in seven sacraments and the authority of tradition. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
10. 2Roman Catholic, Function: adjective, Date: 1614 : of, relating to, or being a Christian church having a hierarchy of priests and bishops under the pope, a liturgy centered in the Mass, veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints, clerical celibacy, and a body of dogma including transubstantiation and papal infallibility: a member of the Roman Catholic Church, Merriam-Webster,
11. Roman Catholic Church in America had its beginnings in the legendary connection between the Norse discoveries of the New World and the medieval church in Greenland. Its modern history began with the colonization by Spain and France. Permanent dioceses were established in Santo ...(From The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature in Literature Print edition ISBN: 0195047710, 2002)
12. Roman Catholic Church: n. the Christian Church over which the Pope presides., with administrative headquarters in the Vatican. Also called Catholic church, Church of Rome. (The New Collins English Dictionary, 1990)
13. Roman Catholic Church : The Roman Catholic Church has been an actor in world affairs for two millennia. The “Christian fact,” a religious community which quickly assumed an institutional status, posed a double challenge to the Graeco-Roman world. First, the church's claim on ...(From The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World in Politics & Social Sciences)
14. Roman Catholic Church see Catholic Church .From The Australian Oxford Dictionary in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses, Print edition ISBN: 0195517962, First published 1999. Reprinted 2002. Second edition published 2004,Copyright: © Oxford University Press 1999, 2004
15. Catholic Church: the branch of the Christian Church which acknowledges the Bishop of Rome as its head, especially as it has developed since the Reformation. It is the largest Church of Western Christianity, dominant particularly in South America and southern Europe. ...From The Australian Oxford Dictionary in English Dictionaries& Thesauruses, see prev entry for pub info
16. Roman Catholic Church n. the part of the Christian Church which acknowledges the Pope as its head, especially as it has developed since the Reformation. (From The Concise Oxford English Dictionary in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses,Twelfth edition, Print edition ISBN: 9780199548415, 2008 )
17. Catholic Church n. short for Roman Catholic Church .(From The New Oxford American Dictionary in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses, Second edition, Print edition ISBN: 0195170776, First published 2001.Copyright: © Oxford University Press 2001, 2006
18. Roman Catholic Church: the part of the Christian Church that acknowledges the pope as its head, esp. as it has developed since the Reformation.(From The New Oxford American Dictionary in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses, see prev entry for pub details)
19. Merriam-Webster, Main Entry: cath·o·lic, Pronunciation: \ˈkath-lik, ˈka-thə-\Function: adjective, Etymology: Middle English catholik, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French catholique, from Late Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikos universal, general, from katholou in general, from kata by + holos whole — more at cata-, safe, Date: 14th century 1 a often capitalized : of, relating to, or forming the church universal b often capitalized : of, relating to, or forming the ancient undivided Christian church or a church claiming historical continuity from it c capitalized : roman catholic
20. Roman Catholic, RC, belonging or relating to the part of the Christian religion whose leader is the Pope [= Catholic]: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
21. Cultural Dictionary Catholic Church: A common abbreviation for the name of the Roman Catholic Church. (The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition, Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.)
22. Roman Catholic Church: main article "The branch of Christianity headed by the pope. The Roman Catholic Church is governed by a hierarchy with the pope at the top and, at the lower levels, bishops and priests. The sacraments of Communion and confession are especially important in the Roman Catholic Church;.."(2002). In The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Houghton Mifflin. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved September 03, 2009 online
23. Roman Catholic Church see Catholic Church entry which then refers to Roman Catholic Church. From The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary in English Dictionaries; Thesauruses, Print edition ISBN: 0195584511, 2005, © Oxford University Press 2005
24. Catholic Church is the denomination of Western Christianity in communion with the Pope that traces its faith in Jesus Christ to the community formed around the apostles. Since the European Reformation of the sixteenth century, it has commonly been referred to as the Roman Catholic Church, as if defined by papal allegiance, but for Catholics themselves the adjective Roman was a disparaging qualifier of the church's claim to unique status as ‘the one true faith’.(Katharine Massam "Catholic Church" The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Ed. Graeme Davison, John Hirst and Stuart Macintyre. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 17 August 2009)
25. Roman Catholic: adj. recognizing the spiritual supremacy of the Pope or Bishop of Rome. Roman Catholcism: n. the doctrines and polity of the Roman Catholic Church.; catholic (with Cap) belonging to the Christian Church before the great schism between east and west, or to any church claiming to be historically related to it......Chambers Dictionary 9th Edition, 2003. Taam (talk) 09:55, 21 August 2009 (UTC)
26. Catholic Church, Roman: main article, Encyclopedia America 1996, p.24 User Nancy Heisse asserts latest edition uses "Catholic Church"
27. Roman Catholic Church main article. Penguin Concise Encylopedia, 2003
28. Roman Catholic Church main article, Encarta Dictionary 1999
29. Roman Catholicism main article, Hutchison Encyclopaedia Millennium Edition
30. Roman Catholic Church main article, Guiness Encyclopedia, 1995
31. Roman Catholic Church main article, Pears Encyclopedia 2008-2009
32. Roman Catholic Church main article, "...Roman Catholic Church to be characterized by rigid adherence to doctrinal tradition from the 16th... the Mass or Eucharist. Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Roman Catholic Church has.."Philips Encyclopedia 2008,
33. Roman Catholic Church main article, Penguin Concise Dictionary 2007
34. Roman Catholicism main article, Hutchison Softback Encylopedia 1996
35. Roman Catholic Church: "Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. "Roman Catholic" is a 19th-century British coinage and merely serves to distinguish that church from other churches that are "Catholic" (see catholic church). The term "Roman Church," when used officially, means only the archdiocese of Rome. Roman Catholics may be simply defined as Christians in communion with the pope..." Columbia Encyclopedia on-line, accessed 29 August 2009
36. Catholic church: 1 As in the Apostles’ Creed, the universal Church which confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. 2 Christian Churches with episcopal order and confessing ancient creeds. 3 Specifically, the Roman Catholic Church and other Churches recognizing the primacy of the Pope, as distinct from Protestant and Orthodox Churches. Crystal Encyclopedia on-line accessed 29 August 2009
37. Roman Catholicism: "The doctrine, worship, and life of the Roman Catholic Church (over 1080 million members worldwide in 2005). A direct line of succession is claimed from the earliest Christian communities, centring on the city of Rome, where St Peter (claimed as the first bishop of Rome) was martyred and St Paul witnessed..." Crystal Encyclopedia on-line accessed 29 Aug 2009
38. Catholic Church: "The whole body of the Christian church, though usually referring to the Roman Catholic Church (see Roman Catholicism)." Hutchison Unabridged Encyclopedia on-line, accessed 29 August 2009
39. Roman Catholicism: "One of the main divisions of the Christian religion, separate from the Eastern Orthodox Church from 1054. It is headed by the pope, who traces his authority back through St Peter (the first bishop of Rome) to Jesus, through apostolic succession. Its headquarters are in the Vatican City State, in Rome. Membership is concentrated in southern Europe, Latin America, and the Philippines. In 2000 Rome reported the number of baptized Roman Catholics to be 1.045 billion, more than half the Christians in the world. The present pope is Benedict XVI, from 2005..." Hutchison Unabridged Encyclopedia on-line, accessed 29 August 2009
40. Roman Catholic Church: "The Christian Church of which the pope is the temporal leader (See papacy). After the schism with the Eastern Orthodox Churches (1054; See East-West Schism), Roman Catholicism was the..." MacMillan Encyclopedia on-line, accessed 29 August 2009.
41. Catholic Church: "Term used in Christianity with one of several connotations: (1) It is the Universal Church, as distinct from local Churches. (2) It means the Church holding 'orthodox' doctrines, defined by St Vincent of Lérins as doctrines held "everywhere, always, and by all" - in this sense the term is used to distinguish the church from heretical bodies. (3) It is the undivided Church as it existed before the schism of East and West in 1054. Following this, the Western Church called itself 'Catholic', the Eastern Church 'Orthodox'. (4) Since the Reformation, the term has usually been used to denote the Roman Catholic Church, although the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholics use it for themselves as well." Philips Encyclopedia online, accessed 29 August 2009
42. Roman Catholic Church: "Christian denomination that acknowledges the supremacy of the Pope (see papacy; Papal infallibility). An important aspect of doctrine is the primacy given to the Virgin Mary, whom Roman Catholics believe to be the only human being born without sin (Immaculate Conception). Before the Reformation in the 16th century, the 'Catholic Church' applied to the Western Church as a whole, as distinguished from the Eastern Orthodox Church based at Constantinople..." Philips Encyclopedia online, accessed 29 August 2009
43. Catholic Church: "1. the universal Christian Church; the entire body of Christians. 2. Ecclesiastical History a. the ancient, undivided Christian Church before separation into the Eastern and Western Churches. b. after the separation, the Western Church. 3. Also, Roman Catholic Church the Christian Church of which the pope is the supreme head; since the Reformation claiming Catholic Church as a title exclusive to itself, based on its claim of continuity with the ancient, undivided Church." See Catholic, 1a 4. any of several other Churches, claiming continuity with the ancient, undivided Church." MacQuarie Dictionary online, accessed 29 August 2009.
44. Roman Catholic Church: "The Christian church characterized by an episcopal hierarchy with the pope as its head and belief in seven sacraments and the authority of tradition."; Catholic Church (noun): Roman Catholic Church; The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language online, accessed 29 August 2009
45. Roman Catholic Church: "a Christian episcopal church headed by the pope, who is Bishop of Rome, and having a hierarchy of priests and bishops under the pope, a form of service centred on the Mass, and a body of dogma formulated by the Church as the interpreter of revealed truth." The Penguin Dictionary online, accessed 29 August 2009
46. Roman Catholic: "adjective (1614) : of, relating to, or being a Christian church having a hierarchy of priests and bishops under the pope, a liturgy centered in the Mass, veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints, clerical celibacy, and a body of dogma including transubstantiation and papal infallibility." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary, online, accessed 29 August 2009.
47. Roman Catholic: "adjective belonging or relating to the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian church which recognizes the pope as its head. noun a member of this church. Often shortened to Catholic.Derivative Roman Catholicism noun the doctrines, worship and life of the Roman Catholic Church.". Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, © Chambers Harrap Publishers Limited 2009 Online, accessed 29 August 2009.
48. Catholicism, index entry, Cambridge Encyclopedia of China, 1982, ISBN 0 521 35594X
49. Catholicism in heading but Roman Catholic Church in text, p. 63, Cambridge Encylopedia of Russia and the Former Soviet Union, 1994, ISBN 0521 35593 1
50. Roman Catholic Church, index entry, Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East, 1988,ISBN 0 521 32190 5
51. Roman Catholic Church, index entry refers to Catholic Church on p. 93 but uses Roman Catholic Church in article text, Cambridge Encylopedia of Australia, 1994, ISBN 0 521 36511 2
52. Roman Catholics, Encylopedia of Britain (B. Gasgoine), McMillan , 1985, ISBN 0 3333 54764 0
53. Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, index entry, Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of great Britain and Ireland, 1985, ISBN 0 521 255559 7
54. Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, main article, Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland, HarperCollins, 2000, ISBN 0 00 710353 0
55. Roman Catholic Church, main article, Colliers Encyclopedia vol 20 of 24, 1993, Lib cong 93 71218
56. Roman Catholic Church, main article, Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia vol 16 of 21,ISBN 0 7172 2054 0
57. Roman Catholic Church, main article, World Book Encyclopedia 2001, vol 16 of 22, ISBN 0 7166 0101X
58. Roman Catholicism, Hutchisons Unabridged Encyclopedia, vol 6 of 8, Helicon, 1995,ISBN 1 85986 027 3
59. Roman Catholicism, main article, Second Edition Cambridge Encyclopedia, 1994, ISBN 0 521 44429 2
60. Roman Catholic Church, index entry, Chambers Encyclopedia, 2001, ISBN 0 550 130012
61. Roman Catholic Church, index entry, Chambers Book of Facts, 2005, ISBN 0550 101373
62. Roman Catholicism, main entry, Hutchison Fact Finder, 1999, ISBN 1 85986278 0
63. Roman Catholic Church: Christian denomination that acknowledges the supremacy of the Pope ( see papacy ; Papal infallibility ). An important aspect of doctrine is the primacy given to the Virgin Mary , whom Roman Catholics believe to be the only human being born without sin", From World Encyclopedia, Print edition ISBN: 0540084395, Copyright: © Philip's Ltd 2008
64. Roman Catholic church: "Christian church based in Rome under the leadership of the papacy, traditionally founded by St Peter in the 1st century AD. It survived Roman persecution to become the official religion of western and central Europe by the end of the Middle Ages.", Andromeda Encyclopedic Dictionary of World History, © Andromeda 2001, retrieved 3 Sept 2009 online
65. CATHOLICISM: "In the early years of the nineteenth century, Roman Catholicismoccupied a very marginal position on the American religious landscape. In 1800 Catholics numbered only about forty-seven thousand and were concentrated in the border states of Maryland and Kentucky with growing communities in New York and Philadelphia..", (2000). In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Farmington, MI: Gale. Retrieved September 03, 2009,
66. Roman Catholicism, index entry, Penguin Dictionary of Religion, 1984, ISBN 0713915145

Google Book Search

This section was copied from User:Taam/temp

First page of Google Book Search for "Catholic Church" 31 August 2009.

1. Compendium of the social doctrine of the Church‎ by Catholic Church - Religion - 2005- 494 pages [R.C.C Publication]
2. How the Catholic Church built Western civilization‎ by Thomas E. Woods - Religion -2005 - 280 pages [R.c Author]
3. The Catholic Church: a short history‎ by Hans Küng, John Bowden - Religion - 2003 -230 pages [R.C Author]
4. Catechism of the Catholic Church‎ Religion - 2002 - 778 pages [R.C.C publication]
5. The Catholic Church‎ by Barrie Ruth Straus - Religion - 1987 - 209 pages [?]
6. The Catholic Church: the United States experience : a symposium jointly ...‎by Irene Woodward, Holy Names College (Oakland, Calif.), Prospective International - Religion -1979 - 134 pages [R.C.C Publisher]
7. The Catholic Church: a brief history‎ by Alfred Läpple - Religion - 1985 - 109 pages [R.C.C Publisher]
8. Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: A Compendium of Texts ...‎ [R.C.c publisher] by Ignatius - Religion - 1993 - 975 pages
9. Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church‎ by Benedict XVI - Religion - 2005 - 204 pages [R.C.C Publisher]
10. The Catholic Church and social change in Nicaragua‎ - by Manzar Foroohar - Religion- 1989 - 262 pages[?]

Analysis

1. Books published by the Roman Catholic Church=2
2. Books published by Roman Catholic Publishers=4
3. Books published by Roman Catholic Authors=2
4. Books published whose religious affiliations are not known=2

Conclusion: Unweighted-unfiltered Google by itself is not a suitable citation for proving what the academic consensus is re the name used in neutral reference works. It is clear from the search results they, in the the main, come from non-neutral sources. To use Google means delving into original research whereas good scholarly practice is to use reliable printed non-partisan reference sources. Google is not a substitute for independent academic sources.See also[14]

Other sources

"As the previous section attempted to explain, the term 'Catholic' has so many meanings, and is claimed by so many different Churches, that it cannot properly be used (though of course in practice it is) to denominate one specific Christian community. The Christians commonly known as Catholics should more properly be known as Roman Catholics."

"The Roman Catholic Church has the two adjectives, Roman and Catholic, in its official name."

Here is an unflattering book review by Saturday Review of Literature of the above source [15] see page 173. This is not a reliable source as this review states that the book contains inaccuracies.

Text of review:

Sterling Power Lamprecht's Our Religious Traditions, an interpretation of the three religious traditions of the Western world, was also a dignified, thoughtful volume. Nevertheless, it was felt that the book dealt with much material in too brief a compass. By its omissions, too, it engendered great dissatisfactions among the adherents of each faith, and many of its points were subject to disagreement. But for the general reader Our Religious Traditions was viewed as "a helpful and enlightening book." (Saturday Review of Literature, February 18, 1950.)

The adjective 'Roman' is part of its official name"

This book is published by its own author, not a third party. The author, Arthur Piepkorn who is a Lutheran minister and enthusiastic supporter of the Branch theory, not an expert on the Catholic Church.[16]

"The official name of the organization is 'The Roman Catholic Church'."

Published by the Unitarian Sunday School Society, 1892. [17]

"By the end of the 16th century the term 'Roman Catholic Church' is used extensively as a title for the Roman Church and soon becomes the legal and official name of the Roman Catholic Church."

A criticism book of the Catholic Church written by a non-Catholic Church expert educated at a Protestant seminary. [18] It is published by the self publishing Xulon Press, not a third party publisher

"To avoid monotony, Catholic with capital 'C' is frequently used throughout the book for Roman Catholic. 'Roman' is used without prejudice, being part of the full official name."

Written by an author whose expertise on the Catholic Church is explained as a person "who spent 20 years in Rome as a YMCA secretary became very familiar with Vatican practices" [19]

"Her official name is 'The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church'".

Written by an Anglican Church bishop in 1899, echoing the phrase chosen by the First Vatican Council with which to begin chapter I of its dogmatic constitution Dei Filius.