"Catholic" Says It All

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"One, holy, catholic and apostolic" says the creed. There is nothing in there about Roman, Bysantine, Coptic or even (dare I say) Christian. I find it distressing these days that in the interest of ecumenism so many of us (regrettably even clergy) declare that we are "Christian" or "Catholic-Christian," implying that there is something non-Christian about simply declaring one's Catholicity.

The reality is that the Catholic Church is not a subset of the larger "Christian" faith, but that the many "Christian" denominations are actually offshoots of the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church" founded by Jesus Christ.

So, saying "I am Catholic" says it all. -pax-

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1998

Answers

I too find it redundant when persons refer to the Church as "Roman" Catholic. I realize many do this to emphasize their loyalty to the Roman magisterium, but I always think it gives the erroneous impression that there might be "other" types of Catholics. I know, for example, that when I was an "Anglo-catholic" that was how we explained our status - we were Catholics, we just weren't "Roman" Catholics. (Of course, I finally realized that we weren't Catholics at all and converted.) Perhaps part of the problem is a result of confusing "Roman" Catholic with "Latin" Rite Catholics?

-- Anonymous, June 28, 1998

You know, when I was still in Elementary school, I had always thought the proper name for our religion was "Roman Catholic" and "Catholic" was just for short. Just as the proper greeting in the morning is "Good morning" but we often shorten it to just "Morning" (or Mornin').

Just a comment.

-- Anonymous, June 29, 1998


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