Terms I don’t like – Roman Catholic

Terms I don’t like – Roman Catholic  

I am a Catholic. I am not a Roman Catholic. The term “Roman” Catholic was originally a term of derision and insult.

There is no Church called the Roman Catholic Church.  There has never been a single official Church document in which the Catholic Church referred to itself as the Roman Catholic Church. It is, and has always was, simply the Catholic Church.

In Greek the word "kathlicos" means "universal." The Christian Church has always been called the Catholic Church. It was fist referred to as such in writing by St. Ignatius, who was appointed the bishop of Antioch by St. Peter during the apostolic age.

According to Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid, “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 Anglican efforts in past centuries to portray themselves as also truly Catholic."

According to The Catholic Encyclopedia, which was written about one hundred years ago, the term “Roman” Catholic is was first used about the year 1580 and is:

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…

…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. In Germany, Luther had omitted the word Catholic from the Creed, but this was not the case in England.

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.

…Indeed long after this period, the use of the term Roman Catholic continued to be a mark of condescension, and language of much more uncomplimentary character was usually preferred. It was perhaps to encourage a friendlier attitude in the authorities that Catholics themselves henceforth began to adopt the qualified term in all official relations with the government.

…and by that time it would appear that many Catholics themselves used the qualified form not only when addressing the outside public but in their domestic discussions.

In phone books, etc., the term “Roman” Catholic is used to differentiate the Church of Christ from splinter denominations calling themselves Catholic.

The term “Roman” Catholic is nonsensical when it is considered that the Church founded b Jesus Christ consists of twenty-plus Eastern Catholic Latin Rites that are completely district from the Latin Rite.

I do not ever call myself “Roman” Catholic. I cringe whenever I hear the term. Whenever Catholics call themselves “Roman” Catholics, it is akin to African-Americans calling themselves the “N” word.