Expert: date=May 2009 Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek adjective (katholikos), meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For Roman Catholics, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, including both the Western particular Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. Protestants sometimes use the term "catholic church" to refer to the entire body of believers in Jesus Christ across the world, and across the ages. Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and some Methodist Christians hold that their churches are catholic in the sense that they are in continuity with the original catholic (universal) church founded by the apostles. In "Catholic Christendom" (including the Anglican Communion), bishops are considered the highest order of ministers within the Christian Church, as shepherds of unity in communion with the whole church and one another. Catholicity is considered one of Four Marks of the Church, the others being unity, sanctity, and apostolicity. according to the Nicene Creed of 381: "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church."
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Catholic Blog Directory. Some info based on list compiled by Gerard Serafin, RIP ... Catholic bloggers may also be interested in joining St. Blog's Parish Directory. ...catholicblogs.blogspot.com/Web Catholic-Catholic Webmasters Blog
Links and News for Catholic Webmasters from AmericanCatholic.org ... Brother Charles on Catholic Blogs for Your Summer Reading Pleasure ...blog.webcatholic.org/Roman Catholic Blog
Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam. ... Roman Catholic Blog. About. Insight Scoop. Catholic World News Top Headlines (CWNews.com) ...romancatholicblog.typepad.com/roman_catholic_blog/Catholic Converts
Take some time to check out the blogs of Catholic Converts. ... 2008 Catholic Blog Awards. Behold Your Mother: Mary Stories and Reflections f...catholic-converts.blogspot.com/Steve Ray's Blog
... there, check out the rest of his excellent blog and support this Catholic artist! ... Steve on Catholic Answers Live Monday - Priesthood! ...blog.catholic-convert.com/Expert: date=May 2009 Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek adjective (katholikos), meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For Roman Catholics, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, including both the Western particular Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. Protestants sometimes use the term "catholic church" to refer to the entire body of believers in Jesus Christ across the world, and across the ages. Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and some Methodist Christians hold that their churches are catholic in the sense that they are in continuity with the original catholic (universal) church founded by the apostles. In "Catholic Christendom" (including the Anglican Communion), bishops are considered the highest order of ministers within the Christian Church, as shepherds of unity in communion with the whole church and one another. Catholicity is considered one of Four Marks of the Church, the others being unity, sanctity, and apostolicity. according to the Nicene Creed of 381: "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church."
Ignatius of Antioch
A letter written by Ignatius to Christians in Smyrna around 106 is the earliest surviving witness to the use of the term catholic church (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8). By catholic church Ignatius designated the Christian Church in its universal aspect, as "catholic" still meant no more than "universal", since it was only later that the word "catholic" took on the ecclesiastical meaning of "orthodox and apostolic". Ignatius considered that certain heretics of his time, who disavowed that Jesus was a material being who actually suffered and died, saying instead that "he only seemed to suffer" (Smyrnaeans, 2), were not really Christians. The term is also used in the Martyrdom of Polycarp in 155 and in the Muratorian fragment, about 177.
St Cyril of Jerusalem
St Cyril of Jerusalem (circa 315-386) urged those he was instructing in the Christian faith: "If ever thou art sojourning in cities, inquire not simply where the Lord's House is (for the other sects of the profane also attempt to call their own dens houses of the Lord), nor merely where the Church is, but where is the catholic church. For this is the peculiar name of this Holy Church, the mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God" (Catechetical Lectures, XVIII, 26).
Theodosius I
The term catholic Christians entered Roman Imperial law when Theodosius I, Emperor from 379 to 395, reserved that name for adherents of "that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff (Pope) Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria ...as for the others, since in our judgement they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give their conventicles the name of churches." This law of 27 February 380 was included in Book 16 of the Codex Theodosianus. It established catholic Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
