The term Roman Catholic is sometimes used to differentiate the Catholic Church and its members in full communion with the pope in Rome from other Christians who identify as "Catholic".* * * * * It is also sometimes used to differentiate adherents to the Latin Church and its use of the Roman Rite from Catholics of the Eastern Catholic Churches. It is not the official name preferred by the Holy See or bishops in full communion with the pope as a designation for their faith or institution.
The term "catholic" is one of the Four Marks of the Church set out in the Nicene Creed, a statement of belief widely accepted across Christian denominations. Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox consider the term "Catholic" to refer to a single institutional one true church, while Protestant ecclesiology considers it to refer to a church invisible referred to as the Christian Church. The use of "Roman" or "Roman Catholic" to differentiate the Catholic Church dates from the Middle Ages.
Following the pejorative term "papist", attested in English since 1528, the terms "Popish Catholic" and "Romish Catholic" came into use in English during the Protestant Reformation. From the 17th century, "Roman Catholic Church" has been used as a synonym for the Catholic Church by some Anglicans and other Protestants in English-speaking countries."Everyone claimed to be 'catholic' and 'evangelical' and (eventually) 'reformed', but now each of these became a denominational label. The name 'Roman Catholic' conjoined the universality of the church 'over the entire world' with the specificity of 'only one single see'" ( ) Jaroslav Pelikan, 1985, The Christian Tradition: Volume 4, Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300–1700) (Section on The Roman Catholic Particularity). University of Chicago Press pages 245–246 The phrase is used by Catholics to emphasize the unique communion of the Catholic Church with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, considered to be the successor to Saint Peter.
History of the term
Formulations such as the "Holy Roman Church" or the "Roman Catholic Church" have occurred by officials of the Catholic Church before and after the Reformation. It is also used in the context of ecumenical dialogue. The first known occurrence of "Roman Catholic" as a synonym for "Catholic Church" was in communication with the Armenian Apostolic Church in 1208, after the East–West Schism.
16th and 17th centuries
The terms "Romish Catholic" and "Roman Catholic", along with "Popish Catholic", were brought into use in the English language chiefly by adherents of the Church of England."Roman Catholic" at Catholic Encyclopedia online.
The reign of Elizabeth I of England at the end of the 16th century was marked by conflicts in Ireland. Those opposed to English rule forged alliances with those against the Protestant Reformation, making the term "Roman Catholic" almost synonymous with being Irish during that period, although that usage changed significantly over time.
Like the term "Anglican", the term "Roman Catholic" came into widespread use in the English language only in the 17th century.A.C. Hamilton, 1997 The Spenser Encyclopedia, University of Toronto Press, , p. 160. The terms "Romish Catholic" and "Roman Catholic" were both used in the 17th century and "Roman Catholic" was used in some official documents, such as those relating to the Spanish Match in the 1620s.
18th and 19th centuries
The official and popular uses of the term "Roman Catholic" in the English language grew in the 18th century. A letter by John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, published in 1749 is addressed to "a Roman Catholick".Wesley, J. (1749), A letter to a Roman Catholick , Dublin, 18 July 1749, accessed 19 June 2022 Up to the reign of George III, Catholics in Britain who recognized the Pope as head of the Church had generally been designated in official documents as "Papists". In 1792, however, this phraseology was changed and, in the Speech from the Throne, the term "Roman Catholic" was used.William Lecky 2001, A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century, Adamant Media , p. 134.
By the early 19th century, the term "Roman Catholic" had become well established in the English-speaking world. As the movement that led to Catholic Emancipation through the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 grew, many Anglicans and Protestants generally began to accept that being a Roman Catholic was not synonymous with being disloyal to the British Crown. While believing that in the past the term Roman Catholic may have been synonymous with rebel, they held that it was by then as indicative of loyalty as membership in any other Christian denomination.The Critical Review, Series III, Volume XI (May 1807), published by Pickering & Chatto, London, p. 104. The situation had been very different two centuries before, when Pope Paul V forbade English members of his church from taking an oath of allegiance to King James I, a prohibition that not all of them observed.Lisa McClain, Lest we be damned: practical innovation and lived experience among Catholics in Protestant England (2003, ), pp. 257-268.
Also in the 19th century, some prominent Anglican theologians, such as William Palmer and John Keble, supported the Branch Theory, which viewed the universal Church as having three principal branches: Anglican, Roman and Eastern.Paul Avis, Anglicanism and the Christian Church (T. & T. Clark Publishers, 2002, ) p. 221. The 1824 issue of The Christian Observer defined the term Roman Catholic as a member of the "Roman Branch of the Church".The Christian Observer, Volume 23, 1824, p. 133. By 1828, speeches in the British Parliament routinely used the term Roman Catholic and referred to the "Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church".Robert Inglis, 1828, On the Roman Catholic question, published by J. Hatchard, Piccadilly, London, 1828.
In the United States, use of the term "Roman Catholic", as well as the number of Catholics, began to grow only in the early 19th century. Like the term "papist", "Romanist" was often used as a mainly pejorative term for Roman Catholics at the time. In 1790, there were only 100 Catholics in New York and some 30,000 in the whole country, with only 29 priests.John Fletcher Hurst, Short History of the Church in the United States, A.D. 1492–1890, published by Bibliolife, 2008, , page 82 As the number of Catholics in the United States grew rapidly from 150,000 to 1.7 million between 1815 and 1850, mostly by way of immigration from Ireland and the German Confederation, many clergy followed to serve that population, and Roman Catholic parishes were established. The terms "Roman Catholic" and "Holy Roman Catholic" thus gained widespread use in the United States in the 19th century, both in popular usage and in official documents.The United States Catholic magazine and monthly review, 1847, page 564José Baralt, 1999, The policy of the United States towards its territories, University of Puerto Rico Press, , page 119James Hitchcock, The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life Princeton Univ Press, 2004, , page 165 In 1866, US President Andrew Johnson attended a meeting of the Council of the Roman Catholic Church.James J. Hennesey, American Catholics: A History of the Roman Catholic Community in the United States, Oxford University Press, 1983, , p. 159.
Branch theory
There is sometimes controversy about the name "Roman Catholic Church" when it is used by members of other churches to suggest that the church in full communion with Rome is only one part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The term "Roman Catholic" was often used by those in the Church of England (Anglican) who wished to distinguish the Catholic Churches from Anglicanism. This "branch" theory (i.e. one Catholic Church with three branches of Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic) has received a mixed reception even within Anglicanism.
In 1864, the Holy Office rejected the branch theory and affirmed in a letter written to the English bishops that the Roman Church is not just a part of the Catholic Church and stating that "there is no other Catholic Church except that which is built on the one man, Peter". In 1870, English bishops attending the First Vatican Council raised objections to the expression Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia ("Holy Roman Catholic Church"), which appeared in the schema (the draft) of the council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith. The bishops proposed for the word "Roman" to be omitted or at least for commas to be inserted between the adjectives out of concern that use of the term "Roman Catholic" would lend support to proponents of the branch theory. While the council overwhelmingly rejected that proposal, the text was finally modified to read "Sancta Catholica Apostolica Romana Ecclesia" translated into English either as "the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church"English translation by Henry Edward Manning in Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom: Volume II. The History of Creeds or, by separating each adjective, as "the holy, catholic, apostolic and Roman Church".
20th century Countries that recognize the Catholic Church as the state church or as a tolerated church commonly use the title "Roman Catholic Church" in constitutional documents, however this is not the official name preferred by the Holy See or bishops in full communion with the pope as a designation for their faith or institution.
From 1937 to 1972, the Constitution of Ireland used an extended name for the church, recognising the "special position of the 'Holy Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church". The Anglican Archbishop of Dublin had objected to "Catholic Church" and quoted the Council of Trent for the longer title, which was approved by Eugenio Pacelli and Pope Pius XI. The same extended name is used in a 2009 Irish law.Charities Act 2009 §99(3) Irish Statute Book
American Catholics, who by the year 1900 were 12 million people and had a predominantly Irish clergy,William D'Antonio, 2001 American Catholics AltaMira Press page 1 objected to what they considered the reproachful terms Popish and Romish and preferred the term Roman Catholic.Israel Rupp, 1861 Religious denominations in the United States of America, Desilver Publishers, Philadelphia, p. 137. Use of "Roman Catholic" continued to spread in the United States and Canada In the early 20th century to refer to individuals, parishes, and their schools. For instance, the 1915 Report of the Commissioner of Education of the United States had a specific section for "Roman Catholic Parish Schools".Report of the Commissioner of Education United States Office of Education, 1915, page 560 By 1918, legal proceedings in state supreme courts (from Delaware to Minnesota) and laws passed in the State of New York used the term "Roman Catholic parish".Atlantic Reporter, Volume 98, 1917, West Publishing Co. Saint Paul, MN, page 521Annotated consolidated laws of the state of New York, 1918, The State of New York, page 7635 Connecticut state law, last revised in 1955, also provides for organising parish corporations affiliated with the "Roman Catholic Church".
The Baltimore Catechism, the official catechism authorized by the Catholic bishops of the United States between 1885 and 1965, states: "That is why we are called Roman Catholics; to show that we are united to the real successor of St. Peter" (Question 118), and refers to the Church as the "Roman Catholic Church" under Questions 114 and 131. Usage of the name "Roman Catholic Church", however, does not appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church first published in 1992.
Current usage