"Catholic church" or "Catholic Church"

[catholic1seeks]

Is there a prominent reason to call the church that is communion with Rome the “Catholic church” with a lowercase “c” and not the “Catholic Church” with a capital “C”? I often see it spelled the first way in newspapers.

I also often see a popular US priest, the Jesuit Fr. James Martin, call it the “Catholic church” in his Facebook posts for example.

Is this even grammatically correct? Isn’t it a proper noun and therefore should be spelled with capital letters? Is there a theological reason people refer to it one way over the other!

 

[porthos11]

We refer to the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is a communion of 24 self-governing churches.

The Orthodox churches are also true churches and at one point were united with the Catholic Church in one Great Church.

The Latin church is just one church within the Catholic Church. So is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is also a church within the Catholic Church.

 

[steve_b]

We refer to the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is a communion of 24 self-governing churches.

The Orthodox churches are also true churches and at one point were united with the Catholic Church in one Great Church.

The Latin church is just one church within the Catholic Church. So is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is also a church within the Catholic Church.

As an aside, (~) = approximate

The Latin Church is ~99% of the total Catholic Church population. All other Catholic rites (full communion with the pope, & 100% Catholic) make up the remainder ~1%
holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/kevinyurkus/othercatholics.asp

 

[josephback]

It may just be bad grammar. Sometimes people refer to the “catholic church” in the Creed to minimize the exclusivity claim Rome makes though. It depends on the person.

 

[phil19034]

It should be with a capital C

When it’s not, it’s either a typo, ignorance, or done on purpose as a form of protest.

 

[powerofk]

Catholics (especially Catholics who understand the Catholic Church to be the one true Church founded by Christ) generally consider “Church” to be a proper noun when referring to the Catholic Church as a whole, but as a common noun when either (a) talking about a church building (such as St. Anne’s Catholic church, Holy Rosary Catholic church, Blessed Sacrament Catholic church, etc.), (b) talking about individual churches (such as the Latin Catholic church, the Byzantine Catholic church, the Maronite Catholic church, the Syriac Catholic church, the Coptic Catholic church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic church, etc.) within the Catholic Communion, or (c) talking about Christian churches outside of Catholicism (Greek Orthodox church, First Baptist church, United Methodist church).

Secular sources, though, generally consider all uses of the word “church” to be common nouns.

 

[St_Francis]

Catholics (especially Catholics who understand the Catholic Church to be the one true Church founded by Christ) generally consider “Church” to be a proper noun when referring to the Catholic Church as a whole, but as a common noun when either (a) talking about a church building (such as St. Anne’s Catholic church, Holy Rosary Catholic church, Blessed Sacrament Catholic church, etc.), (b) talking about individual churches (such as the Latin Catholic church, the Byzantine Catholic church, the Maronite Catholic church, the Syriac Catholic church, the Coptic Catholic church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic church, etc.) within the Catholic Communion, or (c) talking about Christian churches outside of Catholicism (Greek Orthodox church, First Baptist church, United Methodist church).

Secular sources, though, generally consider all uses of the word “church” to be common nouns.

Altho I would capitalize St Anne’s Catholic Church, because the word church is part of the name of that building or parish. If I said, I am going to church, or even the Catholic Church up the block, I would not capitalize as there it is a common noun.

I would not talk about the Methodist “Church,” as the Protestant denominations are not churches but ecclesial communities.

The trend in publishing is to minimize the use of capitals, in part to make proofreading easier.

 

[johnnyc176]

Is there a prominent reason to call the church that is communion with Rome the “Catholic church” with a lowercase “c” and not the “Catholic Church” with a capital “C”? I often see it spelled the first way in newspapers.

I also often see a popular US priest, the Jesuit Fr. James Martin, call it the “Catholic church” in his Facebook posts for example.

Is this even grammatically correct? Isn’t it a proper noun and therefore should be spelled with capital letters? Is there a theological reason people refer to it one way over the other!

It should be capitalized to distinguish it as the Church that Jesus founded but as mentioned previously it could either be a typo, ignorance, or done on purpose.

The pope went on to stress the unity between Christ, Mary and the Church. “Likewise inseparable are Christ and the Church; the salvation accomplished by Jesus cannot be understood without appreciating the motherhood of the Church. To separate Jesus from the Church would introduce an ‘absurd dichotomy’, as Blessed Paul VI wrote (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 16). It is not possible ‘to love Christ but without the Church, to listen to Christ but not the Church, to belong to Christ but outside the Church’. For the Church is herself God’s great family, which brings Christ to us. Our faith is not an abstract doctrine or philosophy, but a vital and full relationship with a person: Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God who became man, was put to death, rose from the dead to save us, and is now living in our midst. Where can we encounter him? We encounter him in the Church. It is the Church which says today: ‘Behold the Lamb of God;’ it is the Church, which proclaims him; it is in the Church that Jesus continues to accomplish his acts of grace which are the sacraments.”

Here we see no mention of Catholic Church, only Church. But it is clear Pope Francis is talking about the Catholic Church.