Does the term "Roman Catholic" apply to Eastern Catholics as well?

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Alexandria2020

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I’ve heard of some EC churches like the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church that prefer to call themselves as “Eastern Catholic” or “Ukrainian Catholic”, while there are other EC churches with members that refer to themselves as “Roman Catholic”. What is the exact terminology with in regards to the EC churches? Since all the 24 sui iuris Churches are united as one under the Pope in Rome, does it make sense to label all the church members as “Roman Catholic”?
 
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Technically speaking, there is no officially definition of “Roman Catholic.”

That was a term that Protestants created and that most Catholics did not object to.

But technically speaking, the Catholics who celebrate the Roman Rite are “Latin Catholics.“

The term “Roman Catholic” is unofficial (even though it has been used in SOME official English translations of Church documents.)

The term (depending on usage) can mean:
  • The Diocese of Rome (As in the Church of Roman)
  • Catholics who celebrate the Roman Rite
  • Catholics who are part of the Latin (Western) Church, regardless if they attend the Roman Rite, Ambrosian Rite, Rite of Braga, etc
  • everyone in communion with the Pope (but many, if not most, Eastern Catholics do not like being called Roman Catholic)
To me, personally, “Roman Catholic“ mostly refers to Catholics who attend a Roman Rite Mass in full Communion with the Pope.

However, when someone asks me what I’m am, I only say Catholic. I don’t say Roman Catholic
 
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phil19034 said:
But technically speaking, the Catholics who celebrate the Roman Rite are “Latin Catholics.“
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Thank you for telling folks that. I hate being called “Roman” Catholic, because I feel like anti-Catholics do that so they can say scary things like “Romanism”.
 
I always think of Catholics as being divided into two groups:
  1. Eastern Catholics and 2) Western aka Latin aka Roman Catholics.
I would not call an Eastern Catholic a “Roman Catholic” because to me, “Roman Catholic” signifies Western Europe/ Latin Rite.

I often call myself just “Catholic” but I will also call myself “Roman Catholic” or “RC” to make clear I’m not EC and also to differentiate myself from other groups claiming to be Catholic, such as “Anglo-Catholics”. If you come from Irish/ British Isles background like myself, Roman Catholic is a much more common term than “Latin Catholic” or “Western Catholic”.
 
I have never needed to do this face to face, only online, but you can post a reply along the lines of “Yes, I’m a Romish Popish Papist!”
 
Back in the days when I wasn’t as familiar with English as I am now I thought “Popery” was a legitimate term for Catholicism. I was informed otherwise.
 
Alexandria2020 said:
I’ve heard of some EC churches like the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church that prefer to call themselves as “Eastern Catholic” or “Ukrainian Catholic”, while there are other EC churches with members that refer to themselves as “Roman Catholic”. What is the exact terminology with in regards to the EC churches? Since all the 24 sui iuris Churches are united as one under the Pope in Rome, does it make sense to label all the church members as “Roman Catholic”?
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No. Only the Latin Rite is Roman Catholic. Personally I never use that term. I simply say Catholic.
 
phil19034 said:
That was a term that Protestants created and that most Catholics did not object to.
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It was in fact created as a term of abuse to add fuel to the myth that English Catholics owe their allegiance to Rome (at that time a military foreign power) before their country.

This idea is very persistent. During the Falklands War I was astonished when a friend apologized to me for the British victory.
 
Maximian said:
It was in fact created as a term of abuse to add fuel to the myth that English Catholics owe their allegiance to Rome (at that time a military foreign power) before their country.
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Yes, and those of us with a family history of persecution for the faith by England tend to proudly embrace the term. We are part of the Roman Catholic Church, not any bogus “English Catholic Church”.
 
The Eastern Catholic Churches form one of the branches of the Roman Catholic Church.
 
Apparently it’s a subjective term. I have Eastern Rite and Latin Rite ancestors. The former would say “Greek Catholic Church” and “Byzantine Catholic”. I did not hear objections to their being known as Roman Catholic (although 99% of the time I attend Latin Rite churches). I always considered us all to be RC. If a Byzantine Catholic Mass was offered nearer to where I live, I would go sometimes.
 
Roman Catholic is a term that protestants started using but it sounded so awesome that people just rolled with it.
 
Rome is an awesome and beautiful city, and “Roman Catholic” always sounded to me like we were all going around dressed up like Roman senators and gladiators, eating cheese and grapes and wine.
 
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Alexandria2020 said:
I’ve heard of some EC churches like the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church that prefer to call themselves as “Eastern Catholic” or “Ukrainian Catholic”, while there are other EC churches with members that refer to themselves as “Roman Catholic”. What is the exact terminology with in regards to the EC churches? Since all the 24 sui iuris Churches are united as one under the Pope in Rome, does it make sense to label all the church members as “Roman Catholic”?
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Christ Our Pascha, Ukrainian Catholic Catechism states No. 304
Communion with the Church of Rome is the sign and condition for belonging to the Universal Church.
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Alexandria2020 said:
24 sui iuris Churches, including Latin Church and 23 Eastern Churches.
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The number is high up to 24 mainly due to the Byzantine Rite Churches. There’s 14 of them, with the Ukrainian Church and Melkite Church being the top 2 largest.

Once you set the 14 Byzantine Rite Churches apart, the rest are easy to follow through.

Alexandrian Rite - 3 of them based in North Africa- Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Church.

Armenian Rite - Armenian Church based in Beirut, Lebanon

East Syriac Rite - Chaldean Catholic Church of Iraq and Syro-Malabar Church of India

West Syriac Rite - Maronite Church and Syriac Catholic Church based in the Middle-East, and the Malankara Catholic Church based in India
 
The Catholic Church sees itself as a great communion of 24 churches, 1 western and 23 eastern.

The western branch is represented by the Latin tradition of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church. It is called “western” because of its geographical location in Rome and not because its presence is limited to western countries: in fact, the Roman rite is present worldwide and has dioceses on all continents, from Portugal in Japan, from Brazil to Russia, from Angola to China, from Canada to New Zealand.

The Eastern Catholic Churches also have faithful throughout the world but, for historical reasons, are more strongly present in the places where they appeared. They have different cultural, theological and liturgical traditions, as well as their own territorial structure and organization, but profess the same and unique Catholic doctrine and faith, thus remaining in full communion with one another and with the Holy See.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I always think of Catholics as being divided into two groups:
  1. Eastern Catholics and 2) Western aka Latin aka Roman Catholics.
I would not call an Eastern Catholic a “Roman Catholic” because to me, “Roman Catholic” signifies Western Europe/ Latin Rite.

I often call myself just “Catholic” but I will also call myself “Roman Catholic” or “RC” to make clear I’m not EC and also to differentiate myself from other groups claiming to be Catholic, such as “Anglo-Catholics”. If you come from Irish/ British Isles background like myself, Roman Catholic is a much more common term than “Latin Catholic” or “Western Catholic”.
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Actually, I would prefer to see everyone refer to themselves either as “Western/Eastern Catholic” or “Eastern/Western Orthodox”. “Greek” could also be shorthand for Eastern Christianity, with “Latin” corresponding to Western Christianity. Back in the day, it is my understanding that all Eastern Rite Catholics commonly referred to themselves as “Greek Catholics”, whether their liturgical language was Greek or something else.

Needless to say, outside of Europe, the directional adjectives are largely meaningless, and signify cultural considerations rather than geographical location.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Actually, I would prefer to see everyone refer to themselves either as “Western/Eastern Catholic” or “Eastern/Western Orthodox”. “Greek” could also be shorthand for Eastern Christianity, with “Latin” corresponding to Western Christianity. Back in the day, it is my understanding that all Eastern Rite Catholics commonly referred to themselves as “Greek Catholics”, whether their liturgical language was Greek or something else.
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Actually, “Greek Catholic” refers to the Byzantine Rite, so as has been mentioned upthread, there are 14 Greek-Catholic Churches, and the others are of non-Byzantine rite.
 
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