But they were all under the Popes until the Great Schism werent they. This means the “catholic” Church was the “Catholic Church”.
In the beginning there was no such thing as “
institutionalized unity.” There were many churches being planted (beginning in the region of Judea), especially by Paul and his companions on their missionary journeys. Elders and deacons were appointed in each of the churches to govern them:Acts 14:23 “When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Titus 1:5 "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,"Scripture identifies the universal “
church” as the spiritual “
body of Christ,” made up entirely of
individual believers whom Christ Himself purchased by His blood (the redeemed). And these individuals gathered together, locally, as “
churches”:Acts 15:41 “And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the
churches.”
Acts 16:5 “So the
churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.”
Rom. 16:4 “…who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also
all the churches of the Gentiles;”
Rom. 16:16 "
All the churches of Christ greet you.
1 Cor. 16:1 "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed
the churches of Galatia, so do you also.
Gal. 1:22 "I was {still} unknown by sight to the
churches of Judea which were in Christ;"Christ Himself directly addressed seven churches in the region of Asia Minor in the Book of Revelation.
The idea of one
visible, institutionalized church was the product of evolution. By the fourth century, after the union of church and state, the
churches with their metropolitan Bishops had come to be largely dominated by five great centers:
Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and
Alexandria, and their “Bishops” came to be known as “
Patriarchs” (a totally non-Biblical form of church government), each having equal authority and full control of his own province. After the division of the empire in A.D. 395 into east and west, the Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria (eastern) gradually acknowledged the leadership of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The churches in the west, of course, looked to the Patriarch of Rome (called “Pope,” however, all the Patriarchs at one time were called “popes”). This eventually grew into the struggle for the Leadership of all “
Christendom” between the Patriarch (Pope) of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople. It wasn’t until the ecclesiastical split between the east and west over the “
filioque” that the western “church” adopted the name “
Catholic,” claiming
catholicity, and the eastern “church” took on the name “
Orthodox,” claiming doctrinal purity.
There are true believers in the “Catholic” church, as there are in the “Orthodox,” Baptist, Methodist, etc., etc. God sees the heart, the seat of faith, not the labels. He saves people through faith in Christ, not religious organizations. Those originate with men and are of the world. And they, like this world system (cosmos), will one day no longer exist. But the church belongs to Christ who purchased it with His own blood. And she will be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4).