Catholicism
Name
Further information: Catholic (term) and Roman Catholic (term)
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The first use of the term "Catholic Church" (literally meaning "universal church") was by the church father Saint Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans (c. 110 AD).[25]
Ignatius of Antioch is also attributed the earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Greek: Χριστιανισμός) c. 100 AD.[26]
He died in Rome, with his relics located in the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano.
Catholic (from Greek: καθολικός, romanized: katholikos, lit.'universal') was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century.[27]
The first known use of the phrase "the catholic church" (Greek: καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία, romanized: katholikḕ ekklēsía) occurred in the letter written about 110 AD from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans,[note ^2] which read: "Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal [katholike] Church."[28]
In the Catechetical Lectures (c. 350) of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name "Catholic Church" was used to distinguish it from other groups that also called themselves "the church".[28][29]
The "Catholic" notion was further stressed in the edict De fide Catolica issued 380 by Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire, when establishing the state church of the Roman Empire.[30]
Since the East–West Schism of 1054, the Eastern Orthodox Church has taken the adjective "Orthodox" as its distinctive epithet; its official name continues to be the "Orthodox Catholic Church".[31]
The Latin Church in communion with the Holy See has similarly taken "Catholic", keeping that description also after the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, when those who ceased to be in communion became known as "Protestants".[32][33]
While the "Roman Church" has been used to describe the pope's Diocese of Rome since the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages (6th–10th century), the "Roman Catholic Church" has been applied to the whole church in the English language since the Protestant Reformation in the late 16th century.[34]
Further, some will refer to the Latin Church as "Roman Catholic" in distinction from the Eastern Catholic churches.[35]
"Roman Catholic" has occasionally appeared also in documents produced both by the Holy See,[note ^3] and notably used by certain national episcopal conferences and local dioceses.[note ^4]
The name "Catholic Church" for the whole church is used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1990) and the Code of Canon Law (1983).
The name "Catholic Church" is also used in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965),[36] the First Vatican Council (1869–1870),[37] the Council of Trent (1545–1563),[38] and numerous other official documents.[39][40]