Jesus intended that the Church He founded be catholic. His Church would be for all nations and all times, and Salvation would be available for everyone. From the Greek word katholikos, catholic means “according to the whole” or “universal”.
Catholic is one of the marks of the Church, along with One, Holy, and Apostolic. These are four qualities of Jesus that He shares with his Church, in which He is present.
Founded by Jesus, the Catholic Church is catholic because it contains the fullness of the truth of Salvation and teaches all that is needed to attain eternal life based on what God has revealed.
Jesus wanted his Church to have a widespread membership, making its teaching available to everyone. It would have no bias against any group of people and have no preference based on ethnicity, sex, race, or social status.
This Church would also be universal in time, existing from when Jesus founded it and lasting until He comes again at the end of time.
The word “catholic” does not appear in the Bible, but there are references to a universal Church in the teaching of Jesus, and Scripture describes a Church spread throughout the world which is led by the Apostles and united under Peter, the first Pope.
Used in creeds and letters from the earliest days of the Church, the word “catholic” was used to distinguish the true Church from schismatics and heretical groups that taught error.
Those Christians who faithfully follow the teaching of the Catholic Church which is written in Sacred Scripture, revealed in Sacred Tradition, and interpreted and taught by the Magisterium can rightfully be called Catholics.
Throughout the first millennium, all Christians were members of the Catholic Church, the only Church that can claim that it is universal in time, expanse, and membership.
The name of the one true Church:
“Catholic” is used two ways:
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under Heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”
Acts 2: 1-11
The Church has been Catholic since the beginning:
The early Church was called Catholic:
Distinguishing Jesus’ Church from other groups:
The Church is catholic: She proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is “missionary of her very nature”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 868
Called to take the whole truth to the whole world:
A Church that is bigger than any one nation:
Diverse cultures with the same beliefs and traditions:
Catholic means universal. A complete and clear definition is offered by one of the Fathers of the Church of the first centuries, St Cyril of Jerusalem, when he affirmed: The Church is doubtless “called catholic, meaning universal, because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely one and all the truths which ought to come to men’s knowledge, concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly”. A clear sign of the catholicity of the Church is that she speaks all languages, and this is the very effect of Pentecost: the Holy Spirit, in fact, enabled the Apostles and the whole Church to cause the Good News of God’s salvation and love to spread to all, even to the ends of the Earth. Thus, the Church was born catholic, that is, “symphonic” from her very origins, and can be only catholic, projected to evangelization and encounter with all.
Pope Francis, General Audience, 17 September 2014
God desires everyone to be saved:
The open arms of St. Peter’s Square welcome everyone to his Church:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
How a Catholic priest sees the world:
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