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Show Roman Catholic and Catholic. No Pope, no general or national council, coun-cil, no father or doctor of the church, not one of her approved creeds, rituals or liturgies has ever used the term "Roman Catholic" as the official title of our religion, says the New Zealand Tablet. Its genuine official title is "the Holy Catholic Church," or "the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church," or. briefly, "the Catholic Church." AVe claim the title "Catholic" as ours exclusively. ex-clusively. No . other creed or sect claims this exclusive right. At most, they would share the title with us. Fifteen Fif-teen hundred years ago St. Augustine who was certainly a "Roman Catholic," Cath-olic," was in full communion with the Holy See made light of all such claims to partnership in the title "Catholic" in his book, "De Vera Religione." We must," he writes, "hold the Christian religion and the communion of that church which is Catholic, and is not only called so by her own children, but by all her enemies." The same great saint concludes as follows the statement state-ment of his-reasons for remaining in the Caholic Church: "Lastly, the very name of Catholic holds me, of which this Church alone has, not without reason, so kept the possession that though all heretics oVsire to be called Catholic, yet if a stranger asks them where the Catholics meet, none of the heretics dare point out. his own house of church." A similar test was recommended recom-mended by St. Cyril, who was bishop of Jerusalem early in the fourth century. cen-tury. He tells the stranger in a strange city to "ask which is the Catholic church, because," he adds, "this title belongs to our holy mother." The term was used by these two saints as a test to exclude those who were not in communion com-munion with the Holy See. . CUSTOM IS QUITE AGREED that the word "Catholic" is the peculiar pecu-liar designation of the church which has for its visible head on earth the Pope or bishop who sits upon the chair of St. Peter in Rome. The very street Arab finds only one meaning in the words of a stranger who inquires for the Catholic church, the Catholic Driest, the Catholic sisterhood. Standard. English Eng-lish writers we need only instance Lord Macaulay. Edmunds Burke, James Martineau. Lecky ngree- in usinjr the word "Catholic" to 6nignnte the church whichrls in communion with Rome. Lecky, when taken to task some years ago in Dublin for having used the word "Catholic" to designate members of the Papal church, refused to employ the word- "Roman Catholic," Catho-lic," which he regarded as a solecism in language. This noted Unionist and ' rationalistic historian cannot be suspected sus-pected cf any leaning toward our faith. But in- all his learned and voluminous writin.es he habitually applies the term "Catholic Church" to that great religious reli-gious organization vh?ch ha its centre cen-tre in the City, of the Seven Hills. The great Encyclonoedie Dictionary states that the word "Catholic" is bv gene-al usage applied to thoce in communion with the see of Rome or, as iN Protestant Pro-testant compilers put it. "Vd' Roman Catholic branch of : the, -.Christian church." Webster's great standard dictionary defines the term "Catholic," when standine by itself, as meaning "Roman Catholic." . Briefly the word "Catholic" means just what practically universal usage has decided that it shall mean. And that meprlng is in-, separably associated with . wht' Js officially of-ficially known mong us as "the Roman Ro-man Catholic Church." ; IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE. -In the languages of continental Europe Eu-rope no term is known corresponding to the official designation of "Roman Catholic," by which we are known in English-speaking countries. In French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, i v Dutch and other European languages the title "Catholic" is appplied to. and only to mean the Catholics of the city of Rome. Were the word "Roman" added it would be understood to mean the Catholics of the city of Rome. The same statement holds good in the east. In his "Visit to the Russian Church," Rev. W. Palmer (Anglican) tells how, to his great annoyance, the "Orthodox" "Ortho-dox" Russians persisted in calling the adherents of the Church of Rome "Catholics" pure and simple. The Russian Rus-sian Orthodox American Messenger as in its issues of Jan. 1-13, 1893, does, likewise. And the following paragraph appeared in the Catholic-Times a few-years few-years ago from a correspondent resident resi-dent in Cairo (Egypt): "In the east no one in called a Catholic If not in com-nunion com-nunion with Rome. If a man called himself 'an Anglican Catholic' here' he would be at once considered a 'Roman Catholic' from England. All churches united with Rome are called Catholic, such as the Catholic Copts. Greek Catholics, Syrian Catholics and Latin Catholics. Those in schism are called Orthodox. The Anglicans are simply English Protestants." No creed outside the "Roman obe- j dience" claims the exclusive right to i the word "Catholic." When thev d- ply it to themselves at all it suppposes tin acceptance of a "branch" theory or other form of church policy, which is opposed to the words of the New Testament Tes-tament and contradicted by all ecclesiastical ecclesi-astical history and tradition. In the ordinary and long-fixed usapre of the words, the overwhelming body of Christian people understand by the desingnation "Catholic Church" the church of Rome and no oth'er. THE WORD "ROMAN" is not used as an identifying prefftc. and, therefore, outside legal formalities, formali-ties, its use is unnecessary. When Catholics employ the superfluous word "Roman" in reference to themselves, they do so either in accordance with official reouirements or. merely to emphasize em-phasize the Roman headship of the Church People outside our fold sometimes some-times use the term "Roman" in this connection by way of denial that the Church, is communion with the Pone Is the one P"-1) nn'v universal church, 'nart, therefore, from legal require! ments. Catholics should ever call their Church bv her unique and Jong-consecrated title, "the Catholic Church." and should avoid bestowing: upon her a designation which ;is not our creation, and which is nowhere reeogni7d in her official formulae. The Republic. |