Catholic - derived, through Latin, from the Greek adjective , meaning "general", "universal"^* - when used as a specifically Christian religious term, can have a number of meanings:

• In common parlance the term most often refers to the members, beliefs, and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. This Church includes the Latin Rite and twenty-two Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, all in full communion with the Pope (Bishop of Rome). The Eastern Catholic particular Churches in communion with the Pope include the Ukrainian, Greek, Greek Melkite, Maronite, Ruthenian Byzantine, Coptic Catholic, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara, Chaldean, and Ethiopian Rites.
• Most Reformation and post-Reformation Churches use the term Catholic (sometimes with a lower-case c) to refer to the belief that all Christians are part of one Church, regardless of denominational divisions. This "universal" interpretation is often used to understand the phrase "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" in the Nicene Creed, the phrase "the catholic faith" in the Athanasian Creed, and the phrase "holy catholic church" in the Apostles' Creed.
• It is used to refer to those Christian Churches which maintain that their Episcopate can be traced directly back to the Apostles, and that they are therefore part of a broad catholic (or universal) body of believers. Among those who regard themselves as "Catholic" but not "Roman Catholic" are members of the various Eastern Orthodox Churches (such as the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox), the Oriental Orthodox, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Anglicans, and some small groups such as the Old Catholic Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, the Independent Catholic, the Ancient Catholic and Liberal Catholic Churches, as well as Lutherans (though the latter prefer the lower-case "c," and, like Anglicans, stress that they are both Protestant and Catholic). These various Churches that regard themselves as part of a broad Catholic Church are distinguished primarily by their use of the Nicene Creed, in which believers acknowledge the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church." The Nicene Creed is of course also used by the Roman Catholic Church.
• It can mean the one Church founded by Christ through Peter the Apostle, according to 18-19: "And I tell you, you are כיפא (Kepha) (Aramaic for "rock"), and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’" In Roman Catholic theology, this is understood to mean specifically the Roman Catholic Church.
• Some use the term Catholic to distinguish their own position from a Calvinist or Puritan form of Reformed-Protestantism. These include High Church Anglicans, known also as "Anglo-Catholics", 19th century Neo-Lutherans, 20th century High Church Lutherans or evangelical-catholics and others.

Methodists and Presbyterians believe their denominations owe their origins to the Apostles and the early Church, but do not claim descent from ancient Church structures such as the episcopate. Neither of these Churches, however, denies that they are a part of the catholic (literally, "about whole", sometimes translated as "universal") Church.

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Congratulations Meredith and Michael Eng! There wedding last weekend at San Jose Catholic Church took us back in... http://bit.ly/70H0ej
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MichaelinMI (Michael J Yore) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:58:00 -0000
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MrLanceDrake (Lance Drake) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:54:39 -0000
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COMMENTARY -- Uncle Sam, MD http://bit.ly/5JpbzX #tcot #Catholic #gop
franklinrussell (Franklin Russell) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:53:23 -0000
COMMENTARY -- Uncle Sam, MD http://bit.ly/5JpbzX #tcot #Catholic #gop

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