Roman Catholicism Doesn’t Exist the Way You May Think it Does

I am not a “Roman” Catholic.

I am simply a Catholic, and a Catholic is a type of Christian, just like a Lutheran, Methodist or any other Protestant is a type of Christian.

You could say I am a Christian, and specifically a Catholic of the Latin Church which is in communion with the Catholic Church, and uses the Roman Rite within the Latin family of rites. But that sounds ridiculous and is very wordy. Nobody wants to say that. So just call me Catholic or Christian, and leave it at that.

“Roman Catholic” is a relatively modern English-language term that became widespread especially after the Protestant Reformation. It was promoted in large part by Anglicans as part of the “branch theory” (the idea that the one Church consists of Anglican, Orthodox, and “Roman” branches). This is a bogus theory designed to elevate Anglicans above other Protestants, while simultaneously attempting to make the Catholic Church appear more sectarian. Over time, Protestant Fundamentalists weaponized the term simply to attack Catholicism as a non-Christian “sect” of the Romans. This makes it sound more foreign. Some of them even link it to the Pagan Roman Empire.

Eventually, many Catholics adopted it, often to emphasize communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope) and the See of Rome, also called the “Holy See.” The Holy See has occasionally used “Roman Catholic Church” in some documents to refer to the whole Church in communion with the Pope, and there is nothing wrong with that, but this is not the normative or preferred self-designation. In fact, all Catholics must not only be in communion with the Pope, but also the Holy See (See of Rome), because that’s where the papacy is primarily established. There have been times in history when the Holy See was in France (Avignon), but that was very brief. Also, during the life of St. Peter, the first pope, the Holy See was briefly in Jerusalem and Antioch, but again that was brief. The Holy See is primarily established in Rome, because that is where Peter and Paul died, and every cardinal that is appointed gets his own titular church-building in Rome which he presides over. The only exception to that being Eastern Catholics who are made cardinals. So, with the exception of Eastern Catholic cardinals, every Western Catholic cardinal is literally a bishop in Rome. Since cardinals are potentially popes-in-waiting, and they elect the Pope, and nearly all. of them have titular churches in Rome, the Holy See remains very Roman. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church itself is much, much bigger, as I will demonstrate below.

That said, I generally don’t accept the term “Roman Catholic” in regard to myself because I understand Protestant word-games and what they’re designed to do. So, if somebody calls me a “Roman Catholic,” I politely correct him by saying I’m just “Catholic” and the term “Roman Catholic” is not how the Church normally refers to itself. I am in communion with both the Pope and the See of Rome (Holy See), but I prefer to just be called “Catholic” because that’s what I am.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH consists of…

Latin Tradition

1. Latin Church (primarily Roman Rite, with others such as Ambrosian Rite, Mozarabic Rite and various uses or forms)

Alexandrian Tradition

2. Coptic Catholic Church
3. Ethiopian Catholic Church
4. Eritrean Catholic Church

Antiochene / West Syriac Tradition

5. Maronite Church
6. Syriac Catholic Church
7. Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

East Syriac Tradition

8. Chaldean Catholic Church
9. Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

Armenian Tradition

10. Armenian Catholic Church

Byzantine Tradition

11. Albanian Greek Catholic Church
12. Belarusian Greek Catholic Church
13. Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
14. Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia
15. Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
16. Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
17. Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
18. Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
19. Melkite Greek Catholic Church
20. Romanian Greek Catholic Church
21. Russian Greek Catholic Church
22. Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
23. Slovak Greek Catholic Church
24. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and he is an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com