‘Catholic’ can mean three different things. Pay attention to the context, so you don’t mix them up!

• ‘Catholic’ (with a capital ‘C’) can be an adjective. For example

  • Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic theologian.

  • Notre Dame is a Catholic cathedral.

• It means ‘related to the Catholic Church’.

• The Catholic Church is one of the oldest Christian denominations.

  At around 1.4 billion members, it is also the largest denomination in the world today.

• It is led by the Bishop of Rome, ‘the Pope’ (currently Leo XIV).

• For the exam, it is important to know the Catholic Church’s teaching on:

  • Original Sin

  • The Sacraments

    • Baptism

    • Holy Communion

  • Just War Doctrine

• ‘Catholic’ can also be a noun. For example:

  • Mary I was a Catholic.

  • Elizabeth I was a Protestant.

• In this case, it means ‘someone who belongs to the Catholic Church’.

• ‘catholic’ (with a lower-case ‘c’) is also an adjective.

• It means ‘universal’ or ‘all-encompassing’.

• The ‘Catholic Church’ call themselves ‘Catholic’ because they claim to be the universal church.

• However, you will sometimes hear Protestants talk about the ‘catholic Church’.

• By this they mean everyone in the world who sincerely follows Jesus, regardless of what denomination they actually belong to.