As we celebrated the great feast of Sts. Peter and Paul this past week, we can look at the interesting history of the word "Catholic" to describe the Church.
Father John Rickert
St. Ignatius of Antioch was a Father of the Church taught directly by St. John the Apostle, and he was martyred in the early 2nd century. Here is what St. Ignatius of Antioch says in his letter to the church in Smyrna, 8:
ὥσπερ ὅπου ἂν ῇ Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ἐκεῖ ἡ καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία.
“Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” (Kirsopp Lake, tr.)
This is the first known instance of the word “catholic” in reference to the Church.
Of course, non-Catholics will be quick to say that the word here doesn’t mean “Catholic” with a capital “C,” but instead, “catholic” with a small “c.” In other words, "universal," or "the whole."
They would interpret St. Ignatius as saying, “Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the whole church, the entire church.” And indeed, this is a true statement. We certainly don’t want to reject that meaning.
But where this attempted counterargument fails is that it does not rule out both meanings.
In other words, it is perfectly consistent to interpret the word “katholikē” in St. Ignatius as being both “Catholic” with a capital C, and “catholic” with a small c, both ways.
The opponents of the capital C interpretation have offered an additional one, but not a contrary one.
What happened is that over time, whatever the intended meaning, or meanings, that St. Ignatius had, the term did come to mean a specific body, the Catholic Church we have today.
In 380 A.D., the Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius issued the following edict in Constantinople. Later, the Emperor Justinian, also of Constantinople, placed the edict at the very beginning of his code of law. Here is what it says:
"We wish all peoples, whom the measure of our clemency rules, to abide in that religion, which itself declares that blessed Peter the Apostle brought it to the Romans, and, having been instituted by him there, continues to the present day, and which, clearly, Pope Damasus follows, along with Peter of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness."
If there is any remaining doubt about what religion this is, the edict states expressly in the very next provision:
“We order those who observe this law to embrace the name ‘Catholic Christians.’”
And there you have it: The faith brought to Rome by the blessed Peter the Apostle and followed by Pope Damasus, as of the time of the edict in 380, is the Catholic Church, with a capital C, by name.
