[Untitled] edit

All the links point to Conciliar movement which has no text. search "Conciliar movement *" (with the asterisk, without the quotes). Wetman 04:55, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Is R.C. Church appropriate? edit

During this time period isn't the Roman Catholic Church more appropriately referred to as the Roman Church, the Latin Church or Latin Christendom? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.253.254.62 (talkcontribs) 01:11, 15 September 2005 (UTC)Reply

Good question! Catholics do not normally refer to themselves as Roman Catholics. Certainly not in European countries. But in countries of Anglo-Saxon origin,, such as England, Australia, USA, etc, they often do, because Christians of the Anglican communion often refer to themselves as Catholic. (Catholic, from the Latin Catholicum, simply means 'universal'). So 'One, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church', means 'One, holy UNIVERSAL and Apostolic Church.'This, of course, is a formula many Christians can use. So, in these countries, Catholics often refer to themselves as Roman to distinguish themselves. Of course, other Christians often use the same term for Catholics for the same purpose. Now, until the Reformation of the 16th century there was no significant dissession from the Bishop of Rome. So Christians claiming allegiance to the Bishop of Rome had no reason to distinguish themselves by using the term Roman. To this day, the Catholic Church does not officially refer to itself as Roman. The Vatican speaks of the 'Catholic Church' or simply 'the Church.' The term 'Roman Church' is used by the (Roman) Catholic Church to refer to the Catholic community in the Diocese of Rome. Non-Catholic Christians may use the term to refer to all Catholics in communion with the Bishop of Rome. They may also use the term Romish Church, though nowadays this is considered archaic and derogatory. The term Latin Church refers to the body of Christians (normally in communion with the Bishop of Rome) who follow a Latin Rite of Mass. The term Latin Christendom refers to the same thing. You were probably hoping for a simply answer, but to sum up, the name Catholic is proper to Christians in communion with the Bishop of Rome, and always has been. The term Roman Catholic is used as a distinguishing tag. Wikipedia seems to use this tag.--Gazzster 04:12, 14 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

"While the universal Church cannot fall into heresy, it is known that the Pope has fallen into heresy in the past." edit

Is this statement intended to express a statement of fact, or to express something that William of Ockham wrote? As a statement of fact, it begs the question. For Roman Catholics, the pope's binding teachings are infallible (under certain conditions) precisely because the Church is infallible. 130.164.62.160 (talk) 04:41, 6 October 2014 (UTC)Reply

Good question. I have requested a cite for that comment, or whatever it is. The pope is infallible when speaking ex cathedra. I know ofno pope who is thought by contemporary Catholics to have spoken heresy. There were a few popes who might have behaved better, but that wasn't heresy. There were anti-popes, whose actions were null as pope. So their actions may have been heretical, but "they don't count." Some of these relinquished their claim to pope. Student7 (talk) 23:45, 12 October 2014 (UTC)Reply