But it shouldn't...
Just what does that "enigmatic" word mean?
And further, what does it really signify in today's parlance?
First and foremost, the word catholic (small "c") simply means universal (or everywhere).
Second, the capitalized word catholic refers to the Church of Christ, again, found universally, everywhere, and open to all peoples on earth.
Contrary to popular belief of some, it is not now, nor has it ever been exclusionary. Quite the contrary.
When was the first time the Church of Christ was described with the proper adjective, Catholic?
Way back at the end of the first century, just after the last Apostle, St. John, the Evangelist who died around the year 100, "catholic" was applied to describe a specific type of church, by the great martyr and Catholic Bishop, St. Ignatius of Antioch between the year 100 and 110, or shortly before.
Believe it or not, some of St. Ignatius' letters are still in existence, and provide witness to those peoples (Catholics) he found along the way as he was taken from Antioch to be martyred in the Coliseum at Rome.
Astonishingly, or Providentially, he was allowed to preach and write to some of those Catholics.
In addition, regarding the martyrdom of St. Polycarp (about the year 155), he is referred to as the Bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna.
Both St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp were in their mid- to late-eighties, and both were contemporaries St. Peter and St. John! In fact, St. Ignatius was consecrated bishop of Antioch by St. Peter, and St. Polycarp was consecrated bishop of Smyrna by St. John the Evangelist!
These are researchable facts, therefore, there shouldn't be any raised blood pressures or red flags waving at these data, as facts cannot be denied, or changed, or watered down for ideological purposes, or simply to obscure the reality of the Catholic Church as the first (and only!) Church of Christ!
Pray for discernment, and pray for our country.
Gene DeLalla
That's right.
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