Changes

The term '''Catholic''' has a number of related meanings:

The term '''Catholic''' has a number of related meanings:

# originally it comes from a Greek word meaning universal - and thus, referred to the church as a whole, as opposed to a particular local church. This is the sense in which it is used in the historic creeds ("one holy, catholic and apostolic church") - and in this sense Protestants and Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to be part of the catholic church

# originally it comes from a Greek word meaning universal - and thus, referred to the church as a whole, as opposed to a particular local church. This is the sense in which it is used in the historic creeds ("one holy, catholic and apostolic church") - and in this sense Protestants and Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to be part of the catholic church

# As well the [[Catholic Church]] it also refers to the [[Catholic Church#Different churches|Eastern Catholic]] churches, which form part of the Catholic Church, yet follow Eastern rather than Latin rite traditions in liturgy and other matters

# the term has evolved, however, to refer to the [[Roman Catholic Church]] specifically. It also refers to the [[Catholic Church#Different churches|Eastern Catholic]] churches, which form part of the Roman Catholic Church, yet follow Eastern rather than Roman traditions in liturgy and other matters

# it can also be used to refer to [[Independent Catholic churches|splinter groups]] which have broken away from the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. It is used in particular to refer to those groups which while breaking away maintain much of the Catholic Church's traditions - as opposed to [[Protestant]] churches, which rejected much of the Catholic Church's position when they split from it

# it can also be used to refer to [[Independent Catholic churches|splinter groups]] which have broken away from the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. It is used in particular to refer to those groups which while breaking away maintain much of the Roman Catholic church's traditions - as opposed to [[Protestant]] churches, which rejected much of the Roman Catholic Church's position when they split from it

# it also refers to a tendency in [[Anglicanism]] ([[Anglo-Catholicism]]), which sees the Anglican church as nearer to the Catholic Church than to Protestantism, and thus adopts many of the Catholic Church's tradition. A similar tendency also exists in the [[Lutheran]] churches.

# it also refers to a tendency in [[Anglicanism]] ([[Anglo-Catholicism]]), which sees the Anglican church as nearer to the Roman Catholic Church than to Protestantism, and thus adopts many of the Roman Catholic church's tradition. A similar tendency also exists in the [[Lutheran]] churches.

[[Category:Christianity]]

[[Category:Christianity]]