Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Can we stop saying 'Catholic'

Question: Why do we say we believe in the Catholic church during the Apostle's Creed?

For those not versed in the Apostle's Creed
It says;
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
The holy catholic church;

This is a common question. When we say the word Catholic we don't mean Roman Catholic.
But rather it just means universal. So, when we say it in the Creed then we are saying that we believe in the universal church of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately people today say Catholic to refer to the Roman Catholic church these days and so it becomes confusing for people. My personal opinion is rather than fight to reclaim the word Catholic we should change it to say:
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
The holy universal church.

2 comments:

Libby said...

Our church changed it and I think it was a helpful thing.

Dave said...

Hey Libby,
Thanks for sharing. Did people notice? Was it explained or did it just happen?