Catholics please tell me?

Question

What is the difference between Roman Catholic and Catholic, or are they the same?

~Heathen Daughter~ he was here a few minutes ago, Father K please answer

Answer 1

Typically, they are the same, but due to the fact that there is freedom of religion in this country, some groups call themselves Catholic, when they're not.

For the record:

Eight Rites of the Catholic Church:
1. Roman 2. Armenian 3. Byzantine 4. Coptic 5. Maronite 6. East Syrian 7. West Syrian 8. Ethiopian (often listed as a recension of the Coptic Rite)
The twenty-two Catholic Churches:
* ROMAN RITE * 1. Latin Church
* ARMENIAN RITE* 2. Armenian Church
* BYZANTINE RITE * 3. Italo-Albanian Church 4. Melkite Church 5. Ukrainian Church 6. Ruthenian Church 7. Romanian Church 8. Greek Church (in Greece) 9. Greek Church of Former Yugoslavia 10. Bulgarian Church 11. Slovak Church 12. Hungarian Church 13. Russian Church 14. Belarusan Church 15. Albanian Church
* COPTIC RITE * 16. Coptic Church (in many lists the Ethiopian Church is also placed here)
* MARONITE RITE * 17. Maronite Church
* EAST SYRIAN RITE * 18. Chaldean Church 19. Syro-Malabar Church
* WEST SYRIAN RITE * 20. Syro-Malankara Church 21. Syrian Church
* ETHIOPIAN RITE * 22. Ethiopian Church (often listed under the Coptic Rite)

Answer 2

All Roman Catholics are Catholics, but not all Catholics are Roman Catholic.

Roman Catholics , as opposed to Eastern Catholics, are considered the "original" Catholics for lack of a better word.
Long ago, the Catholic Church had a split, between Eastern, and Western (the Roman Catholics). If you really think about it, the only real difference between East and West are how they look; both sides have the exact same beliefs, and the differences between the two in regards to rituals and customs are purely cosmetic. The Eastern Church still acknowledges the Papacy as the ultimate authority.
Now the reason the Roman Catholics are considered the "original", or the "more Catholic" Catholics (which is a FALLACY), is because, simply, the Pope is a Roman Catholic. During the split, the Papacy remained in the West, the seat of the Papacy remained with the Roman Catholics. THat is the ONLY reason the Roman Catholics are believed by so many to be "more Catholic" than the Easterners. But in truth, both are loyal to the Pope, both have 7 Sacraments, both have the Real Presence in the Eucharist, both follow the Church doctrine, etc.

The late great John Paul II even described the Eastern Church on more than one occasion as being the "other lung" of the Catholic Church.

Answer 3

If you've never been to a Byzantine church, there's what they call an "Iconostas" between the people and the altar. During a certain part of the Mass, the doors to the Iconostas are closed. Several times, (high Mass), the priest circles the altar with the censer with a grand entrance. (curiously, the Native American Indians also have what they call a Grand Entrance at their pow wows....although quite different in nature, involving all the people, not just the priest, deacon and acolytes) The priests wear different vestments, and have different colors for different occasions than the Latin Rite. They have many more processions with the people than in the Latin Rite (I remember going around the church at Easter and for Mary the Mother of the Church) Maybe it's different for each parish, but it seems to me that the Eastern Rite is more public about their processions than the Western. Maybe the Roman Catholics could use a little bit of that again.

The Eastern Mass usually has a few more intentions than the Kyrie Eleison (12 in all) and again later on in the Mass using the words "Your Pardon, Lord" instead of "Lord Have Mercy"

The Creed that is recited is not the Apostle's Creed, but the Nicean Creed, and there are some other prayers that the Western Rite does not have in its Mass, but is present, curiously, in the Chaplet of Mercy as was given to Sister Faustina in the 30's.

"Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us." (3X)

Several silent prayers that the priest usually says before the Cherubic Hymn and the reading of the Gospel are now recited also by the people. (The one by St John Chrysostom is particularly close to my heart)

"Oh Master, Lover of Mankind, infuse into our hearts the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom..."
(That's how it begins...it is SO beautiful!!!)

Anyway, I could go on, but those are basic differences we have.

Oh, one more thing I have to mention. During the reading of the gospel, sometimes people come to kneel at the feet of the priest.

Answer 4

"Catholic" means universal.

So, a Catholic is one who assents to the teaching of the bishops in union with the Bishop of Rome (the Pope). Together, this body is known as the Magesterium.

There are many Rites in Catholic belief. The vast majority of Catholics follow the Western, or Roman Rite.

However, there are other legitimate Rites within the Catholic (universal) Church.

There are Byzantine Rites, Alexandrian, Antiochean, Armenian, Chaldean, Ethiopian, Maronite, and others.

In North America, though, the terms are used interchangeably.

Answer 5

roman does not mean pagan it does mean roman and the Catholic church did make it's big start under Constantine of rome . Pagan comprised the largest conversion to the early church for various reasons but there were romans that were not pagans as well as the fact that many at one time were.
Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "an old country dweller, rustic") not necessarily Roman.One reason for the support of christianity by the emperor was to counter the surge of Persian influence in Rome.
Catholic does mean universal and on the other hand they consider it a direct line from Christ via the first Pope the rock or peter appointed by Jesus .

Answer 6

They aren't the same.

Roman Catholic refers to the Roman rite of the Church. There are others, such as Maronite, which follow the Pope, but have some different laws. Maronite rite priests are permitted to marry.

There is also the American Catholic church, which does not follow the Pope, and which permits homosexuality, even in clergy.

Answer 7

The word, "catholic", with a small c means universal.

Roman Catholic therefore is a contradiction in terms.

Usually when people say just the word, "Catholic", they mean "Roman Catholic".

Pastor Art

Answer 8

Catholic means universal, in religious terms it means the universal church. Many denominations use this term to mean the church or the apostolic age.

Roman Catholic is a specific denomination that has really nothing to do with the apostolic church age or the church that Jesus founded.

Hence they are not the same.

Answer 9

There a TON of See's. Man where is Father K when you need him. LOL

Answer 10

Same thing mate.