Question to Catholics about how your refer to yourself?

Question

Not slamming you at all just asking for clarification.
I was having a conversation with somebody recently , a Catholic acquaintance , and while speaking I referred to both of us as Christians and that person corrected me and said they prefer to be call Catholic not Christian. I thought Catholics are Christians and that the term Christian includes all those who profess Jesus Christ as their Savior, regardless of denomination. I am a Protestant so I have never really heard this. Can you please explain this to me? Thank you.

Answer 1

Christianity is the religion.. then you have your different denominations such as Catholics (which I am) Protestant, Lutherans etc. There are little differences between each denominations as well...

Answer 2

This is a difficult question to answer. Catholics are Christians because Christians believe Jesus is God and He is our Redeemer or Savior. So I guess Catholics should want to be called Christians. So maybe your friend was wrong and I apologize to you for that. However, as the others have already pointed out, recently many Protestant Christians call themselves only Christians. These Protestants have protested against the original teachings of the church established by Christ. So maybe your friend simply wanted to make it clear that he or she is not a Protestant Christian but a Catholic Christian. But to make it short, he or she just wants to be called Catholic. We are praying for the unity of the Christians so as much as possible it is best to focus on the similarities instead of the differences but it is also necessary to proclaim the absolute truths about God which never change. Truth never changes because what is wrong then, is still wrong now and what was correct then is still correct now so we have to be faithful to reality so that all may know the truth. But I think it is true that Catholics and Protestants are both Christian brothers and sisters so we should be working at unity because Christians have to love one another and "They Will Know That We are Christians by our Love... by our love... Yes they will know that we are Christians by our love." These are words of a famous Catholic song sang in many Churches when we were younger. God bless you.

Answer 3

I'm not a Catholic but I've heard some make the same statement. I know that conservative Catholics insist that the Catholic Church is the only acceptable Christian church so Catholic and Christian mean the same thing to them. Interestingly, many Protestant denominations version of the Apostles Creed has the phrase "the holy catholic church". In this usage "catholic" (lowercase) means "universal".

Answer 4

Catholics have a unique claim to being the original church established by Christ under the leadership of Peter - one who was hand picked by Christ despite his denial of Jesus before the crucifixion. Most of us are content with the title "Christian" since there is a general spirit of ecumenism, that is, a desire to see Christians united in faith rather than divided by petty differences. But some are proud of the unique status as the church established by Christ, and prefer Catholic over Christian.

Catholics are very much put down, however, for having extra-biblical beliefs. These beliefs are a part of the traditions of the church, traditions begun at its inception, when it was just forming the first Christian community. The believers met for the breaking of the bread, the sharing of the word, the singing of the psalms. These traditions are carried on daily within Catholicism, because Christ commanded it.

For a sincere, believing Catholic, faith is more than a profession. It is a way of life, a daily committment, and a solemn covenant. That's not to say that all Catholics think this way. There are many who think they have a birth right claim on salvation and do not follow the teachings of the Lord. But this is true within every fellowship of Christian believers and Jesus acknowledged this when he said many would cry "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name . . . " Matt. 7:22 to which he replied: "I never knew you."

Answer 5

You're Catholic acquaintance was speaking only for himself. I am a "cradle Catholic", which means baptised as a baby and following the religion all the way to my present age of 70. I am, like you, a Christian. Our religion was formed on a belief in the saving power of Jesus the Christ. Without Christ there would be no Catholicism. You're Protestant religion, or part of it was formed by Martin Luther, who had issues with some of the Catholic teachings of his day and his reason for leaving the Catholic Church was valid at least in my opinion.

You cannot be Catholic with believing in the Christ.

Answer 6

Catholics are Christians who practice the complete and authentic faith that was given to us by Jesus, and faithfully handed down to us by the apostles, for the purpose of our salvation.

The Catholic faith has been essentially the same for 2000 years ... something which cannot be authentically claimed by any other denomination, group, or government on earth ... Christian or not.

Most Christian groups accept only a small subset of Catholic beliefs and practices, and then they add or subtract from those things, according to their own particular faith tradition(s).

These same groups also typically give some sort of a name to their denomination, so they might be referred to as Baptists, or Presbyterians, or Pentecostals, etc.

Catholics remain the original Christians, and the distinctively complete and authentic form of Christian worship practiced by Catholics has been known as such, since about 107 AD, so it's only proper that Catholics describe themselves accurately ... if nothing else, to avoid scandal.

Answer 7

Most Catholics refer to themselves as Catholics. Christians are any denomination that believed in Christ or believes in Christ. The Roman Catholics since the beginning claimed to be the true religion. Maybe through her teachings that is what she has been led to believe. So to each his own. Remember , there are three things you cannot argue successfully, religion, politics and pretty babies, the latter because pretty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Answer 8

I am Catholic and I am also a Christian as a Christian is anyone believes that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Catholic is only the religion I participate in as it is closest to what I believe about God.

Answer 9

I am Catholic, and nine times out of ten refer to myself as a Christian...not as a Catholic. However, there are extremely devout Catholics that do not wish to be "lumped" into the same category with other Christians. The word "catholic" means universal...so it would stand to reason that most of us would prefer to be characterized as so. However, there are many Catholic teachings that stress that we maintain our differences from Protestants.
Catholicism is simply a branch of Christianity...just as Protestant is. However, there are many protestants that demand to be refered to as Baptist, Methodist...etc. due to the fact that while we all worship the Lord as our Savior, each denomination bases its teachings in a slightly different doctrine and fanatics and overly devouts of every religion will fight you that there way is the only way and most of those demand to be titled.

Answer 10

Although I cannot speak for someone else, this is how I feel.

If someone asked me what I believed about God I could truthfully say that I was:
+ A Theist
+ A Monotheist
+ A worshiper of the God of Abraham
+ A worshiper of the God of Moses
+ A worshiper of the God of Israel
+ A Christian
+ A Trinitarian

But telling someone that I am a Catholic says all of the above and more.

With love in Christ.

Answer 11

Klutes: most certainly catholics do not want to be mistaken as protestants. why pretend to be a catholic when your not.

catholics are christians. if asked i would simply say catholic. this means that i am a roman catholic christian in todays world. we are not a denomination. we are the Church that Jesus founded. most of us catholics naturally assume you other christians understand this...but it is obvious you dont. it is ridiculous to consider catholics other than christians.

your friend wanted to make that distinction clear. although he is christian he is not just any christian he is of the true christian church, the Catholic Church.

God bless