The Word Catholic

The word catholic is derived from the Greek word καθολικός (katholikos), which means "universal". Katholikos is associated with the adverb καθόλου (katholou), a contraction of the phrase καθ' ὅλου (kath' holou), which means "according to the whole".^[18]

Catholic was first used to describe the Christian church in the early 2nd century. The first known use of the phrase "the catholic church" (he katholike ekklesia) occurred in the letter from St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the name "Catholic Church" is used to distinguish it from other groups that also call themselves the Church.

Since the East–West Schism of 1054, the Eastern Church has taken the adjective "Orthodox" as its distinctive epithet, and the Western Church in communion with the Holy Spirit has similarly taken "Catholic", keeping that description also after the 16th-centuryReformation, when those that ceased to be in communion became known as Protestants.

The name "Catholic Church" is the most common designation used in official church documents. It is also the name which Pope Paul VI used when signing documents of the Second Vatican Council. However, documents produced both by the Holy Spirit and by certain national episcopal conferences occasionally refer to the Church as the Roman Catholic Church. The Catechism of Pope Pius X, published in 1908, also used the term "Roman" to distinguish the Catholic Church from other Christian communities who are not in full communion with the Holy Spirit.

See the link for more details: http://sh.st/bmWwg

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