Roman Catholic (term)

Roman Catholic is a term mainly used to differentiate members of the Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope (of the See of Rome) from other Christians, especially those who also self-identify as "Catholic". "Catholic" is one of the Four Marks of the Church set out in the Nicene Creed, a statement of belief accepted by members of many denominations some of which assert belief in an invisible form of "Christian Church" analogous to branch theory and Protestant ecclesiology. Comparable terms exist in other languages.

While the term "Roman", as in the "Roman Church", has been attested since the Middle Ages – often connoting the local particular church of the Diocese of Rome – the first known occurrence of "Roman Catholic" as a synonym for "Catholic Church" was in communication with the Armenian Apostolic Church in 1208, after the East–West Schism.

Following the pejorative term "papist", attested in English since 1534, the terms "Popish Catholic" and "Romish Catholic" came into use during the Protestant Reformation. During the 17th century, "Roman Catholic Church" was often used as a synonym for the Catholic Church, especially where Protestants and Anglicans dominated demographically. Although its usage has since changed over the centuries, the name has continued to be widely used in English-speaking countries, including the United States. By 1900, U.S. Catholics numbered 12 million, with a predominantly Irish clergy. Accordingly, they had an arguably more influential voice than the recusants in the United Kingdom, and objected to what they considered the reproachful terms "Popish" and "Romish", preferring the term "Roman Catholic" rather than the former.

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