What does the word ‘Catholic’ mean to you?

The term “Catholic”, whether or not the big ‘C’ is used, means, “universal”. The Church founded by Jesus Christ has always been “Catholic” because the mandate he gave to His followers was to, “Go and make disciples of all the nations and baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28,19) and so to, “proclaim the Good News to the whole world” (Mk 16,15).

The second reason why the Church is “Catholic” is because Christ is present in the Church. A well-known phrase of St Ignatius of Antioch (d. c.107AD) is, “Where there is Jesus Christ, there is the Catholic Church”. Jesus assures us that he will be with us, “until the end of time” (Mt 28,20), and so it stands to reason that He is present in the Church He founded. Since Christ founded the Church on St Peter, the “Rock” on which “I will build my Church” (Mt 16,18), the term “Catholic” therefore refers specifically to those Christians who see the Pope as the visible successor of Peter.

The unity among Christians with the Pope (a unity which can indeed be seen as “Catholic”) is realised at the local level – in the “particular churches” (cfr Catechism of the Catholic Church, 834) which express their loyalty to and love for the Church at Rome, which has always “presided in charity” (cfr CCC 834). So although the universality of the Catholic Church stretches throughout the world, that same catholicity is expressed in different ways when she “puts down her roots” in different areas and cultures.

St Peter’s task – along with that of the other apostles, of St Paul and of the other members of the early Church – was to bring the message of salvation to the ends of the earth (St Paul, for example, went on three extensive missionary journeys). So we can say that the mission of the Catholic Church is to be “catholic” as well as “Catholic”.