Catholicism

:This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. See Catholicism (disambiguation) for alternative meanings

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Catholicism has two main ecclesiastical meanings, described in Webster's Dictionary as: a) "the whole orthodox Christian church, or adherence thereto"; and b) "the doctrines or faith of the Roman Catholic church, or adherence thereto." 1

Related Topics:
Ecclesiastical - Webster's Dictionary - Roman Catholic church - ¹

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The term comes from the Greek adjective καθολικός -ή -όν (katholikos), meaning "general" or "universal". In Greek, the word for "church" is feminine and takes the feminine form of the adjective, viz.: {{polytonic|ἡ Καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία}}.

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