Dear Cammy:

The first time the term "Catholic" was used as a name of the Church was in approximately A.D. 107 by St. Ignatius of Antioch. There was not need, however, to refer to the Church as anything but the Christian Church back then as there were no other churches other than the Catholic Church at the time.

When the big schism took place between the eastern and western churches in 1054 the Western Church was called the "Catholic" Church and the eastern Church was called the "Orthodox" Church. But, since these two Churches were separated by geography each referred to themselves as "the Church" or the "Christian Church".

It was not until the Great Rebellion of Martin Luther, et. al. that adjectives were needed to identify which church was which (e.g., Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church, Baptist Church, etc.).

The term "Roman" Catholic, however, was a term of insult used by the Church of England. King Henry split from the Catholic Church because the Church would not allow him to divorce. He formed the Church of England, but the Church of England still wanted to call itself "Catholic". So, to differentiate themselves from the true Catholic Church, they referred to the Catholic Church under the Bishop of Rome as the "Roman" Catholic Church.

The name stuck since the Catholic Church is under the Bishop of Rome.

The proper name for the Catholic Church, however, is "Catholic Church". All other groups with "Catholic" in their name are disingenuous and deceptive as the only "catholic" church (that is, "universal" church) on the planet is the Catholic Church under the Pope. No other "church" is actually universal).

The Catholic Church is truly universal as it has within it traditions that span the globe. It is not just one tradition that gets spread around the globe as with the various Protestant groups, nor is it merely a national or ethnic Church like the Orthodox.

The Catholic Church is truly universal with six major "Rites" and various other "subgroups" within those Rites, totally 26 rites and subgroups. A "rite" refers to a liturgical tradition. The largest rite is the Roman Rite which is a subgroup of the Latin Church.

The six primary liturgical traditions and their subgroups are:

1. Latin Church
   Roman, Ambrosian, Mozarabic, Dominican, Carmelite, and Carthusian (the Dominican, Carmelite and Carthusian have now adopted the Roman)
   
   
2. Byzantine Church
   14 sub-groups: Albanian, Bulgarian, Byelorussian, Georgian, Greek, Italo-Albanian, Melkite, Hungarian, Russian, Ruthenian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Yugoslav, Slovak
   
   
3. Alexandrian Church
   Coptic (Egypt), Ethiopian (Abyssinian)
   
   
4. Antichene Church
   East Syrian: Chaldian (Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Americas) and Syro-Malabarese (India)
   
   West Syrian: Malankarese (India), Maronite (worldwide, but mainly in Lebanon), Syrian (Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, Turkey)
   
   
5. Armenian Church (Near East, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Americas, Australia)
   
   
6. Malabar Church (Southwest India)

All these are Catholic Churches. The Orthodox Churches, some of which have similar names, are not Catholic Churches.

Because of all these Rites of the Catholic Church, the Church is not just "Roman". The Roman Rite is one of many rites in the Church. It is the largest Rite, but only one of many.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary