The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (508 page)

(Gk., katholikos, ‘universal’). A term used variously with reference to Christian belief and institutions.

1. Most generally, of the
Church
in the whole world, as distinct from local congregations.
2. Especially in historical writers, of the great body of Christians in communion with the major sees and not divided by
heresy
or
schism
.
3. Of churches, institutions, and doctrines which claim as their basis a continuous tradition of faith and practice from the
apostles
—the claim is contrasted with
Protestant
appeals to the
Bible
alone. See also
ANGLOCATHOLICS
.
4. As a synonym for
Roman Catholic
; it then applies to all churches, including the
Uniat churches
, in communion with the bishop of Rome. See also
OLD CATHOLICS
.

 
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Catholic Action
.

The organization of nonclerical members of the
Roman Catholic Church
for apostolic action. It was defined by Pius XI in 1922 as ‘the participation of laymen in the hierarchical apostolate’.

 
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Catholic Apostolic Church
.

A Christian denomination founded in 1832 by followers of Edward Irving, and so also called Irvingites. Irving was a Church of Scotland pastor (expelled in 1833) and exponent of
millennarianism
and of the gift of tongues (
glossolalia
). The new church sought to re-establish a biblical church order with ‘apostles’, ‘prophets’, and ‘evangelists’, as well as, later, a local ministry of ‘angels’ (bishops), priests, and deacons. The substantial church built in Gordon Square, London (1853) became the Anglican chaplaincy to Univ. of London. See also
NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH
.

 
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Catholic Israel
(Jewish ecumenical concept)
:

see
KENESET YISRAEL
.

 
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(Gk.,
katholikos
). A title of the
patriarchs
of the
Church
of the East, the
Armenian Orthodox Church
, and the
Georgian Church
.

 
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(1675–1751).
French
Jesuit
and ascetic writer. His principal work is
Abandonment to the Divine Providence
. His teaching can be crystallized in his phrase ‘the sacrament of the present moment’, through which our will is to be united to God's at every moment through abandonment to, and trust in, God.

 
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