Catholic Church

American  

noun

Roman Catholic Church.

1. a visible society of baptized Christians professing the same faith under the authority of the invisible head (Christ) and the authority of the visible head (the pope and the bishops in communion with him).

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Catholic Church British  

noun

1. short for Roman Catholic Church

2. any of several Churches claiming to have maintained continuity with the ancient and undivided Church

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Catholic Church Cultural  

1. A common abbreviation for the name of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Etymology

Origin of Catholic Church

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

As Chesnut noted, UFOs-as-demons is actually an evangelical idea from the 1950s and ’60s, and not something the Catholic Church has ever meddled in.

From Slate • Jun. 8, 2026

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government and the Catholic Church in Spain signed an agreement in March to compensate victims, after years of reticence and opacity from the Church hierarchy.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

Sanchez's government and the Catholic Church in Spain signed an agreement in March to compensate victims after years of complaints that religious leaders had failed to tackle the issue adequately.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered $100 million in humanitarian aid, to be distributed by the Catholic Church, and free satellite-internet service for Cubans.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

My Aunt Libby had broken away from the Catholic Church at the same time my mother did, but then she'd fallen in love with an Italian Catholic, so she'd gone back again.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath