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

See Examples For:

Catholic Church

Tan, who said alleged possessions are often accompanied by symptoms of psychosis, insisted Philippine psychiatrists were not seeking to "compete with the Catholic Church", but rather to bridge the gap between culture and science.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

Physically and spiritually, San Juan Capistrano is centered around its mission, one of 21 established by the Catholic Church under the Spanish crown in the 18th and 19th centuries, forming the scaffold of modern-day California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Although Pope Benedict XVI repealed the excommunication in 2009 in an unsuccessful attempt to heal the rift, Pope Leo is also expected to exclude the new bishops from the Catholic Church.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Antiqua et Nova, a doctrinal note of the Catholic Church published in January of 2025, uses the term “human person.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 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