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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).


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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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


Etymology

Origin of Catholic Church

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He also hosted The Heaven and Earth Show and fronted documentaries including Absolute Truth, a four-part BBC Two series about the Catholic Church.

From BBC Jul. 20, 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

The group, known as SSPX, claims hundreds of thousands of followers and opposes many of the modernizing changes the Catholic Church adopted in the 1960s, including the end of the Latin Mass.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 2, 2026

Allen said more and more young people were taking an interest in the Catholic Church.

From Barron's Jun. 10, 2026

Despite the agreement, the Catholic Church suffered constant harassment from the Nazi Party.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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