The first known use of “Catholic” appears in a letter from St. Ignatius of Antioch, written in 110 A.D. In the midst of a discourse on bishops, St. Ignatius says: “Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
After using the word “Catholic,” he does not go on to define just what he means, so it seems clear that the term was already known and understood, at least by the recipients of his letter.
Other early epistles—written after St. Ignatius’s letter—which include the term all apply it in the same manner, showing that the precise meaning of “Catholic” in the early Church was agreed upon by all.
It was understood to refer to all those who kept the Faith as deposited by Christ through the Apostles. It encompassed the Faith already spread physically throughout the known world—a Faith meant not just for a few special elites, but for every single person born into the world.
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