Catholic Church
Preserved but no longer current.
The entire body of Christians considered as a whole, as distin- guished from the Churches and sects into which it has divided. At the Reformation the Western Church was called by the Reformers the Roman Catholic Church, and the Estab- lished Church of England was called the "Protestant Church," or the "Reformed National Church." Many members of the Anglican Church still consider and call themselves Catholics.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Examples
Tatoeba sentence #678316 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Catholic Church” mean?
The entire body of Christians considered as a whole, as distin- guished from the Churches and sects into which it has divided. At the Reformation the Western Church was called by the Reformers the Roman Catholic Church, and the Estab- lished Church of England was called the "Protestant Church," or the "Reformed National Church." Many members of the Anglican Church still consider and call themselves Catholics.
Is “Catholic Church” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.