Why are you called Roman Catholic?

Answer 1

The word 'catholic' means 'universal', so the catholic church (catholic with a small 'c') means the universal church of Jesus Christ - ie all Christian churches throughout the world, including protestant churches like Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostals, Anglicans and so on.

However, the Roman Catholic Church is so called because it has its base in Rome, Italy, in the independent state (the smallest country in the world) within Rome called the Vatican City. The Pope, who is the leader of the world's Roman Catholics, lives at the Vatican City, so as this is in Rome, this particular branch of the universal/catholic Church is called the Roman Catholic Church (Catholic now with a capital 'C') because of its roots being in Rome.

.

Catholic Answer

It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church. In other words, Catholics are only called Roman Catholics in English speaking countries by people (including Catholics) who don't know that it was intended as a slur, or are confusing their Rite with their religion.

Answer 2

I am a Catholic, I am only called a Roman Catholic by those who do not know any better. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is rarely used by the Catholic Church.