What is the True Catholic Church?

Today, the word “catholic” is usually associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Because of this, many Christians are suspicious about early Christian documents which contain the word “catholic”. However, this should not be the case.

The term “catholic” means “general” or “universal”. By definition, the Catholic Church is the community of all Christians around the world. If a local church teaches the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, then it is part of the true Catholic or “Universal” Church—regardless of which denomination it belongs to.

However, the Roman Catholic Church teaches false teachings which contradict the true Gospel. Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church is not part of the true Catholic Church. For this reason, we should never call it the “Catholic Church”. Instead, we should always call it the Roman Catholic Church.