The Roman Catholic Church
"Catholic Church" and "Roman Catholic Church" are held not to be synonymous by those who are not members and who use the term "Roman Catholic Church" to imply that the Church in question is only the "Roman" section of a larger entity that they call "the Catholic Church" and that, in their view, also includes sections not in communion with Rome. And some who are members and who consider that communion with Rome is an essential element of the Church's identity apply the term "the Roman Catholic Church" not to the Church as a whole, but only to its Latin Rite component.[7] This contrasts with the terminology used by the highest authorities of the Church. Popes have treated "Catholic Church" and "Roman Catholic Church" as synonymous,[8] and official documents concerning dialogue between the Church and groups outside her fold repeatedly use the term of the whole Church, not just of the Latin-Rite part.[9]
The use of the adjective "Roman" in relation to the Church as a whole is explained as acknowledgement of the central role of the see or diocese of Rome for the entirety of the Church.
Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy
The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as the Assyrian Church of the East, each consider themselves to be the universal and true Catholic Church. In various permutations, these bodies typically regard each other and Catholics as heretical and as having thus left the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The patriarchs of these Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches are autocephalous hierarchs, which roughly means that each is independent of the direct oversight of another bishop, although still subject, according to their distinct traditions, either to the synod of bishops of each one’s jurisdiction, or to a common decision of the patriarchs of their own communion. They are willing to concede a primacy of honor to the Roman See, but not of authority, nor do they accept its claim to universal and immediate jurisdiction. This is similar to the position taken by the Lutheran World Federation, the Anglican Communion, and the Old Catholic Church. From the Roman Catholic Church point of view, all these are considered to be schismatic from the true faith.
Other Catholics and Anglicans
Within Western Christianity, the churches of the Anglican communion, the Old Catholics, the Liberal Catholic Church, the Aglipayans (Philippine Independent Church), the Polish National Catholic Church of America, and many Independent Catholic Churches, which emerged directly or indirectly from and have beliefs and practices largely similar to Latin Rite Catholicism, regard themselves as "Catholic" without full communion with the Bishop of Rome, whose claimed status and authority they reject. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, a division of the People's Republic of China's Religious Affairs Bureau exercising state supervision over mainland China's Catholics, holds a similar position.
Anglo Catholics
Introductory works on Anglicanism (such as Sykes' and Booty's The Study of Anglicanism, pp. 219 ff.) typically refer to the character of the Anglican tradition as "Catholic and Reformed," which is in keeping with the understanding of the Church articulated in the Elizabethan Settlement and in the works of the earliest standard Anglican divines such as Richard Hooker and Lancelot Andrewes. Yet different strains in Anglicanism, dating back to its earliest formation, have emphasized either the Protestant, Catholic, or "Reformed Catholic" nature of the movement.
Anglican theology and ecclesiology has thus come to be typically expressed in three distinct, yet sometimes overlapping manifestations: Anglo-Catholicism (or "high church"), "Evangelicalism" (or "low church"), and Latitudinarianism (or "broad church"), whose beliefs and practices fall somewhere between the two. Though all elements within the Anglican Communion recite the same creeds, evangelical Anglicans regard the word Catholic in the ideal sense given above. In contrast, Anglo-Catholics regard the communion as component of the Catholic Church, in spiritual and historical union with the Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, and several Eastern Churches. Broad Church Anglicans tend to maintain a mediating view, or consider the matter one of adiaphora.
The Catholic nature of the Anglican tradition is expressed doctrinally, ecumenically (chiefly through organisations such as the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission), ecclesiologically (through its episcopal governance and maintenance of the historical episcopate), and in liturgy and piety. Anglo-Catholics (and some Broad Church Anglicans) maintain credence in the Seven Sacraments, practice Marian devotion, recite the rosary and the angelus, practice Eucharistic adoration, and seek the intercession of saints. In terms of liturgy, Anglo-Catholic (and some Broad Church) Anglicans use candles, incense, and sanctus bells in the Eucharist, which is often referred to by the Latin-derived word "Mass," and celebrate it facing the altar and tabernacle using a priest, deacon, and subdeacon. Anglicans believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, albeit mostly in a consubstantiationist sense.
The growth of Anglo-Catholicism is strongly associated with the Oxford Movement of the nineteenth century. Two of its leading lights, John Henry Newman and Henry Edward Manning, both priests, ended up joining the Roman Catholic Church, becoming cardinals. Others, like John Keble, Edward Bouverie Pusey, and Charles Gore became influential figures in the Anglican Church. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is a patron of the Anglican organisation, Affirming Catholicism, a liberal Catholic movement within Anglicanism. Conservative Catholic groups also exist within the tradition, such as Forward in Faith.
Protestant churches
There are catholic groups among the Protestant churches. For example, High Church Lutheranism, developed a movement known as Neo-Lutheranism, and there is a Scoto-Catholic grouping within the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Such groups point to their churches' continuing adherence to the 'Catholic' doctrine of the early Church Councils. The Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland of 1921 define that church legally as 'part of the Holy Catholic or Universal Church'. However, the Roman Catholic Church does not accept that these other churches are Catholic as it views communion with the Bishop of Rome as being an indispensable part of what it means to be Catholic and a Church.
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