| My church used Form III of the Prayers of the People
yesterday. It includes the following line:
Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church;
What struck me about this line is the capitalization of the word
“catholic.” My understanding has been that “Catholic Church” usually
refers to the Roman Catholic Church, whereas “catholic Church” refers to
the whole body of Christ. This reference in the 1979 prayer book of The
Episcopal Church seemed odd, so I decided to investigate the use of
“catholic” in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP).
The table below provides information about every instance of
“catholic” in the 1979 BCP. “L” and “U” stand for “lowercase” and
“uppercase,” respectively. Duplicated lines in the table represent
multiple instances on the same page.
|
Page |
Location |
Phrase |
Case |
| 54 |
Morning Prayer I (Apostles’ Creed) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 66 |
Evening Prayer I (Apostles’ Creed) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 96 |
Morning Prayer II (Apostles’ Creed) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 120 |
Evening Prayer II (Apostles’ Creed) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 278 |
Good Friday (Solemn Collects) |
the holy Catholic Church of Christ |
U |
| 292 |
Easter Vigil (Introduction to
Renewal of Baptismal Vows) |
his holy Catholic Church |
U |
| 293 |
Easter Vigil (Renewal of Baptismal
Vows) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 304 |
Holy Baptism (Baptismal Covenant) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 310 |
Holy Baptism (For Reception) |
the one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 327 |
Holy Eucharist I (Nicene Creed) |
one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 328 |
Holy Eucharist I (variant of Nicene
Creed) |
one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church |
U |
| 359 |
Holy Eucharist II (Nicene Creed) |
one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 375 |
Holy Eucharist II (Eucharistic
Prayer D) |
your one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 387 |
Prayers of the People (Form III) |
your holy Catholic Church |
U |
| 416 |
Confirmation (Baptismal Covenant) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 418 |
Confirmation (For Reception) |
the one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 489 |
Burial I (Additional Prayers) |
the communion of the Catholic Church |
U |
| 496 |
Burial II (Apostles’ Creed) |
the holy catholic Church |
L |
| 504 |
Burial II (Additional Prayers) |
the communion of the Catholic Church |
U |
| 510 |
Ordination: Bishop (Preface to the
Ordination Rites) |
Christ’s holy catholic Church |
L |
| 510 |
Ordination: Bishop (Preface to the
Ordination Rites) |
Christ’s catholic Church |
L |
| 513 |
Ordination: Bishop (Presentation) |
the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church |
L |
| 520 |
Ordination: Bishop (Nicene Creed) |
one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 526 |
Ordination: Priest (Presentation) |
Christ’s holy catholic Church |
L |
| 530 |
Ordination: Priest (Nicene Creed) |
one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 538 |
Ordination: Deacon (Presentation) |
Christ’s holy catholic Church |
L |
| 542 |
Ordination: Deacon (Nicene Creed) |
one holy catholic and apostolic Church |
L |
| 816 |
Prayers (7. For the Church) |
thy holy Catholic Church |
U |
| 854 |
Catechism (The Church) |
one, holy, catholic, and apostolic |
L |
| 854 |
Catechism (The Church) |
catholic |
L |
| 854 |
Catechism (The Church) |
catholic |
L |
| 864 |
Historical Documents (Creed of
Saint Athanasius) |
the Catholic Faith |
U |
| 864 |
Historical Documents (Creed of
Saint Athanasius) |
the Catholic Faith |
U |
| 865 |
Historical Documents (Creed of
Saint Athanasius) |
the Catholic Religion |
U |
| 865 |
Historical Documents (Creed of
Saint Athanasius) |
the Catholic Faith |
U |
| 876 |
Historical Documents (Chicago
Quadrilateral) |
the Holy Catholic Church |
U |
| 877 |
Historical Documents (Chicago
Quadrilateral) |
the undivided Catholic Church |
U |
Observations
First, the raw statistics. The word “catholic” occurs 24 times with a
lowercase “c” and 13 times with an uppercase “c.” Of the capitalized
instances, 6 occur in the Historical Documents section of the BCP, and
one of those instances actually does refer to the Roman Catholic Church.
I will assume that the capitalized instances in Historical Documents
reflect, if not original documents, then at least traditional versions
of them.
Concentrating on the main body of the BCP and assuming that
“catholic” generally means something like “universal,” the 7 instances
of “Catholic” seem anomalous. There is no consistent usage here. For
example, in the Great Vigil of Easter, “catholic” appears capitalized on
one page and un-capitalized on the next. Holy Eucharist I offers two
versions of the Nicene Creed; the first has “catholic” in lowercase, but
the word is capitalized in the second. (The words of the alternative
form are taken from pp. 15–16 of the 1928 BCP. Many of the words
capitalized in the 1928 edition are in lowercase in the 1979 edition, so
it is unclear why the capitalization of “catholic” was retained. This
creed has an odd peculiarity, by the way. There is no “in” in the
formulation “I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church.” This follows
the usage, if not quite the spelling, of the 1662 Church of England BCP.
To me, at least, the clause is nonsensical.)
There does seem to be a tendency to capitalize “catholic” within
prayers. Why, I cannot say. (See pp. 278, 387, 489, 504, and 816.)
I am inclined to consider all instances of “Catholic” in the 1979 BCP,
excepting possibly those in Historical Documents, to be mistaken. In the
next edition of the prayer book, such instances, if they are copied,
should be rendered as “catholic.”
— LED, 12/28/2010 |
