Note 143 — Chapter II
Neil Buchanan translation
Footnote 143:
(return)
The expression "Catholic Church" appears first in Ignatius (ad Smyrn. VIII. 2): 'οπου αν φανηι 'ο επισκοπος, εκει το πληθος εστο; 'ωσπερ 'οπου αν η Χριστος Ιησους, εκει 'η καθολικη εκκλησια. But in this passage these words do not yet express a new conception of the Church, which represents her as an empirical commonwealth. Only the individual earthly communities exist empirically, and the universal, i.e., the whole Church, occupies the same position towards these as the bishops of the individual communities do towards the Lord. The epithet "καθολικος" does not of itself imply any secularisation of the idea of the Church.