ROMAN CATHOLIC AND CATHOLIC [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—In your note appended to the Rev. H. Kennedy's letter, in which he asked for more accuracy in your special corre- spondent's description of different churches, you remark that your correspondent wrote "the Roman Catholic Church" in his first sentence. You add that therefore the use of " Catholic " for the sake of brevity in subsequent references "could hardly give rise to misunderstanding." -
It seems to me, however, that the risk of misunderstanding ought to be more carefully and consistently avoided. There are many branches of the Christian Church which are not Roman and which yet rightly claim to be Catholic. For example, the Church of Scotland (of which I am a minister) is Reformed and Presbyterian ; yet in its Articles of Con- stitution (192;9) it claims to be a "branch of the Catholic Church."
In the Chtirch of England also there are-great numbers of clergy and laity who are not of the "Anglo-Catholic" party, but who nevertheless rightly deem themselves to belong to a branch of the Catholic or Universal Church. The assumption of the appellation " Catholic " by "Anglo-Catholics " as a kind of monopoly in England (shared perhaps with the Roman Communion) is not in accordance with fact and should never be admitted by other branches of the Holy Catholic Church, Protestant and Reformed.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
ROBERT M. ADAMSON, D.D.
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