3 FEBRUARY 1950, Page 5

Controversy about the terms " Catholic " and "Roman Catholic"

has spread to Canada, where the fact that the article which opened a long discussion in The Times recently was headed "Catholicism Today" is regarded as significant. It may or may not have been, but in plain fact the distinction between the two terms, so far as the Press is concerned, is more often literary or typographical than ecclesiastical. In the narrow newspaper column of today " Catholic " fits into the scheme of things better than the longer term ; and in writing the constant repetition of "Roman Catholic" becomes cumbrous. Many writers think it well, in their first reference to Roman Catholics, to speak of then' as such ; after that "Catholics" may be held sufficient.