Definition

Noun: * Catholicism: The Christian religion that has the Pope as its head, with its beliefs, practices, and global community. It is one of the major branches of Christianity.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ông ấy theo đạo Công giáo từ nhỏ. (He has been a Catholic since he was a child.)
  • Nhà thờ này là một công trình kiến trúc tiêu biểu của Công giáo. (This church is a representative architectural work of Catholicism.)
  • Nhiều lễ hội Công giáo được tổ chức long trọng. (Many Catholic festivals are solemnly celebrated.)

Advanced Usage

• "tín đồ Công giáo" / "người Công giáo": A Catholic believer; a Catholic person.
  • Các tín đồ Công giáo đi lễ vào Chủ nhật. (Catholic believers go to mass on Sundays.)
• "giáo lý Công giáo": Catholic doctrine/teachings.
  • Giáo lý Công giáo dựa trên Kinh Thánh. (Catholic doctrine is based on the Bible.)

Variants and Related Words

• Công giáo Rô-ma (Roman Catholicism): The specific term for the largest Christian church, in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the Pope). Often used interchangeably with "Công giáo" in Vietnamese.
• Thiên Chúa giáo (Christianity): A broader term encompassing all Christian denominations, including Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy. "Công giáo" is a subset of "Thiên Chúa giáo".
• Đạo Công giáo: Another way to say "the Catholic religion/faith".
• Công giáo (adjective): When used attributively to describe a noun.
  • giáo xứ Công giáo (Catholic parish)
  • trường học Công giáo (Catholic school)

Synonyms

• Đạo Thiên Chúa (The Christian religion): A general synonym, but can be ambiguous as it may also refer to Christianity as a whole.
• Đạo Gia-tô (An older, less common term for Catholicism): This term is derived from "Giê-su" (Jesus) and is considered somewhat archaic.

Notes on Meaning

• The word "Công giáo" is a Sino-Vietnamese term (Hán Việt: 公教), where "công" (公) means "universal" or "public", and "giáo" (教) means "religion" or "teaching". It directly translates the term "Catholic", which comes from the Greek word (καθολικός), meaning "universal".
• In Vietnam, it is crucial to distinguish Công giáo (Catholicism) from Tin Lành (Protestantism), as both are branches of Thiên Chúa giáo (Christianity). They are different denominations with distinct practices and structures.

noun

1. catholicism