linguistic:translation, information:classification
Denominational interpretations

Many individual Christians and Christian denominations consider themselves "catholic" on the basis, in particular, of apostolic succession. They may be described as falling into five groups:

For some confessions listed under category 3, the self-affirmation refers to the belief in the ultimate unity of the universal church under one God and one Savior, rather than in one visibly unified institution (as with category 1, above). In this usage, "catholic" is sometimes written with a lower-case "c". The Western Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, stating "I believe in... one holy catholic... church", are recited in worship services. Among some denominations in category 3, "Christian" is substituted for "catholic" in order to denote the doctrine that the Christian Church is, at least ideally, undivided.

Protestant churches each have their own distinctive theological and ecclesiological notions of catholicity.