The word “catholic” is both
proper and common.
The proper noun “Catholic” refers
to a Christian who is a member of the Catholic Church. “Catholic” in Catholic Church is an adjective.
The common “catholic” means
varied, versatile, broad-minded, etc.
For example, He is a man of catholic tastes. The statement means he is a man of varied
tastes, i.e., he likes a lot of things.
“He is catholic in his ways”
does not mean he is Christian or that the uppercase Catholic is demoted to
lowercase catholic. The statement simply
means he is versatile and has nothing to do with faith or religion.
The common “catholic” is
commonly seen in biology/zoology treatises where some animals are described as
having catholic ways or catholic eating habits, i.e., these animals are not
exclusively herbivorous or carnivorous, etc.
