CATHOLIC LETTERS. — Title attributed to seven apostolic writings which, in current editions of the New Testament, follow the fourteen letters of St. Paul and are arranged in this order: one of James, two of Peter, three of John, one of Jude. In the ancient Greek codices of the fourth century (Vatican and Sinaitic), these letters are transcribed before the Pauline ones. In the canons of the Councils of Florence and Trent, Peter has precedence; however, in the Clementine Vulgate, James stands first. This arrangement, in use among Eastern writers and brought to the West by St. Jerome, is probably due to the fact that in the Epistle to the Galatians (2:9) the names of the Apostles are arranged in this order: «James, Cephas, John». It could also derive from the chronological priority of James’s writing.
The meaning of the title «C. l.» is debated. Most commentators hold that it means «universal». Indeed, taken as a whole, these letters have a broader destination than the Pauline writings. The II and III of John are indeed addressed respectively to a Church (called the Chosen Lady) and to an individual (Gaius), but these brief writings may be regarded as appendices to I John, which from the context appears to have been addressed to the environment for which the Fourth Gospel was written (Asia Minor). According to others, the title «c.» would be synonymous with «canonical». It would indicate that these writings are received by the Catholic Church. In this sense, a controversial expression in the Muratorian Fragment could be interpreted: «Epistola sane Iudae et superscripti (o superscriptae) Iohannis duae in Catholica habentur» (lines 68–69). Cassiodorus calls our seven letters «c.» (PL 70, 1126). St. Bede calls them indifferently canonical or «c.» (PL 93, 9).
The canonicity of five of these letters was subject to doubt during the first three centuries. Eusebius lists only two (I Peter and I John) among the writings homologoimenoi (admitted by all), classifies the others among the antilegomenoi (disputed), though recognized by the majority (Hist. eccl., III, 25; PG 20, 269). In the fourth century there was morally unanimous agreement in favor of the canonicity of all of them. For particular questions, V. JAMES; PETER; JOHN; JUDE.