Don't say "The Church" when you mean the Clerical Leadership ("Hierarchy"), pope, bishops and priests!

THE BLOGGER IS USING "EQUIVOCATION" IN THE VERY SIMPLE SENSE OF "MISTAKE", OR MISTAKEN UNDERSTANDING, NOT IN ITS STRICTLY PHILOSOPHICAL OR "LOGIC" SENSE. 

HE INTENDS TO EXPLAIN COMPLEX OR CONTROVERSIAL RELIGIOUS [CHRISTIAN] ISSUES IN LAYMAN'S TERMS 

AND IN THE PROCESS 

CLARIFY SOME OF THE CATHOLIC/CHRISTIAN FAITH'S OBSCURE AREAS


Reporters, especially, are guilty of this MISTAKE, taking the part for the whole, as in

"Catholic Church in Brazil embroiled in sex scandal

VIDEO Three priests, aged 82, 52 and 43, are under investigation for allegedly having sex with teenage altar boys and young men. All three have been suspended"

What is meant is that 3 priests, members of the Catholic Clergy/Hierarchy are accused of pedophilia. It does not mean that all catholics are embroiled in this scandal, although they may be tainted by it to some degree because their clergy is screwing up(!)

It has become common terminology to say "Church" or "the Church" when we are referring to the clergy, the leadership, the hierarchy. Clarifying this concept can lead to further study, freedom, and perhaps more discussion!

Going back to something as orthodox as the Baltimore Catechism or even Vatican I [1870?] the hierarchy was never defined as "the Church". Vatican II, which some Catholic Conservatives consider too advanced, defined the Church as the People of God, underlining that all baptized people belong to, or are, The Church.
We, the people are "The Church"; those other guys we call "The Church" are the leadership, the clergy, a minority of the members. They have a lot of clout but they are the minority. They are the authority but not the example or the "holy ones"; the latter has always been called "saints".

From the staunchly Catholic "Catholic Encyclopedia"

The term church (Anglo-Saxon, cirice, circe; Modern German, Kirche; Swedish,Kyrka) is the name employed in the Teutonic languages to render the Greekekklesia (ecclesia), the term by which the New Testament writers denote the society founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The derivation of the word has been much debated. It is now agreed that it is derived from the Greek kyriakon(cyriacon), i.e. the Lord's house, a term which from the third century was used, as well as ekklesia, to signify a Christian place of worship. This, though the less usual expression, had apparently obtained currency among theTeutonic races. The Northern tribes had been accustomed to pillage theChristian churches of the empire, long before their own conversion. Hence, even prior to the arrival of the Saxons in Britain, their language had acquired words to designate some of the externals of the Christian religion.

The present article is arranged as follows:

• The term Ecclesia
• The Church in prophecy
• Its constitution by Christ; the Church after the Ascension
• Its organization by the Apostles
• The Church, a divine society
• The Church, the necessary means of salvation
• Visibility of the Church
• The principle of authority; infallibility; jurisdiction
• Members of the Church
• Indefectibility of the Church; continuity
• Universality of the Church; the "Branch" Theory
• Notes of the Church
• The Church, a perfect society
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• Of course, you know, the Church building is only "the Church" by extension, too, as the place where the Ecclesia, the Christians, meet for worship
• And....the definition given by the traditional Catholic Encyclopedia many not be the most enlightening. I prefer a more Biblical approach as distinct from the "theological" approach of the CE. 
• In general, I want to simplify the issues and heave as close as possible to the "Historical Jesus" and his teachings.