Well, it's the Roman Catholic churches who put the title on their sign boards out front of their buildings.
When they are up there for years, you can hardly blame anyone for calling the Catholic church the *Roman Catholic church*.
Also, the EO disagree on significant points of doctrine, and sometimes the term *Roman Catholic* is used to specify that it is the Roman rite that is being discussed.
When they are up there for years, you can hardly blame anyone for calling the Catholic church the *Roman Catholic church*.
I did not blame anyone for this confusion, nor would I, as it is quite common.
In fact, I would not have raised the issue but for a commenter asking why the "RCC" called itself the "Roman Catholic Church", to which it is both correct and, I would say, conducive to the discussion to point out that the Catholic Church calls itself the Catholic Church, and not the "Roman Catholic Church."
sometimes the term *Roman Catholic* is used to specify that it is the Roman rite that is being discussed
That is correct. And it's also why individual parish churches put the title Roman on their signboards, to specify that they offer Mass in the Roman rite.
Maronite parishes of the Catholic Church will put Maronite Catholic Church on their signboards, to specify their specific rite, but to be clear they are fully part of the worldwide Catholic Church.
As an aside, this Wikpedia article on this subject is surprisingly clear:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Catholic_rites_and_churches