Acts 9:31 - Catholic Church?

Fr. Abraham Arganiosa (Fr. Abe) of the Splendor of the Church blog argued that the words "Catholic Church" is found in the Bible:

ANG CATHOLIC CHURCH AY MAKIKITA HINDI SA TAGALOG BIBLE KUNDI SA GREEK BIBLE. BASAHIN MO ANG ACTS 9:31 IN GREEK DUON NAKASULAT ANG "EKKLESIA KATH'OLES".
[Translation: The Catholic Church can be found not in the Tagalog Bible but in the Greek Bible. Read Acts 9:31 in Greek, there you will find "Ekklesia Kath'oles]

We know that argument such as these are in the form of bragging rights of some religions asserting that the name of their church can be found in the Bible. You may have heard how the names "Iglesia ni Cristo", "Ang Dating Daan", and "Church of God", are quoted by their respective members to boast that they are the true church because their names are arguably biblical. For the above instance, the name Catholic Church is asserted to be found in the Greek rendition of Acts 9:31 in some sort of a derivation from "Ekklesia Kath'oles".

In fairness to Fr. Abe, the words Ekklesia Kath'oles do appear together in Acts 9:31:


However when one reads it, especially translating it to English, you will not be able to interpret it as Catholic Church. Let's see how does a Catholic version of the Bible renders it:

Now the church had peace throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria; and was edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the consolation of the Holy Ghost. (Douay Rheims)

What was throughout all (kath holEs) Judea, etc. is peace. This peace was being experienced by the church (ecclesia). It does not read as "the Catholic Church had peace throughout all Judea..." because there is only one kath holEs in the verse.

Fr. Abe is misleading his readers here due to what is seemingly convenient positioning of Greek words. Probably he has forgotten about analyzing the words within their context.

Yes, we also believe that the church can be called Catholic Church for it welcomes people from all nations, races, age, gender, and status; therefore, it is a universal church. The title is not its official name but it nevertheless describes the church. However, this is not to mean that the Catholic Church we are speaking of is the Roman Catholic Church as we know it today.

Postscript:

It came to my attention that there are versions of the Bible which translate Acts 9:31 as, "the church throughout (ecclessia katholes) all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace..." The thought of the context still remains even if it were to be translated this way: Throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace...