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Being Catholic in the 21st Century

Are you aware that as we enter the 21st century that there is more than one way to be authentically catholic! There is not a single church that can claim exclusive title to the name "Catholic". Most notable of the Catholic churches is of course the "Roman Catholic Church". Other well known groups of Catholics are the Eastern Orthodox Churches, especially the: Greek, Russian and Egyptian (Coptic) Churches. Lesser known but increasingly more visible are the various national Catholic Churches such as the: Polish (based in the United States), German, Brazilian, Philippine, and American Churches. The article that follows will briefly look at the historical background of the "Old" Catholic faith, and discuss our distinctive differences, and present our communitie's mission as we see it.

(This document has been adapted from a booklet written by the Most Reverend Peter E. Hickman,
Bishop of Saint Matthew Church, located in Orange, CA), an Ecumenical Old Catholic Community.

Setting the Stage -- "The American Old Catholic Church"

We are a Catholic Christian community that is committed to the person of Jesus Christ and to His teaching.
We accept and believe the testimony of His apostles who were His first disciples and eye witnesses of His life, death, and resurrection from the dead. It was these same disciples that passed on to the church their own testimony about the person of Jesus and the events of His life. Embodied in their testimony are the very teachings of Jesus Himself.

THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION AND THE GOSPEL

We call this testimony of the first disciples the Apostolic Tradition. The word "tradition" is that which is passed on from one generation to another. The first disciples, whom we call apostles, proclaimed and taught the message of Jesus called the Gospel, which means Good News. Those who believed in the Good News were baptized and brought into a new community that was formed by the apostles. This community was called the Church. Within this community the Christians, as they came to be called, worshiped together, worked together, and took care of one another. They made every effort to follow the command of Jesus to love one another. The apostles gave to this community their testimony, the Apostolic Tradition, to be passed on to succeeding generations. It was their desire that the newly formed Church would not forget this tradition. As Saint Paul wrote, "So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by written letter." The Apostolic Tradition was passed on in the written letters of the apostles, which were collected into what we now call the New Testament. The Apostolic Traditions were also passed on by "word of mouth." This "oral tradition" is to be found in the community. The Liturgy, that is the Mass and the sacraments, embody both the written and oral traditions of the apostles.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

Within the Christian community people experience the very presence of God Himself. This presence of God is known as the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit that empowered the apostles so that they could continue the work of Jesus Christ in healing the sick and forgiving sins. Without the Holy Spirit there could not be an authentic Christian community.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

With the passing of time, the message of Jesus spread and the Church grew. Very early, the Church came to be called the Catholic Church. The word "catholic" means universal. What Christians meant when they used the term "catholic" was that Jesus Christ was universal; that the Church embodied those Christians who lived in Rome or Antioch, as well as those who lived in Jerusalem. It also meant that the Church included those Christians of the past as well as those of the present. In other words, the community founded by the apostles is one, continuous in both time and space.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EXPANDS

The Church quickly expanded across the known world: eastward into Russia and India, to the West across Europe as far as England. There is much legend surrounding Christianity coming to England, but there is solid historical evidence of an active Celtic, or English, Church even from the time of St. Paul and St. Peter. There were British bishops at the early Councils of the Church. The well-known St. Patrick was a British missionary to Ireland. Almost all of England was gradually christianized through various sources.

In 664 A.D., the various bishops of England voluntarily agreed to come together under the leadership of the Roman Pope, out of obedience to the King and to further unify the entire Catholic Church.

AND BRANCHES. . .

By the time the Catholic Church was about 1000 years old, disagreements among Christians of the East and Christians of the West caused the Church to virtually split in half. Each half of the Church claimed to be the one true Catholic and Apostolic Church. Most of the Eastern church became known as the Orthodox Church, and the Western church became the Roman Catholic Church; yet, all remained Catholic.

The leaders of the Orthodox Church were called Patriarchs and resided in the prominent cities of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constantinople. The Roman Catholic Church was lead by the Pope of Rome.

THE ISSUE OF EARLY CHURCH LEADERSHIP

One of the major disagreements that has caused the fractioning of the Catholic Church throughout her history, and was a major factor in the East-West rift, was the issue of Church leadership. Jesus commissioned His apostles to be the first leaders of His church. Before they died, they appointed others to lead the Church. These leaders were called bishops. This appointment was a sacrament called ordination. The Holy Apostles ordained the first bishops to be their successors. These bishops in turn ordained others to succeed them. This sacred line of leadership is called Apostolic Succession.

As the Church grew and developed, some bishops became more powerful than others. The bishops Rome acquired considerable influence. It was not long before the they began to call themselves Popes, and insisted they were the head of the entire Catholic Church and by Divine Right. Many bishops, particularly of the Eastern Church resisted the claim of the Roman bishops. This insistence finally provoked the first major rupture in the Catholic Church, which is now called the Great Schism of 1054.

THE REFORMATION

After the Great Schism, the Roman Catholic Church continued to develop in Western Europe. For the next 450 years, during the Middle Ages, the Popes consolidated their power and extended their influence over the Church and society. With the dawn of the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church was overladen with moral and political corruption. Many concerned religious leaders made efforts to reform the Church.

These efforts at reform became known collectively as the Reformation. Two very different reformations resulted from these tensions. One became known as the independent communities that became Old Catholic. They were called Old Catholics because they sought to turn the clock back and adhere to the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church prior to the various schisms.

Old Catholic communities derive their Apostolic Succession through the independent Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht. The Archbishop of Utrecht traces his Apostolic Succession back to the Holy Apostles. The Old Catholics have a valid line of succession, therefore, a valid priesthood with valid sacraments. This fact has never been denied by the Roman Catholic Church.

INDEPENDENT CATHOLICISM

Old Catholicism is closely related to other Catholic communities that became independent of Rome. These Catholic communities are growing throughout the world. There are over five million independent Catholics in Brazil and nearly three million in the Independent Catholic Church of the Philippines. Other Catholic communities of this movement are called by various names such as the National Polish Catholic Church, the American Old Catholic Church or the Old Roman Catholic Church, etc..

AN AUTHENTIC CATHOLIC COMMUNITY

To be an authentic Catholic community, a group must be able to trace its Apostolic Succession back to the original apostles. That same group must maintain a faithful adherence to the Gospel of Jesus as expressed through Apostolic Tradition. Finally, that group must actively participate in the sacramental ministry of the historic Catholic Church.

THE SACRAMENTAL MINISTRY

The American Old Catholic Communities are catholic because they participate in the sacramental ministry of the Church. The seven Sacraments of the historic Catholic Church are affirmed and practiced.

  1. Baptism - The first rite of initiation into the church which signifies the cleansing from sin. It opens the door to all the other sacraments.
  2. Confirmation - Through the anointing with oil and the laying on of hands, the bishop confers the Holy Spirit upon the Christian. In receiving the Spirit, the Christian is strengthened with the gifts he will need to take on an adult role in the Christian community.
  3. Holy Eucharist - The celebration through which we renew and participate in Christ's birth, sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. During this celebration we receive the actual Body and Blood of Christ, given to us in bread and wine for our spiritual nourishment.
  4. Reconciliation - Along with Catholic and other Christian communities, we acknowledge that a sincere prayer of sorrow to our God will bring the response of His forgiveness. We also believe that Christ left us a special sacrament which is a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ and His loving forgiveness. Also called the sacrament of reconciliation, Penance can be celebrated in two ways:

A. Individual absolution is usually preceded by a Christian's confession of personal sins. The priest's prayer of forgiveness or absolution is said for each sincere penitent, at which time the additional gift of grace is imparted.

B. General absolution is sacramental absolution, given once to a large number of people, especially when the number of penitents is too great to allow for individual confession of sins.

5. Sacrament of the Sick - Consists of the anointing of sick members of the Christian community with oil, and prayers for their healing and forgiveness. The effects of this sacrament are strength and peace for the Christian in the face of his illness, and physical healing and recovery according to God's will.

6. Marriage - A man and woman join their two lives together into one. This sacrament is administered by the two partners themselves, with the priest or deacon acting as a witness on behalf of God and the Church. The Holy Spirit breathes God's own love into the couple's love, so that each becomes a source of grace for the other.

7. Holy Orders - Is the sacrament through which the Church sets aside people for the special service of ministry to the Christian community. This sacramental act is called ordination. There are three ranks or major orders in the ministry of the Church. They are deacon, priest, and bishop.

DISTINCTIVES OF AMERICAN OLD CATHOLICS.

  1. Each Catholic is an equal part of the Church. Therefore, lay people are encouraged to play a prominent role in the Church.
  2. No Christian is excluded from the sacramental ministry. All baptized Christians are invited to participate in the worship and sacraments of the Church.
  3. Priests and bishops are permitted to marry.
  4. Women are encouraged to be more fully involved in the ministry of the Church. As Saint Paul writes, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
  5. Divorced people who remarry are able to be reconciled to the church through the grace of God and, therefore, are not excluded from the sacraments. Therefore, a divorced person may remarry with the blessing of the Church.
  6. Artificial contraception is an issue of conscience between husband, wife and God.
  7. The Catholics of our community do not accept the teaching of papal infallibility and, therefore, are independent of the pope's jurisdiction.

THE AMERICAN OLD CATHOLIC MISSION

The distinctive mission of the American Old Catholic Church is two-fold. The brief history surveyed in this writing serves to explain the particular call of the American Old Catholic Church to bear witness to, and be a living active example of, the essential spiritual unity that exists among all the branches of Catholicism.

We see our mission:

1. King of Glory Catholic Fellowship will be first and foremost, deedicated to the service our Lord Jesus Christ by following his command to love God and our neighbors above all else. We will demonstrate our love by:

  • worshiping Him in spirit and in truth;
  • supporting existing charities where appropriate;
  • creating a community outreach program for charitable work within our community;
  • encouraging hospital and jail ministry.

2. King of Glory Catholic Fellowship will be an authentic Catholic faith community by following apostolic, liturgical and sacramental traditions faithful to the teachings of the church fathers and the first seven eccumenical councils.

3. King of Glory Catholic Fellowship will be an Evangelical community in that:

  • we will boldly proclaim the "Good News" of Christ's salvation to the world;
  • our primary ministry will be to reach out to the un-churched people of our area;
  • we will also have special heart and ministry for the many people who for some reason have felt excluded or abandoned by other churches. This would include individules who through some impediment such as divorce and remarriage or other issues of concience are no longer able to receive the sacraments in the churches of their baptism;
  • we will encourage all members to become active in ministry service.

 

Appendix I

Appendix II

Old Catholic-several groups, including: (1) the Church of Utrecht, which severed relations with Rome in 1724; (2) The National Polish Church in the U.S., which has its origin near the end of the 19th century; (3) German, Austrian and Swiss Old Catholics, who broke away from union with Rome following the First Vatican Council in 1870 because they objected to the dogma of papal infallibility.

The formation of the Old Catholic communion of Germans, Austrians and Swiss began in 1870 at a public meeting held in Nuremberg under the leadership of A. Dolinger. Four years later episcopal succession was established with ordination of an Old Catholic German bishop by a prelate of the Church of Utrecht. In line with the "Declaration of Utrecht" of 1889, they accept the first seven ecumenical councils and doctrine formulated before 1054, but reject communion with the pope and a number of other Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. They have a valid priesthood and valid sacraments. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church notes that they have recognized Anglican ordinations since 1925, that they have full communion with the Church of England since 1932, and have taken part in ordination of Anglican Bishops.

A reference from the Old Catholic Movement from:

1978 CATHOLIC VISITOR, INC.

published with Ecclesiastical Approval

Published,

OUR SUNDAY VISITOR, INC.

Huntington, Indiana 46750

(Which is an official publication of the Roman Catholic Church)