Catholic Wedding Clergy

The History of the American Catholic Church - Diocese of California 

We are a growing community of faith which finds unity in the recognition and celebration of the diversity we have. We are an eclectic group of believers who know we will never have all the answers, but take great delight in asking the questions. Our ministries include both parishes as well as individual ministries often typical of members in Religious Orders. These individual ministries include, but are not limited to, hospice chaplaincies, ethic ministries, street ministries among homeless persons, as well spiriutal direction, pastoral care, parish ministries, counseling and psychotherapy services.

Our parish locations serve as the spiritual centers, not only for worship, but for many active ministries, not only enriching our common lives together, but also reach out to the surrounding community. We reach out to the GLBT community and those who are divorced and remarried particularly those with a Roman Catholic (Western - Latin Rite) tradition of faith, the unchurched and all in search of God.

Historically speaking, toward the end of the 16th Century, a conflict between sovereign states in Europe and the Roman See; the Vatican erupted, thus creating two opposing views with reference to the relationship between bishops and the Papacy. The first position stated that national churches have certain rights within the framework of the Papacy, such as electing of Bishops with approval of the Vatican. The second view maintained that the Pope is supreme in all local churches since he the Vicar of Christ on earth; local bishops are but the vicars of the Pope in each diocese. Chief advisors to the Pope began to question the loyalty of the Church of Utrecht, Holland, which had always elected its own Archbishop. The real issue was the right of national churches to administer their own affairs without hindrance from the Vatican. Pope Benedict XIII eventually deposed Archbishop Codde of Utrecht and replaced him. As a result, the Dutch Church broke communion with Rome and has maintained a separate existence since 1727. It is from the Church of Utrecht that the American Catholic Church Diocese of California derives her apostolic succession.

The second major epoch commenced from the time of the First Vatican Council during the 1860's. Pope Pius IX had previously proclaimed as "dogma", the opinion that the Blessed Virgin Mary had never been stained by Original Sin; hence her Immaculate Conception. Furthermore, Pope Pius IX advocated the promulgation of the "dogma" of Papal Infallibility, which was officially proclaimed in 1869, at that Council.

Our Succession

The American Catholic Church Diocese of California's understanding of the Church is based upon the principle, attested to in the Canons and Tradition of the Primitive Church, that each local community of the Faithful, gathered around Her Bishop and celebrating the Eucharist, is the local realization of the whole Body of Christ. "Where Christ is, there is the Catholic Church," (Ignatius of Antioch, c. AD 100).

In the office of the Bishop is the fullness of the priesthood; the presbyter (priest) and deacon have the right to exercise only a portion of the Bishop's responsibilities and duties--they cannot function at all unless they are canonically subject to a Catholic and Orthodox Bishop (from whom they derive their rights, powers and responsibilities and to whom they are accountable).

Regarding sacramental validity of the Holy Orders of Churches not in communion with the Roman Catholic Pontiff, it is to be noted that Pope Leo XIII, in the Bull Apostolicae Curae (1896), stated that, where an appropriate Sacramental minister performs the sacramental ritual using the correct matter and form, with no appearance of jest or simulation, he is presumed with moral certainty to have acted validly.

It is also to be noted that proper matter of the Sacrament of Holy Orders is considered to be "a properly disposed person" and we employ the ritual of the Roman Church in her ordinations thereby ensuring proper form.

We therefore share the same Apostolic Succession and Catholicity in essentials, albeit in some areas, dissenting concerning matters of conscience. If it is important to you, be assured that the Rome Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches recognize the validity of our Sacraments. This is clearly oblivious from the citations below:

At the Vatican on 16 June 2000, Pope John Paul II ratified and ordered the publication of "Dominus Iesus." This Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was signed and published by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) in August of the same year. In "Dominus Iesus" the Vatican states in part, "The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the [Roman] Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by Apostolic Succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches.

"Therefore, these separated Churches and communities as such ... have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church.

"Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the [Roman] Catholic Church..." IV. Unicity and Unity of the Church, 17

We therefore share the same Apostolic Succession and Catholicity in essentials, albeit in some areas, dissenting concerning matters of conscience. If it is important to you, be assured that Rome and the Orthodox Church recognizes the validity of our Sacraments.

Who We Are

What is the American Catholic Church?

We are an open and affirming community of faith who are  welcoming to all who are in search of the love of God supporting one another in our journey of faith.

We are one of many autocephalous (self-governing) churches within the tradition of the Old Catholic Church etablished in order to minister in the sacred, sacramental tradition of our Catholic heritage while offering a more personal, pastoral, approach and progressive ideology than that of the larger, and better known, forms of Catholicism. (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglo-Catholic.) We are a pilgrim Church, conscious of our time and place, journeying as a community in an ever-changing world. To this end, the Mission Statement of our church reflects our commitment to proclaiming compassion for all, the equal dignity of all, and the possibility for all persons to know and love God and their neighbor in a unique way. We are a community open to exploring new theological horizons while remaining grounded in the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic" tradition, and yet aware that God is too big to be contained or limited by human thought or organization.

We presently have priests or deacons serving in California, Nevada, Oregon and Florida. Many of our bi-vocational clergy are serving in parishes, while others serve in hospital, prison or hospice chaplaincies, as therapists, teachers or in other professional positions.

How Many Autocephalous (self-governing) Catholic Churches are There?

Those of the Old Catholic faith tradtion are estimated at approximately 230,000 people in the United States compared with 77 million Roman Catholics. However, in Europe, the Old Catholic Church is well known. Churches of the Old Catholic tradition are difficult to characterize, because beliefs range from liberal to conservative.

Self-governing Catholic churches have been in the United States since the beginning of the 20th century. The roots stem from the first Vatican Council in 1869-70, if not earlier. After the First Vatican Council, some Catholic leaders broke from Rome over the doctrine of papal infallibility.

The Old Catholic churches (sometimes referred to as Old Roman Catholics) in the U.S. are most often found in California, Chicago, Texas, Florida and New Mexico. There are more than 150 separate jurisdictions of autocephalous Catholic churches. 
 

In What Way Are You Catholic?

As members of the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,"  we preserve an Apostolic Succession of Bishops which is of unquestioned validity and which is derived from Rome through the Episcopacy of the Old Catholic Church, established after the First Vatican Council in 1870.  Other lines of succession extend from the African Orthodox Church deriving its succession from The Ancient See of St. Peter in Antioch, as well as through the Roman Catholic Church derived from the Igreja Catholica Apostolica Brasileria, The Chaldean Patriarchate, the Order of Corporate Reunion and L'Eglise Johannite des Chretiens Primitif's. In addition, lines also come from The See of St. Augustine at Canterbury and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.  As Catholic Christians, we celebrate the seven sacraments of the Church, and adhere to the essentials of Catholic doctrine and practice as these have been expressed in the traditional creeds of the Catholic Church, in various declarations, and in the doctrinal formulations of the Ecumenical Councils through to, and especially including Vatican II. We also listen for the Word of God responding to the movements of today's world, and look to see the action and call of the Spirit in the lives of those around us.

It is historically important to note that Old Catholic Churches were founded by Bishops at the time of Vatican I in the 1800s who could not accept the dogma of Papal Infallibility. Even though Old Catholics do not believe the Successor of Peter to be infallible, they do acknowledge the primacy of the Petrine Office and render respect due to the Bishop of Rome as well as to his authority when he speaks in union with the Catholic Bishops. The primacy (not supremacy) of the Holy Father (Pope) is the focus of Old Catholics. 

Those of the Old Catholic faith tradition have a deep love for  extensive Catholic traditions, and therefore permit use of the Sacramentaries for the Roman Church, the Orthodox Church and the Anglo-Catholic Churches, as well as nurture openness to liturgical development as laid out by Vatican II, especially around the issues of cultural sensitivity, that worship is indeed always "the work of the people."

So how are you different from other Catholics?

Even as we are grounded in the essentials of Catholic Faith and practice, we believe we can offer to the world a new and hopeful Catholicism, a renewed and open Church, which is committed to furthering the noblest aspirations of the human mind and heart. In keeping with our respect for the full human dignity of all persons as well as our desire to offer a more progressive approach to sacerdotal ministry, we welcome women and men, single, celibate, partnered and married persons into the clergy. We are committed to promoting a leadership of service rather than one characterized by domination and control. We see ourselves as a support and facilitator of the relationship between an individual and the Divine, rather than an intermediary. The American Catholic Church is not independent from or dependent on, but rather sees itself as interdependent with the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches, and Protestant faith communities.

How is the Church governed?

We maintain a collegial ecclesiastical structure which, while preserving the traditional orders of Church governance, allows for greater equality for a more democratic process, for diversity in unity and unity in diversity, and which allows the voice of the people to be heard. We are committed to an ecclesiastical policy which genuinely allows the laity to take their rightful place in the governments of the local and diocesan Church and which gives due respect to their gifts, to their intelligence, and to their human rights.

Is anyone welcome to your sacraments?

We are committed to creating communities which are inclusive on the basis not only of gender but also of age, race, ethnic background, sexual orientation, or physical disability. We seek to embrace and to reconcile, rather than to condemn and to alienate those whose circumstances have caused them to experience rejection by churches as well as by society at-large. Thus, in accordance with our general policy of ecumenical openness and of compassion for all our sisters and brothers in Christ, we do not withhold reception of the Sacraments from any qualified person who desires to receive them. In particular, we place no artificial barriers in the way of reception of the Sacrament of Baptism. Not wishing to impose  additional hardships upon those who are divorced, we consider that remarriage after divorce does not in itself constitute a barrier to the reception of any of the sacraments. We are also committed to providing the Sacrament of Matrimony to all couples who seriously seek it, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification.
 

Does the Roman Catholic Church Consider the Sacraments of Old Catholics as Valid?

Recognition
When members of the Roman Catholic Church encounter Old Catholic Churches for the first time, they are often surprised to learn that Catholic denominations exist apart from Rome. Understandably, questions are raised about the validity of Orders and Sacraments administered by Old Catholics.

We hope the following information will be helpful. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Dominus Iesus

At the Vatican on 16 June 2000, Pope John Paul II ratified and ordered the publication of Dominus Iesus. This Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was signed and published by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) in August of the same year.

In this Declaration, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes the validity of Orders and Sacraments of Old Catholic denominations:

"The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the [Roman] Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches."

"Therefore, these separated Churches and communities as such ... have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church." IV. Unicity and Unity of the Church, 17

Other Citations

Catholic Almanac – 1974

"The Roman Church recognizes the validity of Old Catholic Orders and other Sacraments." Felician A. Roy, OFM, p. 368)

The Pastoral Companion – A Canon Law Handbook for Catholic Ministry – Third Edition by John M. Huels,J.C.D. page 335

“The principal condition is that these sacraments can be received only from validly ordained ministers. These are ministers who belong to “churches that have preserved the substance of the Eucharistic teaching, the sacraments of orders, and apostolic succession” This would include all Eastern non - Catholic churches, the Polish National Church, Old Catholic, and Old Roman Catholic.

Separated Brothers and Sisters

"We have no reason to doubt that the Old Catholic Orders are valid. The Apostolic Succession does not depend on obedience to the See of Peter, but rather on the objective line of succession from Apostolic sources, the proper matter and form, and the proper intention ... likewise Old Catholic bishops are bishops in Apostolic Succession ... The Old Catholics, like the Orthodox, possess a valid priesthood." (William J. Whalan, pp. 204,248)

Rights and Responsibilities: A Catholic's Guide to the New Code of Canon Law
"When a Catholic sacred minister is unavailable and there is urgent spiritual necessity, Catholics may receive the Eucharist, penance, or anointing from sacred ministers of non-Catholic denominations whose Holy Orders are considered valid by the Catholic Church. This includes all Eastern Orthodox priests, as well as priests of the Old Catholic or Polish National Church." (Thomas P. Doyle, O.P., p. 44)