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On the varieties of Catholicism

From The Christian Century: Catholics without popes by Julie Byrne

On February 11, comedian Stephen Colbert asked historian Garry Wills if he was in favor of the next pope being not John Paul III or Benedict XVII but “Nobody the First.” Wills smiled and said, “Ah, very good idea.”

For some Catholics, this idea is more than a joke. For them, the question is not who should be the next pope. It’s whether there is or should be a pope at all.

With the retirement of Benedict XVI, the seat of Peter is empty—sede vacante. But for Catholics past and present, the papacy is only one possible center of faith. A wider look at Catholic history—wider than media obsessions during the conclave—shows that the pope’s centrality has long been a highly contested topic.

Official papal theology about itself has long put the pope at the center.

As the 16th-century Protestant Reformation and the 18th-century French Revolution unfolded, popes theorized that the strongest church was the most centralized church. Protestant denominations proliferated, and ancient monarchies toppled. But if one pope stood above all nation-states, Roman Catholicism would thrive.

The 1870-71 council of Vatican I made papal infallibility a doctrine, but voting was a hotly contested matter:

A straw poll showed that approximately 10 percent of the bishops opposed papal infallibility.

Before the final vote, about 60 prelates left Rome rather than defy the Vatican.
Not all local priests and parishes were ready to give in. In Germany and Austria, a new body arose called the Old Catholic Church. It patterned itself on another Catholicism—eastern Orthodoxy—and established leadership by a council of bishops. Almost immediately it celebrated mass in the vernacular. Within several decades, its priests could marry.

Eminent Catholic theologian Hans Küng—who recently hoped in the pages of the New York Times for a “Vatican Spring”—writes that Old Catholicism “continues to be Catholic but is Rome-free.” Doctrinally ancient but also modern, Küng says, “this little bold and ecumenically open Old Catholic Church from the beginning anticipated reforms of the Second Vatican Council.”

Today, Old Catholicism has churches in ten countries from the Netherlands to Croatia. It ordains women and is in communion with Anglicanism.

Old Catholicism has also generated several hundred small independent Catholic churches in the U.S., including the historic Polish National Catholic Church and the African Orthodox Church. Some, such as the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, the Church of Antioch and Ascension Alliance, open the sacraments to all comers, including marriage and ordination. The list also includes formerly Roman parishes, such as St. Stanislaus Kostka in St. Louis and Spiritus Christi in Rochester, New York.

But even among those who stayed with Rome, there exist hugely differing views on the papacy. These Catholics take sides not on Vatican I but on Vatican II, the 1960s council that gave the church a modern makeover.

On the strong right of the U.S. church are opponents of Vatican II, who say the council’s documents are so out of step with tradition that its leadership must have been hijacked. John XXIII, the convener of Vatican II, was no true pope. Starting with him, the Roman popes have been impostors.

On the strong left are progressive Roman Catholics like Wills, whose pursuit of “the spirit of Vatican II” goes so far as to question the need for priests and popes at all.

The disagreements expose a wide and diverse Catholicism, in which overall affirmation of Vatican authority has declined. According to one recent survey fewer than three out of ten U.S. Roman Catholics says that the “teaching authority claimed by the Vatican” is “very important” to them.

U.S. Roman Catholicism is now fully one-third Latino, and this is another group that does not simply accede to papal centrality.

The vitality of devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the mother of Jesus manifested at Guadalupe, often far surpasses concerns for the pope. Especially among Mexican-Americans, who make up more than 60 percent of U.S. Hispanics, she is the living center of faith. Only half jokingly, some Latino Catholics say they are not Romans, but Guadalupeans. Among Guadalupeans, this beloved Mary with brown skin and a golden aura wins any popularity contest with the pope.

The election of the next pope is a fascinating spectacle on Vatican Hill. But if we look closely, the roil of Catholic opinion on the ground is the real show.

The author, Julie Byrne, is the Hartman Chair of Catholic Studies at Hofstra University. She is the author of O God of Players (Columbia University Press, 2003) and The Other Catholics (forthcoming from Columbia).

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A generally good article that touches very lightly on the issues of Catholic Churches that are not Roman Catholic. Of course there is great divergence from what is considered “Catholic” and in line with the traditions of the entire Church from the first millennium. On one side are the Roman Church, Orthodoxy, the PNCC, and certain smaller “Old Catholic” Churches not recognized by Utrecht (but who maintain solid adherence to principals and doctrine). On the other Old Catholicism, certain portions of the Anglican Church, and some of the other smaller Churches that label themselves “Old Catholic” but are not recognized by Utrecht. They have veered in various degrees.

Good points on Rome’s self view of the Bishop of Rome (thankfully Francis uses this term) and its use of “infallibility” as a defense against the breakdown of other authority structures — to which at least a portion of the representatives at Vatican I did not agree. Also on the general view among (the majority I believe) of Roman Catholics who either think Rome has fallen to pieces (note the bubbling revolt among traditionalists against Francis), or pay little heed to anything coming out of Rome. Those who pay little heed like their local parish and ignore what doesn’t matter to them, whether it comes from their pastor, bishop or from Rome.

PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Odd, sad, and odder yet

Why PNCC members should use care when referring to themselves as the “National Catholic Church” without the PNCC qualifier:

From the Florida Times Union: St. Anthony’s celebrates priest’s 10th anniversary

St. Anthony’s National Catholic Church in Jacksonville will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its priest’s ordination during the 10:30 a.m. Mass on Aug. 15.

The Rev. Marsha McKinlay Brandt is pastor of the parish, part of the National Catholic Church of North America. The denomination ordains women to the priesthood and permits clergy to marry. Formerly known as the Free Catholic Church, it is not part of the Roman Catholic Church…

Noting oneself as the “National Catholic Church” confuses us with a lot of vagante communities out there. If you visit their website, note the stress on “Apostolic succession,” a common feature of vagante type churches.

When the gods get angry

A sad story, but reading the Polish struck me as funny. From Wirtualna Polska: Piorun śmiertelnie poraził mężczyznę

Ok. 50-letni mężczyzna nie żyje, a drugi został ranny w wyniku porażenia piorunem w Mokrej koło Jarosławia (Podkarpackie) – poinformował rzecznik podkarpackiej policji, Paweł Międlar.

– Obaj pracujący przy budowie autostrady mężczyźni przed deszczem schronili się pod drzewem. Jednego z nich piorun poraził śmiertelnie. Jego kolega trafił do szpitala, nie pamięta jednak zdarzenia – powiedział Międlar.

Na Podkarpaciu gwałtowne burze w pojawiły się głównie w okolicach Przemyśla, Lubaczowa, Jarosławia, Przeworska i Leska. Uszkodziły m.in. most w Majdanie Sieniawskim koło Przeworska

In short, lighting struck and killed a 50 year old man in Jarosław. Another man was injured. If you don’t know, Piorun was the name of the god of thunder and lightning in Slavic mythology. Reading the article’s title overly literally, Piorun fatally struck a man.

Eternal rest grant onto the man who was killed, O Lord.

Christian Witness, ,

Fr. Allen Jones, simple servant

An interesting article, Twenty years of Victoria Street Ministry for Father Allen Jones, concerning the above named priest, was forwarded to me by E-mail. Fr. Jones was ordained through the Apostolic Catholic Church in Brazil (De Costa line) and appears to do a lot of good work as a simple servant (no pretend-to-be-a-bishop here). I also like the fact that he’s not about ‘changing-the-church,’ but rather about doing good. May God bless his work, humility, and Christian witness.

Everything Else,

Vagante group falls apart

An older story, but worth noting for those who dabble in the vagante world.

This is why I am a firm believer in the Cyprianic definition of Orders. If one is in the Church you are ok, outside the Church, who knows… Also, to answer any response to those who would say that they are part of the “Old Catholic Union of Utrecht,” the Utrecht Union does not recognize any denomination in the United States or Canada other than the Episcopal Church. A list of member Churches is here.

The “Reformed Catholic Church,” a vagante group, fell apart in late November, early December amid a scandal involving its “Archbishop” and other “clergy.” The Columbus Dispatch covered the details in Catholicism offshoot dissolves after scandals:

An independent Catholic denomination with its global headquarters in Columbus has disbanded, having been torn apart after publicity about the criminal backgrounds of its top leader and a former priest.

Critics of former Archbishop Phillip Zimmerman of the Reformed Catholic Church say he covered up his 2005 felony conviction and allowed participation by a convicted child molester.

…

Zimmerman resigned last week because “I was becoming the focus of controversy,” he said Wednesday. The church’s bishops then voted to dissolve the denomination, which was founded in 2000.

Individual parishes probably will continue to operate. Most Reformed Catholic congregations rent space or meet in homes, and none received funding from the Columbus headquarters.

Zimmerman said he will continue to serve at the Ascension of Our Lord Basilica on E. Broad Street on the Near East Side, which will stay open. He wouldn’t rule out organizing a new denomination.

…

Its membership numbers are difficult to pin down, but Zimmerman has estimated the worldwide body at 200,000. A Web site lists six parishes and missions in Ohio; it’s unclear if they all have a physical address.

At the Ascension of Our Lord Basilica, the most-attended Sunday Mass might have 30 or 40 people, said Bishop Marcis Heckman, the church rector.

Zimmerman came under fire when e-mails and Internet postings pointed out that a convicted child molester and former priest was allowed to participate in the denomination’s annual meeting in October. Sean-Michael Lyons wore vestments and sat with priests during Masses.

Then, news of Zimmerman’s own conviction circulated online.

Zimmerman, whose full name is George Richard Phillip Zimmerman, pleaded guilty in 2005 to fraud for his role in a scheme that cost the U.S. Department of Education more than $533,000…

Per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this was the group that the Rev. Marek Bozek (could have developed something if he sought Catholicism rather than vagante fun and other nonsense) had reached out to for coverage.

PNCC

quasi-Vagantes of the PNCC

For those who might not know the PNCC has its own vagantes. It’s really an interesting phenomenon. Frankly, if the bishops gathered at Nicea had known about vagantes they might have included their existence as one of the marks of the Church. ‘One, holy, catholic, apostolic, and has vagantes.’

One of the reasons I decided to cover this issue was the fact that one of the groups reached out to me with the simple request, “Potrzebujemy kontaktu z Wami!” Not likely… Also I refer to these folks as quasi-Vagantes because none of them has ventured to obtain episcopal orders. As soon as they start adding Archbishop-Metropolitan and Catholicos to their titles then they’ll have achieved — well nothing but fancy titles.

Some of the notables are:

The “Very Rev.” Thomas Rudny who claims to pastor the Holy Cross PNCC of New York. As far as I can tell there is no existing church building but he has been known to hold services at Holyrood Episcopal Church at Fort Washington Avenue and 179th Street in New York City.

The “Polish National Catholic Church in Poland“The PNCC only recognizes the Polish Catholic Church as the Church founded in Poland by our founder and first Prime Bishop Francisek Hodur. The Polish Catholic Church is a sister church to the PNCC. The PNCC does not recognize, nor does it have any relationship with the Polish National Catholic Church in Poland movement. See the PNCC website for an official statement. which is run by several priests, the “Rev.” Tomasz Rybka the Administrator of Good Shepherd parish outside Warsaw, Poland and who is also the Director of the “Samarytanin” retirement home adjacent to it, his father, the “Rev.” Jerzy Rybka, the “Very Rev.” Franciszek Rygusik and the “Rev.” Ludwik Szumowski. Their Bishop is “Archbishop” Augustyn Bačinskí½ of the Slovak Catholic Church which broke away from the Union of Utrecht shortly after the PNCC did.

It looks like the Slovak Church did not have bishops of its own at the time of their break with Utrecht. It also appears that they moved to seek episcopal orders from Archbishop António José da Costa Raposo, a vagante Bishop in the Costa line who runs the Apostolic Episcopal Church in Portugal. Like many vagantes “Archbishop” Bačinskí½ claims a mixture of Old Catholic and Orthodox orders. He has allied his church with various other vagante movements.

It should also be noted that these various movements have joined together in a loose confederation called the World Council of National Catholic Churches (note that their website seems to have disappeared). Included in this group is the Rybka group, Archbishops Costa Raposo and Bačinskí½ and the “Very Rev.” Anthony Nikolic of the “Canadian National Catholic Church.”

The Canadian church itself is interesting in that the Rev. Nikolic runs St. Anthony’s Mission out of St. John’s PNCC Cathedral in Toronto which was seized by some parishioners in an attempt to break away from the PNCC. The cathedral parish is apparently being run by the Rev. Zbigniew Kozar and Utrecht, up until recently, had recognized the breakaway group at St. John’s as its “official” North American mission. Utrecht provided them with some Episcopal oversight (see Dependent churches and municipalities under the jurisdiction of the IBK) as a slight to the PNCC. However the group may be moving toward the WCNCC and Costa Raposo because the February meeting of the Utrecht Bishop’s Conference concluded: Since 2005 the Bishops’ Conference has sought, together with the Episcopal Church, to encourage groups within the USA who call themselves Old Catholic and who could be taken seriously as a movement to work together. However, it must now be accepted that these attempts have failed as mergers have broken up again and new splinter groups have formed. The Bishops’ Conference has therefore decided to pull out completely from this area and will, in future, refer any requests to join the Union of Utrecht from so-called Old Catholic movements in North America to the Episcopal Church.

The “Reverends” Kozar and Nikolic are not part of the PNCC and seem to be little more than a conglomeration of quasi-vagantes. Because the breakaway elements in the Cathedral have allied themselves with either Utrecht or the Episcopal Church the Episcopal Diocese of Toronto works with them. The PNCC has brought suit for the return of St. John’s Cathedral. The official site of the Polish National Catholic Church’s Canadian Diocese is here.

Oh how the world of vagantes turns…

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