The Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB - Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira) is an independent Catholic church established in 1945 by Brazilian bishop Dom Carlos Duarte Costa, a former Roman Catholic Bishop of Botucatu. Ecclesiastical polity is the operational and governance structure of a church or Christian denomination. ... It has been suggested that episcopal be merged into this article or section. ... Dom Carlos Duarte Costa Carlos Duarte Costa or Saint Carlos of Brazil (1888-1961) was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church; after being excommunicated by Pope Pius XII, he established the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil. ... The word schism (IPA: or ), from the Greek σχίσμα, skhísma (from σχίζω, skhízō, to tear, to split), means a division or a split, usually in an organization or a movement. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Independent Catholic Churches are Christian denominations (or congregations) claiming valid apostolic succession of their bishops but are not a part of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Old Catholic Churches under the Archbishop of Utrect or the Anglican Communion. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      This article... Dom Carlos Duarte Costa Carlos Duarte Costa or Saint Carlos of Brazil (1888-1961) was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church; after being excommunicated by Pope Pius XII, he established the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Botucatu is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, located 224. ...

The ICAB has 58 dioceses and claims five million members in 17 countries.^[1] Its current head is Patriarch Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez, with Dom Josivaldo Pereira de Oliveira serving as President of the National Council. It is the mother church of the Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (ICAN -Igrejas Católicas Apostólicas Nacionais), a loose communion of churches in 14 countries. Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... For other senses, see Patriarch (disambiguation). ... Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez is patriarch of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB - Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira), an independent catholic church. ... Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez, patriarch of ICAN 1964-present The Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (Portuguese Igrejas Católicas Apostólicas Nacionais) (ICAN), is a confederation of sixteen national Christian church bodies, founded in the 1950s by Dom Carlos Duarte Costa of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic...

Beliefs and organization

The ICAB accepts the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian creeds, and observes seven sacraments (baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, penance, unction, ordination, and matrimony).^[2] ICAB practices open communion for all Christians who acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The church acknowledges divorce as a reality of life and permitted in Holy Scripture, and will marry divorced persons and baptize the children of divorced or single parents or someone else.^[3] Icon depicting the Holy Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea holding the Nicene Creed. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The... The Athanasian Creed (Quicunque vult) is a statement of Christian doctrine traditionally ascribed to St. ... A sacrament is a Christian rite that mediates divine grace. ... This article is about the Christian religious act of Baptism. ... For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation). ... confirmed redirects here. ... This article is about the practice of confession in the Modern confessional in the Church of the Holy Name, Dunedin, New Zealand. ... Extreme Unction, part of The Seven Sacraments (1445) by Roger van der Weyden. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... Matrimony redirects here. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus the Christ is really (and not merely symbolically, figuratively or by his power) present in what was previously just bread and wine. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

ICAB teaches that birth control is acceptable in certain circumstances (such as for disease prevention). It opposes abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and any other taking of human life.^[3] The church has three administrative branches, in line with the conception of a nation state: executive (Episcopal Council), legislative (National Council), and judicial (Superior Ecclesiastical Court).^[4] There are currently 58 bishops and 47 dioceses within Brazil.^[3] There also appears to be a 'rogue' version of the ICAB present in Brazil under Dom Ivan Dutra Moraes,^[5] which offers an alternative list of national clergy with some names appearing on both lists. For other uses, see Birth control (disambiguation). ... For mercy killings not performed on humans, see Animal euthanasia. ... Death penalty, death sentence, and execution redirect here. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ...

History

Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa was an outspoken critic of the regime of Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) and of the Vatican's perceived cozy relationship with fascist regimes.^{[citation needed]} He also publicly criticized the doctrine of papal infallibility and Roman Catholic views on divorce and clerical celibacy. Largely as a result of his outspoken views, he was moved from his post as Bishop of Botucatu in 1937 and was redesignated as the Titular Bishop of Maura (an extinct diocese of North Africa). Duarte Costa continued to criticize the government and the Roman Catrholic Church, advocating policies that were regarded by the authorities as Communist. In 1944 the Brazilian government imprisoned him, but later freed him under political pressure by the United States and Great Britain.^{[citation needed]} Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (pron. ... Fascism is a term used to describe authoritarian nationalist political ideologies or mass movements that are concerned with notions of cultural decline or decadence. ... In Catholic theology, papal infallibility is the dogma that, by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error[1] when he solemnly declares or promulgates to the Church a dogmatic teaching on faith or morals as being contained in divine revelation, or at... Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse. ... Clerical celibacy is the practice of various religious traditions in which clergy, monastics and those in religious orders (female or male) adopt a celibate life, refraining from marriage and sexual relationships, including masturbation and impure thoughts (such as sexual visualisation and fantasies). ... Bishop Richard Pates, current auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the Titular Bishop of Suacia. ... Maura is a female name. ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... This article is about the form of society and political movement. ...

When, in the following year (1945), Duarte Costa denounced the Odessa Operation, which was allegedly organized by the Vatican in order to facilitate the escape of Nazi officers, he was excommunicated by Pope Pius XII. One month later on August 18, he formed the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB), declaring: "The Brazilian Catholic Church is a religious society, established for the propagation of the Christianity in all the national territory, which is separated from the Roman Apostolic Church because of the errors that it has been committing since the moment when it left the catacombs, exchanging the beauty of the teachings of Christ -- simplicity, humility, poverty, love of neighbor -- for a preeminently mercantilistic institution, where pomp reigns, doing damage to true Christianity, which is found in the humble, the laborers, the legitimate representatives of Jesus of Nazareth."^[2] The ODESSA, which stands for the German phrase Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, which phrase in turn translates as “Organization of Former Members of the SS,” is the name commonly given to an international Nazi network alleged to have been set up towards the end of World War II... Not to be confused with Nasi. ... Excommunication is religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Pius XIIs signature Pope Pius XII (Latin: ), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (March 2, 1876 – October 9, 1958), reigned as the 260th pope, the human head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City, from March 2, 1939 until his death in 1958. ... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Bronze Age culture, see Catacomb culture. ... A painting of a French seaport from 1638, at the height of mercantilism. ... Hebrew (Natzrat or Natzeret) Arabic الناصرة (an-Nāṣira) Government City District North Population 64,800[1] Metropolitan Area: 185,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 14 200 dunams (14. ...

In 1949 the Brazilian government temporarily suppressed all public worship by ICAB, maintaining that the similarity of its liturgy and vestments to those of the Roman Catholic Church would result in confusion and were tantamount to deception of the public.^[6] However, a few months later the churches were permitted to reopen, provided that their liturgy would not duplicate the Roman Catholic liturgy, and their clergy would wear gray clerical attire in contrast to the black clothing worn by Catholic clergy.

Dom Carlos set about to implement a number of reforms in ICAB of what he saw as problems in the Roman Catholic Church. Clerical celibacy was abolished. Rules for the reconciliation of divorced persons were implemented. The liturgy was translated into the vernacular, and in emulation of a short-lived experiment in France, clergy were expected to live and work amongst the people, and support themselves and their ministries, by holding secular employment. Within a short time ICAB began to be identified as “The Church of the Poor”.^[7]

Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez, current patriarch of ICAN

Shortly after founding the church Dom Carlos consecrated two more bishops, Salomão Barbosa Ferraz (August 15, 1945), and the Venezuelan Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez (May 3, 1948). These three bishops went on to establish similar autonomous Catholic Apostolic National Churches in several other Latin American countries. Dom Carlos personally served as consecrator or co-consecrator of eleven additional bishops, each of whom took a leadership role in either the Brazilian church or one of the other national churches.^[8] Salomão Barbosa Ferraz (Jau, Brazil, 1880-1969) was a Brazilian Priest and Bishop whose career took him through membership of several Christian denominations from the Presbyterian Church through to the Roman Catholic Church. ... Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez is patriarch of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB - Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira), an independent catholic church. ...

In 1958 Bishop Ferraz left ICAB to rejoin the Catholic Church, his consecration was simply accepted by the Catholic Church as valid. Shortly thereafter, in 1961, Dom Carlos Duarte Costa died, and the ICAB underwent several years of tumult as dissensions, schisms, and multiple claimants to the patriarchal throne threw the church into disarray.^[3] José Aires da Cruz briefly succeeded Duarte Costa as primate in 1961, and by 1964 Antidio Jose Vargas of Santa Catarina was primate, consecrating the Italian Luigi Mascolo as Bishop of Rio de Janeiro.^[9] Capital Florianópolis Largest city Joinville Demonym Catarinense or Barriga-verde Government  -  Governor Luiz Henrique  -  Vice Governor Leonel Pavan Area  -  Total 95. ... Luigi Mascolo was an Italian priest who controversially defected to the Brazilian schismatic church the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, founded by Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa in 1945. ...

Some sources indicate that Bishop Luis Castillo Méndez assumed leadership of ICAB upon Duarte Costa's death in 1961, but this seems unlikely based on contemporary accounts such as Anson's.^[9] What is clear is that in 1982 Castillo Méndez was elected president of the Episcopal Council, and was designated Patriarch of ICAB in 1988 and Patriarch of ICAN (the international communion) in 1990.^[10] While no longer president of the Episcopal Council, Dom Luis still serves as Patriarch to the present day (2007). The Church is considered to have become more theologically, and generally, conservative under the Patriarchate of Dom Luis.

Apostolic succession

The ICAB holds that apostolic succession is maintained through the consecration of its bishops in unbroken personal succession back to the apostles. All ICAB bishops trace their line of succession back to Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa, who was consecrated by the Roman Catholic Church. Every consecration strictly follows the Roman Pontifical. In Christianity, the doctrine of Apostolic Succession (or the belief that the Church is apostolic) maintains that the Christian Church today is the spiritual successor to the original body of believers in Christ, composed of the Apostles. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Pope John Paul II has reigned since 22 Oct 1978. ...

The ICAB cites the case of Salomão Barbosa Ferraz as evidence that its apostolic succession is valid, even by Roman Catholic standards. Just over a month after the church's foundation, on August 15, 1945, Bishop Duarte Costa presided as the principal celebrant at the episcopal consecration of Salomão Barbosa Ferraz. Thirteen years later (in 1958 under Pope John XXIII) Ferraz reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church and was fully recognized as a bishop, even though he was married at the time.^[8] Ferraz was not ordained or consecrated again, even conditionally; however he was not appointed to a diocese immediately. He did pastoral work in the Archdiocese of São Paolo until May 12 1963, when he was appointed titular bishop of Eleutherna by Pope John XXIII.^[11] He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, and Pope Paul VI appointed him to serve on one of Vatican II's working commissions. Upon his death in 1969, Bishop Ferraz was buried with full honors accorded a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Salomão Barbosa Ferraz (Jau, Brazil, 1880-1969) was a Brazilian Priest and Bishop whose career took him through membership of several Christian denominations from the Presbyterian Church through to the Roman Catholic Church. ... Salomão Barbosa Ferraz (Jau, Brazil, 1880-1969) was a Brazilian Priest and Bishop whose career took him through membership of several Christian denominations from the Presbyterian Church through to the Roman Catholic Church. ... See also: 15th-century Antipope John XXIII. Pope John XXIII (Latin: ; Italian: ), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963), known as Blessed John XXIII since his beatification, was elected as the 261st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City on October 28, 1958. ... The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ...

As a result of all this it is usually inferred that the Holy Orders conferred by Duarte Costa himself after leaving the Roman Catholic Church are valid but illicit. Catholic Church redirects here. ... Valid but illicit, also known as valid but illegal, is a term used within Roman Catholicism to describe the ordination of a priest or consecration of a Bishop by a cardinal or bishop without the authority of the Holy See. ...

International communion

Main article: Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches

Bishops Costa, Ferraz, and Méndez consecrated or assisted in the consecrations of dozens of bishops in various countries between the 1940s and 1990s. Some bishops in the Costa line maintained formal ties with the Brazilian mother church, but the majority appear to have gone their separate ways to found or participate in independent catholic bodies without ties to Brazil. Churches in full communion with ICAB are members of the Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (ICAN). There have been a fluctuating number of partner churches in the ICAN communion, and a current list of official ICAN members is not available. A World Council of the communion was held in Brazil in 2005, and a further Council in the Unites State in January 2009 call 817-569-7543 for information. Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez, patriarch of ICAN 1964-present The Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (Portuguese Igrejas Católicas Apostólicas Nacionais) (ICAN), is a confederation of sixteen national Christian church bodies, founded in the 1950s by Dom Carlos Duarte Costa of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic...

References

External links

• Website of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church
• Website of a parish in Brazil
• Website of another parish in Brazil

• [http://www.sbabbey.com
• [http://www.holyssac.com
• [http://www.gagradahostia.org
• [http://www.diocesisdecolombia.galeon.com
• [http://www.mncc.net