|
Independent Catholic is a term used by many small groups who are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or other traditional Episcopally governed Churches such as Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Anglican or Old Catholic; all of whom function as small (frequently tiny) episcopally-governed Church bodies in many parts of the world. Their largest concentration, however, is in North America. Catholic Church redirects here. ...
The term Independent Catholic carries a wide array of meanings for different people. Some use the term to indicate those who are more liberal in social and moral teachings such as supporting gay and lesbian marriage, abortion, and birth control, for example. But there has always been and there is an increasing number of more conserative bodies within this "movement." So, those who use the term as a catch-all for anyone claiming to be "Catholic" but who are not in communion with Rome, Constantinople, Canterbury or Utrecht are probably more accurate in their usage.
A more detailed examination of this phenomenon can be found at the Wikipedia articles "Episcopi Vagantes" and "Independent Catholic Churches."
Types of Independent Churches
Independent Catholic Churches form a very broad category in their own right. They range from "paper churches" to viable denominations, and from ultra-liberal to ultra-traditional in their outlook. Most churches hold to most basic tenets of Catholicism, but will allow for married clergy and use of birth control, whilst some churches appear more doctrinally and liturgically conservative than the modern Roman Catholic Church.
Churches whose orders trace to Arnold Harris Matthew include the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America (led by Archbishop Francis Facione) and the Old Catholic Church of America (led by Archbishop James Bostwick), both of which are generally conserative, traditional groups. A similar group, the Old Catholic Church of the United States (led by Archbishop Robert Matthew Gubala) changed its name in 2005 to the Catholic Apostolic National Church after coming into communion with the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church. Bishop Arnold Harris Mathew Arnold Harris Mathew (1852–1919) was the first Old Catholic bishop in the United Kingdom. ...
The Polish National Catholic Church, whilst once a member of the Utrecht Union, has moved to a more conservative direction (particularly in their opposition to ordaining women priests, causing a break with the Utrecht Union churches) in recent years.
On the other hand, the Liberal Catholic Church is often described as a combination of traditional liturgy and New Age theology.
See also 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 of the Church of the Apostles. ...
Episcopi vagantes (Latin for wandering bishops) are persons who have been consecrated as bishops in a Christian church in some irregular fashion, especially those claiming to have valid Roman Catholic orders although their consecrations were not authorized by the Roman Catholic Church. ...
The terms catholic evangelical and evangelical catholic combine two descriptive words that often seem contradictory to post-Reformational ears. ...
The Old Catholic Church is not so much a religious denomination, as a community, part of whose member churches split from the Roman Catholic church in 1870. ...
Independent Catholic Churches are, by and large, very small Churches which have a claim to the valid Apostolic Succession of their bishops. ...
Archbishop Warren Prall Watters and Bishop Ellen Watters of the Free Church of Antioch. ...
Warren Prall Watters was the founding Archbishop of the Free Church of Antioch, one of several Independent Catholic Churches with valid Apostolic succession. ...
Links | 
Feeds |
Contact