Questions about the Independent Catholic
Movement, Answered by
the People of St. Francis of Assisi Parish
 

Wait a minute! I've never seen anything like this before! Are you telling me that there's more than one Catholic Church?

No. There is only one Catholic Church, but there are a fair number of Catholic denominations.  The Roman Catholic Church is only one of those denominations, the largest of them all.   Another example, the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch, is affiliated with still others which, while genuinely Catholic, are not under the control or governance of Rome.  As a group, these denominations are referred to as the "Independent Catholic movement within greater Catholicism.

But I thought a Denomination was a separate religion.

A denomination is an organization that is a group of fallible human beings who gather in worship, pool funds, construct church buildings, file for nonprofit status, operate ministries, hold rummage sales and do all the other things people associate with the word church.  Many - actually nearly all - Catholic denominations believe the same tenets of faith, which were laid down in complete form prior to the year 1000.  But each denomination is separately organized and managed. So there's unity in faith, but diversity in practice and governance.  (It's important not to confuse matters of faith with matters of church practice and governance!)

The Pope runs the Roman Catholic Church. Who runs these others?

Each denomination is run by its own bishops.  The Pope is a bishop who has been elected by his fellow bishops to be, in effect, the Roman Catholic Church's CEO.  There are variations among other Catholic denominations, but each generally has a governing council of bishops, and that council elects an archbishop from among themselves to act as the denominations presiding bishop.

Don't bishops have to be specially anointed somehow?  I thought the Pope had to do it.

In the Roman Church, yes.  However, every bishop, once consecrated, is invested with the fullness of the priesthood, which includes the power to consecrate new bishops.  The process involves a laying on of hands in an unbroken sequence that extends back to the original twelve apostles, Christianity's first bishops.  This is referred to as apostolic succession.  A religion is considered apostolic when it can trace the consecrations of its bishops back to the original Church established by Christ Himself.  The NCCNA can demonstrate this unbroken sequence and thus we rightfully consider ourselves a true apostolic church.

So somewhere in the past those lines of succession broke from those of the original Catholic Church?

Catholic history is much more complicated than most people realize, and the Roman Catholic Church sees no benefit in emphasizing all of the various complications.  The greater Catholic Church has split a fair number of times, generally over matters of discipline and governance, much more rarely over matters of faith.  The two largest splits usually called schisms are those with the Eastern Orthodox in 1054 and with the Anglican Communion in 1534.  Both the Orthodox and the Anglicans can properly be called Catholics, even though the Roman Church does so with some hesitation.  And there have been a couple of instances down through history where Rome has given a dioceses permission to elect its own bishops, for reasons that today sound quaint or obscure.  Bishops independent of Rome have come about through both of these mechanisms.

I see; and because the big fuss over birth control originated with the Pope, the bishops of the independent movement don't have to perpetuate it?

Right.  Each denomination establishes its own code of canon law, and virtually every single one has ruled that contraception is a matter of conscience; a decision that a couple makes, ideally after some prayer and consultation with their parish priest. There is no prohibition against contraception in the National Catholic Church of North America.

The same with married priests?

Exactly. The Roman Catholic Church is the only major religious group in all Christendom with a celibate clergy. The historical reasons for that might surprise you, though they're complex to cover here.  Mandatory celibacy has been a requirement of the Roman Catholic Church only since the year 1100 or so.  For the first thousand years of Catholic history, priests, bishops and even popes were married.  There is nothing inherently wrong with celibacy, for those who feel called to it.  But requiring celibacy of all ordained priests prevents many worthy individuals from serving Christ in the priesthood.  The independent movement has long since treated celibacy as a special calling, not as a requirement.  We feel that the Catholic denominations of the independent movement are much richer for it. In the NCCNA, and celibacy is completely optional.

So divorce is OK too?

Divorce is never an easy matter.  Frequently, human beings marry too young, or without sufficient preparation or in the heat of a passion that masks a deeper problem.  Most of the independent Catholic denominations take that into account and recognize that Christ's message is of love and forgiveness.  The majority of the independent Catholic denominations feels that divorce should not be an unassailable wall standing between two unhappy human beings and the sacraments that can begin to comfort and heal them.  Most independent Catholic denominations offer special counseling to the divorced, both to welcome them back to Catholicism and to help them find, if they so choose, the wisdom to make marriage work for them again.  Our Church welcomes divorced and/or remarried men and women into full participation in the life of the Church.

And what about women priests?

Although there is no consensus yet in the independent Catholic movement about women's ordination, more and more independent denominations are granting women ordination, and are even consecrating them as bishops. The various contending threads of the debate are complex and can't be explained in just a few words without being fair to one side or the other.  Women share equally in the life and governance of the NCCNA. (One such person is the Reverend Dr. Aurore Leigh Barrett, ordained in the National Catholic Church of North America.  See photos taken at an NCCNA Parish, St. Francis of Assisi in Phoenix, AZ Here.)

This is all very interesting. I haven't been to church in years and I kind of miss it.  Why haven't I heard of the independent Catholic movement before?

It's still small, and between World War II and 1990 or so it had lost critical mass and seemed in danger of extinction.  The Internet has brought new life and energy to the movement, and new ways of letting people know that we exist.  Most denominations of the independent Catholic movement have their own Websites, and many conduct list server lists and chat rooms.  As yet, it hasn't gotten a lot of national publicity, and as you might expect, the Roman Catholic Church has little or nothing to say about it.