Monday, January 02, 2006
EATING THE CAKE AND SKIPPING THE BROCOLI
We can do it sometimes, but if we make a habit of it, if we always reject the vegetables, our physical health suffers. Our spiritual health suffers, too, if we reject the hard, "vegetable" sayings of Jesus and just grab for the grace of chocolate cake. Yet that is precisely what the American Catholic Church advocates according to an article sent in by a reader:
It’s like clockwork, meeting every other Sunday at noon in a rented room of St. George’s Episcopal Church. Normally it’s an intimate setting of 25 or so parishioners, all gathering for the same reason.
They are all members of the American Catholic Church, most whom have disassociated themselves from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
Although they are not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, the American Catholic Church of New England bases its beliefs on most of the teachings of the Roman Catholic faith.
"Our church basically holds the same faith tenets of the Roman Catholic Church, but our practice is more liberal in that we have married, celibate and women clergy, we openly welcome the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered, and the divorced and married communities," said Bishop Stephen Burke.
Members often refer to the teachings of the American Catholic Church as the "progressive alternative" to the teachings of the Roman Catholic faith tradition.
Burke was ordained about 55 years ago and served as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church for most of his vocation. However, as years passed, he felt it more difficult to enforce some of the beliefs of Roman Catholic teachings.
He then made what he described as "the change of a lifetime" and disconnected himself from the Roman Catholic Church. Choosing to become a member of the American Catholic Church of New England.
Through the American Catholic Church, women are also allowed to be ordained as priests and bishops, unlike the Roman Catholic Church that limits this option to men only.
Burke added that unlike the Roman Catholic Church that has an "ideal of Christian life," the American Catholic Church accepts everyone regardless of their mistakes.
"Not all of us reach that ideal," said Burke. "We don’t always measure up to that ideal."
Instead, Burke said parishioners of the American Catholic Church base their worship around believing there is "a loving, accepting, caring God." Burke said parishioners of the American Catholic Church do not view God as punishing.
Continue reading...
This compassion sounds so appealing. We all want to be part of God's family, and Christ is eager to accept all of us. But He has a stipulation: "Go and sin no more." That stipulation tells us that there is something called "sin" which has been defined; and that He asks us to avoid it. Granted we fail, but that doesn't exempt us from the attempt.
The American Catholic Church simply dispenses with the attempt, as their website indicates:
Our clergy come from all walks of life. You name it, we’ve got it! Male, female, married, single, celibate, gay, straight, transgendered, etc. As Jesus accepted everyone for who they were, so do we. We are very proud of each and every is a priest and deacon within our Church, because EVERY SINGLE PERSON IS INVOLVED IN AN ACTIVE, LEGITIMATE MINISTRY!
They are affiliated with the Old Catholics though the line of succession they claim isn't mentioned. Oddly enough they claim:
Old Catholic bishops rejected the doctrine of Infallibility of the Pope, and his direct jurisdiction over local churches at the expense of the bishops and their proper authority over their dioceses. We recognize the Pope as the first among equals.
If collegiality takes root, will they then seek to be part of the Roman Catholic Church?
I suspect they would applaud if they knew that Cdl. Ratzinger has questioned the legitimacy of the teaching on original sin. Now that he is Pope, will the American Catholic Church qualify for ecumenism?
