Liberal Catholic Church

The Liberal Catholic Church is a form of Christianity open to theosophical ideas.

Church background

The founding bishop of The Liberal Catholic Church was James I. Wedgwood of the Wedgwood China family, former priest in The Anglican Church, who became a theosophist and was ordained as a priest in the Old Catholic Church on July 22, 1913 by Arnold Harris Mathew. Archbishop Mathew was a resigned Roman Catholic priest who had been consecrated by Archbishop Gerardus Gul of Utrecht on April 28, 1908, and appointed as the first Old Catholic Bishop in England. Thus the Liberal Catholic Church claims to trace its apostolic succession going back to Rome. In the end Mathew came to cease all ties with the Utrecht Union of Churches, to vow allegiance once more to the Roman Catholic Church and to advise those of his flock who were theosophists to resign membership of the Theosophical Society Adyar. This advice was not taken seriously by many of the church's members. Wedgwood was consecrated to the episcopate on February 13, 1916 by Bishop Frederick Samuel Willoughby (who had been consecrated by Bishop Matthew), and started the organization that would later become the Liberal Catholic Church, of which Wedgwood became the first Presiding Bishop. Bishop Wedgwood published articles within the Theosophical Society on ceremonial work. These interested Charles Webster Leadbeater, an alleged clairvoyant and Anglican priest who was consecrated as a Liberal Catholic bishop in 1916. C. W. Leadbeater became the 2nd Presiding Bishop.

Church Structure

The Liberal Catholic Church is governed by a General Episcopal Synod of Bishops from the various countries in which they serve. Generally, this General Episcopal Synod meets formally every three years. The General Episcopal Synod elects a Presiding Bishop from among their ranks as the executive officer of the Synod. The General Episcopal Synod also elects priests to the Episcopacy, with the approval of the Liberal Catholic parishes of their respective Provinces. The Bishops of The Liberal Catholic Church may hold office until the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Each Province of The Liberal Catholic Church functions at the national level of their respective country, governed by a Regionary Bishop. The Regionary Bishop, in turn, may have one or more Bishops functioning under him. A Province may also have its own Clerical Synod of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops. For the most part, these clergy are not compensated by the Church and hold secular jobs as a result. They also may marry and hold property.

Training for the clergy may vary from province to province. The Liberal Catholic Institute of Studies was created to standardize the seminary program and aid in the development of future Deacons and Priests.

First Schism

In 1941, there was a schism in the Liberal Catholic Church in the United States, surrounding a controversy involving Bishop Charles Hampton, who, while he was himself a theosophist, wished to keep adherence to theosophical tenets optional for the clergy. This was in keeping with what was taken to be the original intent of the church's founders, who, although they were theosophists, wanted the church to remain primarily Catholic and to be open to everyone. While some branches of the church place more esoteric, lifestyle and dietary restrictions on the clergy, the church as a whole did not, and still does not, require membership in the Theosophical Society.

Legal battle

The controversy surrounding Bishop Hampton led to a legal battle in the United States which eventually split into two different divsions, both of which claimed to be the Liberal Catholic Church. Frank W. Pigott, the church's 3rd Presiding Bishop in England, who held to a more theosophical ideal for the church, removed Hampton and then ordered the confiscation of certain church property at the Regionary headquarters in California and forced the resignation of those clergy under Hampton who refused to support his new episcopal replacement. At the time, the majority of Liberal Catholics in the United States supported Hampton and saw his removal from the office of Regionary and the other subsequent precedings as a breach of canon law and a violation of some of the laws of California under which the church had been incorporated in America. These clergy continued on their own and won the right to be called the Liberal Catholic Church in the U.S. (while being called the Liberal Catholic Church International in the rest of the world). Those who followed Bishop Pigott in England became known in America as The Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the United States of America. Both divisions have similar structures of government and administration.

After Frank W. Pigott retired as the Presiding Bishop, and after attempts at a reconcilation, some of the clergy in the LCCI returned to The Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the United States of America. Bishop Hampton died before the litigation was settled. While some clergy wish for more cooperation between the two Divisions, they still exist independently.

Second Schism?

In 2003 there was another schism in the Liberal Catholic Church worldwide. The main issues in this split was the ordination of women to the Holy Orders. Again, as in the case of the first schism, it is difficult to say who continues the tradition and who is the schismatic. What is certain is that some parishes in the Dutch, Belgium and Canada provinces who represented the "liberal" wing of the Liberal Catholic Church worldwide broke away from the "mother church" still using the name The Liberal Catholic Church even though they left the church. The "mother church" opened "The Order of Our Lady" for women seeking ordinations in 2000. Since both groups call themselves The Liberal Catholic Church, distinguishing between the two can be confusing. Significantly, in 2004 Regionary Bishop for Sweden, Sten-Bertil Jakobson declared for the right of women to be ordained, and he joined the newly formed movement in the Netherlands and Belgium. He was followed by the Liberal Catholic Congregations in Austria, Demnark, Germany, Cameroon, and both Congos. Several new congregations have been formed in England and the USA. The membership of this movement is estimated to exceed 50,000 members.

At their General Episcopal Synod in 2004, the Liberal Catholic Church International also began the ordination of women up to and including the Order of Bishop.

In 1982 Ernest W. Jackson had resigned from Province of Canada and started a group called The Liberal Catholic Church - Theosophia Synod. The group was always very small, but on May 15, 2005, under the leadership of John Schwarz III, they joined with the progressive Dutch, Belgium and Canada branch of the LCC. The Theosophia Synod no longer maintains a separate existence.

Differences of the Divisions

The General Episcopal Synod of The Liberal Catholic Church worldwide requires its clergy to believe in such theosophical tenets as reincarnation and the ascended masters. It encourages its priests and its bishops to have a vegetarian diet and to refrain from using tobacco as well as alcohol. Significantly it also continues to require deacons, priests and bishops to be male. In this regard, The Liberal Catholic Church follows the same practise as the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Liberal Catholic Church International does not as a group require any belief in theosophical tenets, while it continues to accept them if they are the personal choice of the individual. Since 2004, the Liberal Catholic Church International opens the ordination of women to all Holy Orders up to and including bishop. The Liberal Catholic Church (Dutch, Belgium, Britain and Canada), retains the emphasis on the theosophical tenets, but practices ordination of women to Holy Orders and requires its clergy to hold the ordination of women as a matter of church belief. (http://TheLiberalCatholicChurch.org)

External links

Theosophy Christianity Catholics not in communion with Rome

Liberal Catholic Church | Église catholique libérale | Chiesa Cattolica Liberale | Vrij-katholieke Kerk | Liberalny katolicyzm

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