Autocephalous Catholicism: Faith by Choice

A Pastoral Letter

Bishop James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest



"An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’ John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you" LK9: 46-50



Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The Peace of Christ be with you.

Let me begin this pastoral with a confession. I was slightly nervous during my decision making process to continue my catholic sacramental and spiritual life with a catholic jurisdiction outside of Rome. In retrospect I don't know why I experienced any nervousness, but at the time the thought of continuing without the Roman infrastructure gave me moments of pause, even though I had come to accept the fact that I had become institutionally and pastorally orphaned.

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that one of the few issues that I had to get use to was the term "Autocephalous Catholic." Just the word Autocephalous seemed so odd to me. It sounded like a medical term to describe some form of psycho-sexual disorder. Being from Chicago and blessed with its dialect, I always had trouble pronouncing it correctly.

In 1996, I had address the concerns and nervousness I had about entering into another catholic jurisdiction and I formally entered into sphere of Autocephalous Catholicism upon my ordination into the catholic priesthood of an autocephalous jurisdiction. One of the obvious goals of my priesthood and ministry would be, and continues to be, my obligations to educate people regarding the reality that Catholicism does indeed live and thrives outside of the Roman jurisdiction.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides us with a introductory stepping stone to Autocephalous Catholicism:

Main Entry: au·to·ceph·a·lous
Pronunciation: "o-tO-'se-f(&-)l&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Greek autokephalos, from Greek aut- + kephalE head -- more at CEPHALIC
: being independent of external and especially patriarchal authority -- used especially of Eastern national churches
- au·to·ceph·a·ly /-f&-lE/ noun

The common term used by most clergy and bishops in the western world to describe Autocephalous Catholicism is Independent Catholicism. The goal of this term is to state that these catholic clerics and bishops, together with their jurisdictions are catholic, but independent of Roman authority.

A common goal of autocephalous catholic jurisdiction is proving their ecclesial pedigrees or the validity of their apostolic succession. For a autocephalous catholic jurisdiction to claim the sacramental and ecclesial validity of their Orders, they must trace back their roots to the common tree or body of historic Catholicism.

In simple terms, I, as a bishop must show that the bishop who consecrated me was him or herself consecrated by a bishop, who was themselves consecrated by a bishop, who was themselves consecrated by a bishop.........................until we can make a connection to a bishop from the Roman or Eastern Rite Churches - who provides the express route right up to Saint Peter.

As we all know, Peter was never provided with a Certificate of Ordination, nor were any of the first generations of bishops. The importance of the validity of apostolic succession of we autocephalous catholic bishops must be kept within a logical and rational perspective. It is very important to me to know that as a bishop within the Evangelical Catholic Church - an autocephalous catholic jurisdiction - I can trace my apostolic succession back to the same tree of historic catholicism as any other validly consecrated bishop within the greater catholic family.

The history of Catholicism teaches us that for a variety of valid and sometimes not so valid reasons, not all of the catholic clergy and bishops remained "In Union" with the Bishop of Rome and the Roman jurisdiction. Many of the catholic clergy and bishops could not, in good conscious, accept many of the administrative and ecclesial dictates pronounced by Rome. As a matter of faith and conscious, these individuals chose to continue independently of Rome. And for those who elected to continue their celebration of the catholic faith independent of Rome, their journeys had to withstand the scorn and hostilities of Rome.



Defining the Sacramental and Ecclesial Life of Autocephalous Catholicism



I believe that one of the greatest challenges for those who continued their catholic journey outside of Rome was how to do it. Were these clerics and bishops suppose to create new liturgies, re-write sacramental theology and ecclesiology? Of course not. Most of these clergy and bishops continued along as they had been and as they continued their journeys, they began to slowly implement changes and reforms. After only a long period of time could the world begin to see changes and reforms coming forth. These first autocephalous clergy and bishops established a very sound pastoral and theological precedent: permitting the Holy Spirit to guide the process of reform and renewal. It is to their credit that these first leaders of autocephalous catholicism were not seduced into reinventing the catholic wheel. They simply scraped off some of the muck and mire that impeded the spiritual and sacramental vibrancy of the catholic faith.

The history and story of autocephalous catholicism has not been well recorded, in part due to Roman paranoia and their herculean efforts to suppress the facts and to prosecute its members. It seems that the best documentation we have of autocephalous catholicism picks up the journey in the beginning 1900's.

Amongst the leaders of autocephalous catholicism at this time was Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa (1888 - 1961). Duarte Costa provided the paternal foundations for many of the autocephalous catholic jurisdictions in contemporary times.


The documented personal and spiritual journey of Duarte Costa is somewhat rare within autocephalous catholicism. His journey is well worth the time and effort for study and reflection. It is a story of faith and conviction that has survived many attempts by Rome to suppress and slander.



The Obligations of Autocephalous Catholicism in the Contemporary Times



In the 1980's many priests, deacons, religious lay persons began examining their lives as Catholics. The spirituality and conscience of these men and women dictated a search for a new catholic home free of dysfunctional practices and abuses. For many, the potentiality of autocephalous catholicism was the obvious choice to embrace.

By the 1980's autocephalous catholicism had, for the most part, fallen into a state of shambles. The primary cause for this sad state was the fact that clergy and episcopacy had become polluted with validly ordained clergy with no academic credentials, validly consecrated bishops, no better than common confidence artists and individuals claiming to be clergy or bishops without documentation to validate their claims - reducing autocephalous catholicism akin to the money-changers in the Temple.

I suspect that this sad state of deterioration much have left Duarte Costa spinning in his grave.

For those of us who chose this avenue to continue our catholic faith, I believe that we all felt that the change renewal could be better effected within the autocephalous community then where we had been. And as more and more serious and dedicated clergy and laity come to the autocephalous community, the seeds of change, reform, renewal and hope are indeed taking root. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" ( MT:7-19)

The work of Duarte Costa is not going to die.

At this stage of my own personal and pastoral journey, I see four primary obligations incumbent upon those who are serious about letting the autocephalous catholic movement serve the People of God

The first obligation is to continue to reflect upon the meaning of being Catholic and what does one need to do to be Catholic.

To be Catholic is to embrace its sacramental, liturgical and spiritual life. To be Catholic requires a personal embrace of the Holy Spirit to guide, lead and nurture. It requires permitting the Eucharist to made a indelible mark upon one's character and actions. The sacramental, liturgical and spiritual life of catholicism is not comatose. It is vibrantly alive and its vibrancy lifts up and enriches the People of God.

The second obligation to remember that God and the Holy Spirit leads, not human ego.

The People of God must remain open and dependent upon the Holy Spirit for their ongoing discernment of faith and the unconditional witnessing of this faith. The history of Catholicism is littered with those who were motivated by ego, rather than by the Spirit. These dark chapters in our catholic journey have reinforced the common recognition within the autocephalous catholic movement that the Kingdom of God on Earth must always be built up and not torn down by personal whim.

The third obligation to remember that the autocephalous catholic movement cannot be a poor clone of Rome.

The historic mandate of the autocephalous catholic movement has been its openness to permit growth and renewal where necessary. While the autocephalous catholic movement represents newer branches on the tree of catholicism, we are not bound to continue with sacramental, liturgical or spiritual practices starved for review and possible reform and renewal. And when such reforms and renewals become self-evident, we must discern and potential decisions with prayer. For those who wish to unconditionally adhere to the Roman expression of catholicism, then they should remain within the Roman jurisdiction. I believe that the example of the four expressions and celebration of Judaism - Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox, has shown that unique expressions of the same common faith can live in harmony. In addition, one cannot overlook the fact that there exists two synods of the Lutheran tradition. Thus we have living examples of people of faith sharing common bonds and roots, but maintaining their diversity.

And the world has not come to an end.

The forth obligation to remember is that the bar of pastoral standards, pastoral commitment to the People of God and the credibility of clergy, religious and bishops must remain high.

When I entered into the priesthood, I was shocked to discover the vast amount of clergy, religious and bishops who were completely ignorant of basic catholic theology. At best, a few of these individuals might have read an religious article or two in Readers Digest. Almost all of those who fell into this category could tell you the latest in clerical clothing and appointments on the market, but wouldn't know what the Synoptics are.

The autocephalous catholic movement has been starving for serious academic and spiritual formation for its clerical and religious candidates. As more and more men and women are choosing the autocephalous catholic movement, the demand for authentic formation can no longer be ignored. This is why observers are witnessing a clearly defined division between those who want to play priest vs. academically and spiritually formed newcomers who are serious about their vocations and ministries. As the numbers of academically and spiritually formed individuals continues to increase, so shall the bar of pastoral standards.



Dependence Upon the Spirit for Ongoing Reform



I realize and acknowledge that some comments within the pastoral comes across as an indictment of the movement. That has not been my intent. While it is important to acknowledge those areas within the autocephalous catholic movement which has been in dire need of reform, my comments should not be interpreted to mean that the autocephalous catholic movement is beyond repair and hope. My experience in part of the autocephalous catholic movement has taught me and others that me must embrace the hard work before us and also the hard work to come in the future. I can see that the work of so many dedicated catholic men and women is transforming a questionable movement into a sacramental, liturgical and spiritual oasis.

During this period of reformation within the autocephalous catholic movement, we must not permit the hatred and bigotry of other catholic jurisdictions from discouraging us. There are many website authored by groups or individuals from the Roman jurisdiction devoted to the condemnation and hatred of those who have continued our catholic journey with the autocephalous catholic movement. The content of many of these websites only proves that these individuals and groups have not yet had the chance to review to documents of Vatican II. These hate mongers must not prevent the spirit of reform from taking place within the autocephalous catholic movement. The majority of us who have elected to continue our catholic journey within the autocephalous catholic movement made clear and clean breaks from Rome like Bishop Costa. We are much to involved in the reform and rebuilding of the autocephalous catholic movement to waste time engaged in "Rome bashing." We have no business commenting upon those intern forum matters of Rome. We condemn any form of "Rome bashing" by those within our movement.

I began this pastoral by making a confession. I would like to conclude by professing a promise: for those who find themselves, for whatever reason, sacramentally, spiritually or liturgically orphaned and looking for home to continue their lives as Catholics, the autocephalous catholic movement is growing and maturing and prepared to embrace you. We, who take our vocations seriously, welcome the opportunity to share in your journey. We will do our best to be worthy of your confidence.

May God bless you and yours.

I, remain

Respectfully Yours in Christ,



James Alan Wilkowski
Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest
Chicago, Illinois

July 5, 2005
The Anniversary of the Transition
of
Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa
to the
Autocephalous Catholic Movement



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