The Accidental Advertisement

“‘I think often about a group of bishops who, after Vatican I, left … to continue the “true doctrine” that wasn’t that of Vatican I,’ said the pontiff. ‘Today, they ordain women,’ the pope continued, adding: ‘The severest attitude, to guard the faith without the magisterium of the church, brings you to ruin.’” 

Ruin? Thank you, Pope Francis, for lifting up the Old Catholic Church, as quoted in the NCR. Many Catholics, especially women seeking ordination, may not have heard about this possibility. While it does reflect your continuing obsession with our issue, dear Pope, it does our movement a great favor. 

Admittedly, the pope was much more critical of the “rad-trads”—”radical traditionalists” who want to undo much of the teachings of Vatican II in this address to members of the Italian Bishops’ National Catechetical Office. Vatican News has only a summary, which does not include the comment I quoted. 

NCR, America (CNS), and The Tablet all quoted the comment and summarized the differences between liberal and conservative Catholic interpretations of Vatican II in the more than 50 years since its conclusion. In the last, Christopher Lamb reminds us that the Old Catholic Church was begun by “those believers who split from the Roman Church following the First Vatican Council (1869-70) over the teaching on papal infallibility.” I like this language so much because Lamb says “believers.” Splits do not mean people stop believing. 

Massimo Faggioli in La Croix International presents the Old Catholics comment in its full irony, to my way of thinking, at least: “Francis said their attitude was, ‘We are the true Catholics.’ And, evidently, to prove they were wrong, the pope said: ‘Today they ordain women.’ Aside from this last remark, which will be seen as ecumenically insensitive, the 84-year-old pope’s larger point was that there are those who, even today, think of themselves as more Catholic than the Second Vatican Council.” Well, doctrine has developed in both liberal and conservative directions, and the Pope himself was urging Italian bishops to have a Synod, part of his plan to carry out what is implied in the documents. Sometimes he goes beyond what they actually say, Faggioli argues, and sometimes he doesn’t. He sees Francis as a centrist but more concerned with reining in the traditionalists than the radicals (except us, of course), which makes “him look more theologically progressive than he actually is.”

Maybe you’re doing a search right now for Old Catholic Churches. Oddly, the Wikipedia article focuses mainly on European churches, and notes that since 1994, some ordained women. I also found a long list of independent Catholic denominations. I do know a few which do ordain women; I will highlight only the one I know best, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC). 

First, I want to note that the Wikipedia entry on the ECC includes a discussion of “Catholicity and apostolic authority,” unusual in that it ranges around the world and over centuries and is not limited to the position of the ECC itself. 

Second, that statement suggests the relevance of the ECC to the Women’s Ordination Conference: “For individuals, the question of Catholic identity may be very personal. There are many people who deeply identify themselves as Catholic, but do not accept the rulings of the papacy when it comes to matters of homosexuality and women’s participation. Churches such as the ECC have played a role in the lives of some people who come from this experience.^”

Third, the statement quotes Richard McBrien’s Catholicism on apostolic succession: “a distinction can be drawn between a minimalist understanding and a broader understanding of the term. A minimalist understanding highlights that bishops can trace their own ordination back to the Apostles, whilst a broader understanding speaks of handing on the faith of the Apostles.^” 

Finally, the statement concludes: “the issues of catholicity and authority are complex and judgments made are based on varying positions within numerous Christian traditions.” To say the least! You probably have your own understanding.

I hope by now you’ve found the web site of the ECC. Its communities are proliferating in the United States and in Europe. Its leadership will remind you of the Roman hierarchy, but you will notice a governing Council and a woman bishop, Denise Donato, long a member of WOC. The only history I, at least, could find includes mostly documents and individual statements, not a comprehensive analysis. When you look for a creed, you will find nothing that surprises except an affirmation of the Declaration of Utrecht and this:

Our Catholic Culture

We affirm that each baptized person is an equal member of the Catholic Church and that in the ECC this equality must be evident in Synodal and local governance and ministry; that all the baptized, irrespective of gender identity, marital status or sexual orientation and relationship, are welcome to join in celebrating the Sacraments; that the ministerial priesthood in the ECC is open to all the baptized, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation and relationship, or marital status; and that in moral and ethical decision-making the ECC supports the primacy of an individual’s conscience.

The ECC is a member of the Catholic Organizations for Renewal, whose membership is open to “groups which model what a reformed church might look like.” The ECC does provide a model and an opportunity that may not be Catholic to the Pope but which compels all of us to reconsider what Catholic may look like today—and tomorrow; for others—and ourselves.