About Us
What is All Saints American Catholic Church?
All Saints is an independent Catholic faith community in that we are not under the jurisdiction of the Pope nor are we subject to the canon law or the guidelines of the Roman Catholic Church. Though we share a common Catholic theology and liturgical tradition, we differ significantly in many of the disciplines and rules that govern the Church.
We share a common theology and liturgical tradition with the other Catholic Churches. Our deacons, priests and bishops participate in the same historic apostolic succession as do the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches , and other apostolic Churches. We share the same historical developments as Western Christianity.
We trace our modern roots to the emergence of the Old Catholic movement which began in 1870 as a response to the first Vatican Council’s pronouncement of Papal Infallibility and the primacy of papal jurisdiction. The Catholics of our faith communities, though recognizing the importance of the Pope in his role as the Bishop of Rome and as a sign of unity, view the dogma of papal infallibility as a reinforcement of authoritarianism within the Church and a misuse of power which runs counter to the spirit, example and teachings of Jesus. The dogma of Papal Infallibility, though an effort to create unity within the Church, has had the opposite effect. It now stands as an immense obstacle to the unity of the Church . The dogma of Papal Infallibility and primacy of jurisdiction are, at best, sectarian and thus not truly catholic.
We recognize that each baptized person is an equal member of the Catholic Church. No bishop, priest, deacon, or lay person owns the Church, the sacramental ministry, or the grace of Christ. Therefore, all people play an important and prominent role in the governance of the Church. All must respect, as well as actively seek to discern, how the Holy Spirit is motivating the faithful to act. In Catholic tradition this is called ascertaining the sensus fidelium — the sense of the faithful.
To emphasize the importance of the role of the laity, we practice a polity of participatory discernment and selection of bishops and pastors of congregations by the people who call them to service in those capacities. This practice has historic precedence and the legacy of Catholic tradition, and is confirmed in a letter from Pope Leo I in 450 on the election of bishops, in which he states, “He is to govern all and should be chosen by all.” (Pope Leo I, Letter 10, no. 6). By the same token, while we practice a servant ministry, the clergy are more than mere hired hands. They are chosen by the people to serve the people in a leadership capacity, not only coming from them but being one of them and not losing thier own voices in the process. We practice a Trinitarian Ecclesiology.
Invitation to the Sacramental Life
Consistent with Catholic theology, we recognize the baptism and faith of all our Christian brothers and sisters. By virtue of our common baptism, a genuine unity already exists in Christ’s Church. Therefore, we are pleased to make known to all our Christian brothers and sisters, regardless of denominational affiliation, Christ’s invitation to partake in the Eucharist. All the baptized are welcome to receive and to celebrate the sacramental life in our communities. We recognize that the sacraments are not rewards for any human achievement or accomplishment but are divine gifts of grace to enable us to become the People of God.
Invitation to Co-equal Ministry
In our communities all the baptized, men and women alike, are given the opportunity to respond to a genuine vocation and to fully participate in the ministerial priesthood. As St. Paul writes, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; all are one in Christ Jesus. We recognize and are acting to correct the injustice done by the long-standing practice of excluding women from ordained ministry, which unfairly diminishes women within the Church and also within the current world culture. Presently, within many of the communities of our Communion, women are actively engaged in the ordained priestly ministry and we have already enjoyed benefits of the coequal ministry of women in our faith communities.
Similarly, we affirm those, whether lay or ordained ministers, who are called to serve the People of God in a variety of life states which include people who are single, or have taken promises of celibacy, commitment, or marriage, and all affirm the full and open participation in all the sacraments of LGBT persons.
Invitation to Intimate Commitment
The experiences and insights of laypersons are nowhere more needed than in the area of intimate human relationships. We believe that the gift of sexual union is a source and celebration of love for couples, which allows for the special and safe sharing of intimacy. We consider it a danger to marriage and other intimate relationships to be denied sexual sharing. This has significant implications for Catholic practice, particularly as it applies to divorce and remarriage.
Divorce
Divorce is traumatic for all who experience it — spouses, children or extended family. Yet, in many circumstances, divorce is the best and most faithful response to permanently broken relationships. For many, whose marriages have failed, yet who still have the vocation of marriage, the co-joining in intimate love with another created in God’s image and likeness, there is a void in not being able to fulfill that vocation. For most of these, we do not require participation in an ecclesial annulment process which may, in many cases, add further damage to the health and wellbeing of an individual. We join our Eastern Christian brothers and sisters who have carried on the tradition of divorce and remarriage from the first eleven hundred years of our common history. We counsel the remarried to reflect upon all that has passed and to grow in all that will come during their new marriage. These new unions can best be nourished in the sacramental life of the Church.
Invitation to Follow Conscience
The use of contraception and artificial birth control as a way of responsibly limiting the size of one’s family is an issue of conscience to be decided by couples. We believe the use of contraception, if used responsibly, can be a positive good as a means of increasing the frequency of the gift of sexual union, reducing the incidence of abortion for unwanted pregnancies and limiting the spread of sexually transmitted disease.
We affirm the dignity of all human persons regardless of race, national origin, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual orientation. We strive for justice within the universal Church and the whole world. As a Communion of Communities we follow the ancient wisdom of the Church as expressed in the words of St. Augustine , “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
Regarding sacramental validity of the Holy Orders of Churches not in communion with the Roman Catholic Pontiff, it is to be noted that Pope Leo XIII, in the Bull Apostolicae Curae (1896), stated that, where an appropriate Sacramental minister performs the sacramental ritual using the correct matter and form, with no appearance of jest or simulation, he is presumed with moral certainty to have acted validly. It is also to be noted that proper matter of the Sacrament of Holy Orders is considered to be “a properly disposed person” and we employ the ritual of the Roman Church in her ordinations thereby ensuring proper form. We therefore share the same Apostolic Succession and Catholicity in essentials, albeit in some areas, dissenting concerning matters of conscience. If it is important to you, be assured that the Rome Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches recognize the validity of our Sacraments. This is clearly stated in the citations below:
At the Vatican on 16 June 2000, Pope John Paul II ratified and ordered the publication of “Dominus Iesus.” This Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was signed and published by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) in August of the same year. In “Dominus Iesus” the Vatican states in part, “The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the [Roman] Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by Apostolic Succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches.
“Therefore, these separated Churches and communities as such … have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church.
“Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the [Roman] Catholic Church…” IV. Unicity and Unity of the Church, 17
We therefore share the same Apostolic Succession and Catholicity in essentials, albeit in some areas, dissenting concerning matters of conscience. If it is important to you, be assured that Rome and the Orthodox Church recognizes the validity of our Sacraments.