Statement of Met. Hilarion on the Conversion of the "Catholic Church of the East" to Orthodoxy

Diocese of the East (ROCOR) ^ | 02-04-2016 | Met. Hilarion

[NRx]

Over the past several months, the leader of an independent church movement called the "Catholic Church of the East," the former Archbishop Ramzi Mussalam, has begun a remarkable transition: to bring his entire movement, of over 60 parishes, into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). The former archbishop was received into the Orthodox Church and ordained a deacon and priest with the encouragement and blessing and by the hand of Metropolitan Hilarion, ROCOR’s First Hierarch. The former archbishop is now Hieromonk Elias. Father Elias grew up in the Scranton area of Pennsylvania as a communicant of the Polish National Catholic Church, in which he was ordained to the priesthood.

The process of Orthodox catechization has now commenced, with the gradual reception of the former clergy and faithful of the "Catholic Church of the East" into Orthodoxy, with their regularization within the canonical embrace of the Orthodox Church. It is expected that this will be a long and complex process but one of that will bear an abundant spiritual harvest. A number of parishes have already been received: St. Irene Church in Pittston, PA; St. Ann Church in Pottsville, PA and St. Mark Church in Milford, CT.

Let us welcome these people with joy and do all that we can to help them integrate into the Orthodox community. Let us give thanks to God that He has led Fr. Elias and his faithful people into Orthodoxy.

[BlackElk]

The link you provided substantiates the claim that the Utrecht schism dates to at least 1723. Live and learn! Thanks for the correction.

The Utrecht schismatics did crank up their horsepower after Vatican I and rejected the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and of the Assumption, body and soul, of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven.

Apparently the now "progressive" Utrecht schismatics started "ordaining" women as "priests" in 1996. One result of that is that the "Polish National Catholic Church" withdrew its affiliation with Utrecht in 2004. PNCC will have to consecrate its own bishops now or they won't have priests when those ordained already and those to be ordained in the future run out. I am betting that they consecrate their own bishops from now on and ordain their own priests.

[Ransomed]

Are there any of the ‘independent Catholic groups’ that didn’t get really liberal really fast when they split? I guess I don’t count SSPXpXxsRRXXwhatevers for obvious reasons. What about the Polish National cats? Do they ordain priestesses or what?

Freegards

[vladimir998]

“PNCC will have to consecrate its own bishops now or they won’t have priests when those ordained already and those to be ordained in the future run out. I am betting that they consecrate their own bishops from now on and ordain their own priests.”

Well, they’ve had their own bishops since 1907. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bishops_of_the_Polish_National_Catholic_Church

They currently have six living bishops: http://www.centraldiocesepncc.org/history/our-bishops/ Three of those are retired.

If you have six living bishops you can ordain priests and consecrate bishops with no difficulty (except for your eternal soul!).

[vladimir998]

I think that website only had the bishops from the Central PNCC diocese.

There’s an Eastern Diocese too (New England): http://easterndiocesepncc.org/Our_Parishes.html That’s one more bishop.

Western Diocese: http://www.westerndiocesepncc.org/ With one more bishop.

Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese: http://buffalopittsburghdiocesepncc.org/ With bishop mentioned on Central Diocese bishops’ page. Anyway, in the U.S. they have at least 8 living bishops.

[BlackElk]

This is always the problem with schismatic groups. They find some east end of a westbound horse with credentials as a validly consecrated bishop and then its off to the races with ordinations and consecrations to make permanent their schisms.

[BlackElk]

There is a so-called Thuc line of validly but illicitly consecrated bishops, named for the Archbishop of Hue, Vietnam, of the early 1960s, who was the brither of President Ngo Dinh Diem. He left the Church because he imagined the Church as complicit in the assassinations of three of his brothers including the President. IIRC, the Thuc line of bishops and their followers maintain quite traditional Catholicism other than their sedevacantist tendencies. No women priests.

Splitting off from SSPX were nine priests who were open sedevacantists (even LeFebvre and his servants did not buy ff on that one). Like SSPX, they say only traditional Tridentine Masses, preach orthodox Catholic morality but, unlike SSPX, claim that Pope Pius XII was the last legitimate pope. No priestesses. Except for the sedevacatist nonsense, they would be exemplary Catholics just as would be SSPX except for their defiance and disobedience to papal authority.

Polish National Catholics (in the USA) do not ordain women, maintain a reasonable level of orthodox belief but split from the Utrecht schism when it started ordaining priestesses in 1996 or so.

May God bless you and yours!