Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA)
Encyclopedia
The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA) is an independent and self-governing Orthodox jurisdiction based in the United States but also with clergy in Mexico and Australia.
The OCCA is not associated with any mainstream Orthodox church. It is governed by a synod of diocesan bishops (currently seven) and a metropolitan archbishop. The current metropolitan is Archbishop Peter (Robert Zahrt). The ecclesial purpose of the OCCA is the worship of God in the Holy Trinity; the proclamation and continuing of the Orthodox faith as taught in holy scripture, the apostolic tradition and the seven ecumenical councils of the undivided and ancient Church of Christ. While not in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople
and not regarded as "canonical" by the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), the OCCA is one of a number of churches seeking to blend Orthodoxy in an American setting. The OCCA is a standing member of the International Council of Community Churches
(ICCC).
The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America should not be confused with the Orthodox Church in America
(OCA), a SCOBA recognized Orthodox church in full communion with most Eastern Orthodox churches. The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America does not claim to be wholly Eastern, but an American jurisdiction within the body of Orthodox churches.
s, presbyter
s, and bishop
s). All clergy and their ministries are self-supporting and the church as a jurisdiction is, by its canons, forbidden to own property. OCCA ordains openly lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual persons as clergy and blesses their unions as it does those of heterosexual couples. Access to the seven sacraments
is offered to all individuals regardless of sex or sexual orientation. The OCCA has two monastic (religious) communities. Monasticism
within the jurisdiction takes either a Western, Eastern or Oriental form just as the liturgical identity of the church as a whole represents herself.
) had been ordained priest by Bishop Ernst Herzog
of the Old Catholic Church in Bern Switzerland
on June 7, 1885. Working in the Great Lakes area, predominantly in Wisconsin, Fr. Vilatte sought to bring about the return of a Western Rite of Orthodoxy. Fr. Vilatte received both support and opposition in this attempt, but eventually he was consecrated as archbishop for North America, in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by Archbishop Francis Alvarez with the permission of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in 1892. The history of the OCCA is grounded, therefore, both in the East and West.
In the 19th century, the Indian branch of the Syrian Orthodox Church had begun ordaining local priests for the western rite in order to supply ministers for their western rite congregations. Among these were Bishops Julius Alvarez, Paul Athanasius, Paul Evanious, and George Gregorius (the latter later canonized as St. Gregorius Geverghese). Father Vilatte was ordained by them as Mar Timotheus and appointed as metropolitan for the newly formed American diocese. The next patriarch (H.H. Ignatius Abdul Masih II, who was deposed in 1905) was not interested in a Western Rite church half way around the world and gave it no support. The synod of the American archdiocese, finding no support from the patriarchate, declared itself autocephalous (self-governing) in 1910. This declaration has not been recognized by other Orthodox churches and OCCA is, like many other Orthodox jurisdictions around the world, considered non-canonical by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America (SCOBA).
Soon after his return to the United States, various ethnic parishes began approaching Mar Timotheus to consecrate bishops to create independent jurisdictions; all these gathered under the umbrella of the American Catholic Church (ACC), as it was then called, and formed a synod of bishops with himself at its head.
Increasingly for several years before his retirement in 1920, Mar Timotheus left the affairs of the ACC under the care of his co-adjutor, Frederick E.J. Lloyd, whom he had consecrated to the episcopate in 1915. When Mar Timotheus formally retired, Lloyd was elected Archbishop and Metropolitan.The following year Mar Timotheus consecrated George Alexander McGuire to
the episcopacy. The founding convocation of parishes and clergy who gathered earlier in 1921 to organize the African Orthodox Church (AOC) had elected McGuire to be their bishop, and sent a delegation to Mar Timotheus to acquire an apostolic episcopacy. Before the consecration could take place, Lloyd and McGuire and their respective consultors negotiated a
complex set of agreements to regulate relations between the ACC and the AOC; as a matter of principle the AOC insisted on being led by people of African descent, since most of the clergy who had gathered to establish the jurisdiction and elected McGuire as their bishop had left jurisdictions where they were marginalized on the basis of their race. Lloyd was a member
of the AOC synod but McGuire was not subject to him, nor he to McGuire.
For the next decade, our jurisdiction and the AOC remained, so to speak sisters. In 1928, McGuire consecrated one of Lloyd's priests who wasserving in New York City, William Tyarks, as bishop; he also joined the synod but Archbishop McGuire deposed him in 1932 and consecrated Clement Sherwood as the new archbishop of his American Orthodox Catholic Church, which functioned as an eastern-rite diocese of the joint synod. Sherwood, who had been ordained presbyter by Archbishop Lloyd, was originally
consecrated bishop by Tyarks, but after the latter�s deposition, requested that McGuire conditionally reconsecrate him. The following year Archbishop Lloyd reposed in the Lord, and Sherwood was his successor. (One of the sources of the multiplicity of jurisdictions deriving their orders from Mar Timotheus is the number of bishops consecrated by Lloyd or with his
permission who later functioned as independents successors in their respective local communities.) Sherwood remained a member of the AOC synod until he reposed in 1969, functioning as sort of an Eastern Rite exarch for those not of African descent. In this role, he acted autonomously as primate of our jurisdiction.
One of his most courageous acts was the consecration, in 1957, of George Augustine Hyde to the episcopy. 1970 Archbishop George Augustine Hyde was elected and enthroned as metropolitan archbishop. His administration saw a consolidation of Western Rite liturgy and an emphasis in ministry to the marginalized of our society. In particular, Archbishop Hyde was the first cleric in the United States to establish a parish (in Atlanta in 1946) for lesbian and gay Christians. He retired in 1980 with the subsequent election of Metropolitan Archbishop Alfred Louis Lankenau (1930-2010). Under Archbishop Alfred the synod of the church agreed to the ordination of women. Archbishop Alfred retired in 1999 and was suceeeded by Metropolitan Archbishop E. Paul Brian Carsten who died in March 2009. On June 1, 2009, Bishop Peter (Robert Zahrt) was elected and enthroned as the metropolitan archbishop of the jurisidiction.
The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America is not the only jurisdiction to claim Bishop Rene Vilatte. Many other independent and Old-Catholic jurisdictions can validly lay claim to apostolic succession through Vilatte.
In 1921 Mar Timotheus ordained the first African-American bishop, George Alexander McGuire
, for the African Orthodox Missionary District of New York, which later became the African Orthodox Church
. Mar Timotheus believed that an African American was perfectly capable of being a bishop and would be the proper choice to serve priests and congregations who were African Americans. (Little did he know that Bishop George would eventually take the Church to Africa itself.)
Photographs of the original Syriac bull of consecration for Mar Julius, and
also translations of his and Mar Timotheus�s certificates, can also be
found in this article.
The OCCA is not associated with any mainstream Orthodox church. It is governed by a synod of diocesan bishops (currently seven) and a metropolitan archbishop. The current metropolitan is Archbishop Peter (Robert Zahrt). The ecclesial purpose of the OCCA is the worship of God in the Holy Trinity; the proclamation and continuing of the Orthodox faith as taught in holy scripture, the apostolic tradition and the seven ecumenical councils of the undivided and ancient Church of Christ. While not in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
and not regarded as "canonical" by the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), the OCCA is one of a number of churches seeking to blend Orthodoxy in an American setting. The OCCA is a standing member of the International Council of Community Churches
International Council of Community Churches
The International Council of Community Churches is a Christian religious association of ecumenically co-operating and Independent Catholics based in Frankfort, Illinois, in the United States. It is the main organization of the Community Church movement...
(ICCC).
The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America should not be confused with the Orthodox Church in America
Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
(OCA), a SCOBA recognized Orthodox church in full communion with most Eastern Orthodox churches. The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America does not claim to be wholly Eastern, but an American jurisdiction within the body of Orthodox churches.
Distinctive characteristics
Both men and women, married and unmarried, may be ordained to all three orders of the apostolic ministry (deaconDeacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
s, presbyter
Presbyter
Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, then a synonym of episkopos...
s, and bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s). All clergy and their ministries are self-supporting and the church as a jurisdiction is, by its canons, forbidden to own property. OCCA ordains openly lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual persons as clergy and blesses their unions as it does those of heterosexual couples. Access to the seven sacraments
Sacraments of the Catholic Church
The Sacraments of the Catholic Church are, the Roman Catholic Church teaches, "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper...
is offered to all individuals regardless of sex or sexual orientation. The OCCA has two monastic (religious) communities. Monasticism
Monasticism
Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
within the jurisdiction takes either a Western, Eastern or Oriental form just as the liturgical identity of the church as a whole represents herself.
History
The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America was established in the United States in 1892 under the mandate of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch, Ignatius-Peter IV. The founding archbishop, Mar Timotheus (Joseph René VilatteJoseph René Vilatte
Joseph René Vilatte was, at different times, a Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Russian Orthodox and Jacobite...
) had been ordained priest by Bishop Ernst Herzog
Eduard Herzog
Eduard Herzog was a Swiss Catholic theologian and cleric who was a native of Schongau, Canton Lucerne. He was the first Christian Catholic bishop of Switzerland....
of the Old Catholic Church in Bern Switzerland
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
on June 7, 1885. Working in the Great Lakes area, predominantly in Wisconsin, Fr. Vilatte sought to bring about the return of a Western Rite of Orthodoxy. Fr. Vilatte received both support and opposition in this attempt, but eventually he was consecrated as archbishop for North America, in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by Archbishop Francis Alvarez with the permission of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in 1892. The history of the OCCA is grounded, therefore, both in the East and West.
In the 19th century, the Indian branch of the Syrian Orthodox Church had begun ordaining local priests for the western rite in order to supply ministers for their western rite congregations. Among these were Bishops Julius Alvarez, Paul Athanasius, Paul Evanious, and George Gregorius (the latter later canonized as St. Gregorius Geverghese). Father Vilatte was ordained by them as Mar Timotheus and appointed as metropolitan for the newly formed American diocese. The next patriarch (H.H. Ignatius Abdul Masih II, who was deposed in 1905) was not interested in a Western Rite church half way around the world and gave it no support. The synod of the American archdiocese, finding no support from the patriarchate, declared itself autocephalous (self-governing) in 1910. This declaration has not been recognized by other Orthodox churches and OCCA is, like many other Orthodox jurisdictions around the world, considered non-canonical by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America (SCOBA).
Soon after his return to the United States, various ethnic parishes began approaching Mar Timotheus to consecrate bishops to create independent jurisdictions; all these gathered under the umbrella of the American Catholic Church (ACC), as it was then called, and formed a synod of bishops with himself at its head.
Increasingly for several years before his retirement in 1920, Mar Timotheus left the affairs of the ACC under the care of his co-adjutor, Frederick E.J. Lloyd, whom he had consecrated to the episcopate in 1915. When Mar Timotheus formally retired, Lloyd was elected Archbishop and Metropolitan.The following year Mar Timotheus consecrated George Alexander McGuire to
the episcopacy. The founding convocation of parishes and clergy who gathered earlier in 1921 to organize the African Orthodox Church (AOC) had elected McGuire to be their bishop, and sent a delegation to Mar Timotheus to acquire an apostolic episcopacy. Before the consecration could take place, Lloyd and McGuire and their respective consultors negotiated a
complex set of agreements to regulate relations between the ACC and the AOC; as a matter of principle the AOC insisted on being led by people of African descent, since most of the clergy who had gathered to establish the jurisdiction and elected McGuire as their bishop had left jurisdictions where they were marginalized on the basis of their race. Lloyd was a member
of the AOC synod but McGuire was not subject to him, nor he to McGuire.
For the next decade, our jurisdiction and the AOC remained, so to speak sisters. In 1928, McGuire consecrated one of Lloyd's priests who wasserving in New York City, William Tyarks, as bishop; he also joined the synod but Archbishop McGuire deposed him in 1932 and consecrated Clement Sherwood as the new archbishop of his American Orthodox Catholic Church, which functioned as an eastern-rite diocese of the joint synod. Sherwood, who had been ordained presbyter by Archbishop Lloyd, was originally
consecrated bishop by Tyarks, but after the latter�s deposition, requested that McGuire conditionally reconsecrate him. The following year Archbishop Lloyd reposed in the Lord, and Sherwood was his successor. (One of the sources of the multiplicity of jurisdictions deriving their orders from Mar Timotheus is the number of bishops consecrated by Lloyd or with his
permission who later functioned as independents successors in their respective local communities.) Sherwood remained a member of the AOC synod until he reposed in 1969, functioning as sort of an Eastern Rite exarch for those not of African descent. In this role, he acted autonomously as primate of our jurisdiction.
One of his most courageous acts was the consecration, in 1957, of George Augustine Hyde to the episcopy. 1970 Archbishop George Augustine Hyde was elected and enthroned as metropolitan archbishop. His administration saw a consolidation of Western Rite liturgy and an emphasis in ministry to the marginalized of our society. In particular, Archbishop Hyde was the first cleric in the United States to establish a parish (in Atlanta in 1946) for lesbian and gay Christians. He retired in 1980 with the subsequent election of Metropolitan Archbishop Alfred Louis Lankenau (1930-2010). Under Archbishop Alfred the synod of the church agreed to the ordination of women. Archbishop Alfred retired in 1999 and was suceeeded by Metropolitan Archbishop E. Paul Brian Carsten who died in March 2009. On June 1, 2009, Bishop Peter (Robert Zahrt) was elected and enthroned as the metropolitan archbishop of the jurisidiction.
Wider connections
The Syrian Orthodox Church vibrantly exists today and has grown across the world. While OCCA has no current official relations with their Mother Church, OCCA accords them the respect due to an Apostolic Church and to a church who in a time of need assisted Mar Timotheus in his vision for a truly Western Orthodox presence in the United States. The Syrian Orthodox Church continues to acknowledge their ordination of Mar Timotheus.The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America is not the only jurisdiction to claim Bishop Rene Vilatte. Many other independent and Old-Catholic jurisdictions can validly lay claim to apostolic succession through Vilatte.
In 1921 Mar Timotheus ordained the first African-American bishop, George Alexander McGuire
George Alexander McGuire
George Alexander McGuire was the first Bishop, Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the African Orthodox Church . He was an Episcopal Priest who became involved in a movement to establish a Black Anglican denomination...
, for the African Orthodox Missionary District of New York, which later became the African Orthodox Church
African Orthodox Church
The African Orthodox Church is a primarily African-American denomination founded in the United States in 1921. It has approximately 15 parishes and 5,000 members, down significantly from the time of its greatest strength....
. Mar Timotheus believed that an African American was perfectly capable of being a bishop and would be the proper choice to serve priests and congregations who were African Americans. (Little did he know that Bishop George would eventually take the Church to Africa itself.)
Name
In May 1891, Bishop Vladimir (Sokolovsky), the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States, referred to Fr. Vilatte's flock as "true Old Catholic-Orthodox Christians [now] under the patronage of our Church." Theriault, Serge A., "Msgr. Rene Vilatte: Community Organizer of Religion, 1854-1929 (Berkeley: Apocryphile Press 2006) This concept that the church was truly both Old Catholic (Western) and Orthodox was translated by this jurisdiction into the name "Orthodox-Catholic". The concept is that of a church with Western liturgy and Eastern (Orthodox) spirituality and theology.See also
- Orthodox Catholic Church
- List of Christian denominations
Sources
- A.C. Terry-Thomas, The History of the African Orthodox Church (1956) [no place of publication; I assume, but it's not stated, that the AOC itself was the publisher]
- Azevedo, Carmo, *Patriot & Saint: The Life Story of Father Alvares/Bishop Mar Julius I* (Panjim: 1988).
- Attwater, Donald. Churches in Communion with Rome. The Christian Churches of the East, Revised ed. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1961.
- Churches Not in Communion with Rome. The Christian Churches of the East, Revised ed. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1961.
- Duncan, Rev. Stephen, DMA. A Genre of Hindusthani Music (Bhajans) as Used in the Roman Catholic Church. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press 1999 (Original dissertation published in Memphis , TN and Bandra, India. 1992.)
- This We Believe: Basic Tenets of the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America, second edition. Galveston, Texas: OCCA Archdiocese, 2005.
- Conciliar Press. What on Earth is the Orthodox Church. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, (No date given).
- Fortescue, Adrian, The Lesser Eastern Churches. New York: A.M.S. Press, 1972; reprint, London: Catholic Truth Society, 1913.
- Hyde, Most Rev. George, (ret.) (Rev. Gordon Fisher, OCCA, ed.).Genesis of the Orthodox Catholic Church of America. Indianapolis, Indiana: Orthodox Catholic Church of America,1993.
- Joseph, John. The Nestorians and their Muslim Neighbors. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.
- Pothan, S.G. The Syrian Christians of Kerala. Bombay, India: Asta Publishing House, 1963.
- Taft, Rev. Robert, S.J. The Liturgy of the Hours in the Christian East. Kerala, India: K.C.M. Press, 1983
- Theriault, Serge A., "Msgr. Rene Vilatte: Community Organizer of Religion, 1854-1929 (Berkeley: Apocryphile Press 2006,
- Trigg, Rev. Michael, ed. et al. An Introduction to Western Rite Orthodoxy. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 1993.
- Ware, Kalistos. The Orthodox Church. Revised edition. Penguin. 1993
- http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/Vol7No2/HV7N2Kiraz.html, accessed 11/11/11.
Photographs of the original Syriac bull of consecration for Mar Julius, and
also translations of his and Mar Timotheus�s certificates, can also be
found in this article.
Further reading
- Theriault, Serge A., "Msgr. Rene Vilatte: Community Organizer of Religion, 1854-1929 (Berkeley: Apocryphile Press 2006