Dear
Friends,
Good morning. Religion fascinates
me. Last week, I attended the ordination of two men into the National Catholic
Church of America. The Vatican does not recognize the NCCA because the NCCA
ordains celibate and non-celibate men, women, homosexuals, approves
contraception, and does not believe in the authority of the Pope.
I wondered whether the NCCA could be a threat to the
Roman Catholic Church in America and Europe where the pedophilia scandal has
angered many of the faithful and has cost over $1 billion in litigated
settlements to date. I talked with two well known Roman Catholic priests about
possible membership erosion.
“They (NCCA) are not prominent at this point,”
Father Dan Gambet, the former President of De Sales University began. “They are
Ex Lege (meaning outside the law).” Gambet says that the NCCA is a small
independent religious group which claims to be faithful to Catholic
tradition…but isn’t. “The difference [between NCCA and Roman Catholicism] is
that women can be priests, anyone can have communion, priests don’t have to be
celibate, there’s room for single sex marriage, and most important, they [NCCA]
don’t recognize the authority of the Pope.”
The Reverend Fred Riegler, Pastor of St. Isidore’s
in Quakertown, agrees with Gambet. Riegler’s parish has over 8,000 members. Is
the NCCA a threat, I asked? “Not at all,” Riegler replied. “Why don’t they join
with Protestant churches who have the same views? If you hold these [Roman
Catholic] beliefs, you stay with us. If you don’t, leave.
“It boggles my mind,” Riegler continued. “The NCCA
doesn’t have much of a future. If there were no Protestant church, it would
make more sense. Why be a national Catholic Church if they’re not even
Catholic?”
But I was curious, just the same. That’s why I
attended the ordination of Joseph Menna and Charles Tobin in Philadelphia. The
formal robes, skullcaps, chants, miter, smoke, bells and formality sure looked
Catholic to me. So was the length of the service…well over two hours.
To prepare, I checked out the NCCA website (www.augustiniansihm.net)
“We minister especially to those who are unable to participate in the Sacraments
of the Roman Catholic Church because of marital status, sexual orientation,
political affiliation, or other circumstances,” the website explains. “We offer
the Sacrament of Matrimony to sufficiently prepared couples, regardless of
gender. Second marriages are also offered for those who have been divorced, and
are properly disposed to remarry.”
The Vatican will be least comfortable with this NCCA
principle. “We recognize the special position of the Bishop of Rome as “first
among equals” with all other bishops, holding primacy of honor, but not primacy
of jurisdiction over the entire Church,” the NCCA pamphlet read.
I remembered the CBS News poll (April 17) about
American Catholics showing discontent brewing among the flock. Sixty percent
would allow women priests; 65 percent would allow priests to marry; 69 percent
would end the ban on artificial birth control; 52 percent said the Church was
out of touch with parishioners’ needs; and 59 percent said it should change
some of its stances.
“According to research by the Reverend Andrew
Greeley, the [Catholic] sociologist and author, the defection rate among the
nation’s 63 million Catholics stands at about 15 percent,” the Inquirer wrote
(Jan. 9). If Greeley is correct, 9.5 million Catholics have quit. Where are
these unhappy Catholics going to church? More to the point, are they candidates
for the NCCA?
Gambet and Riegler are not worried. Still, I wonder.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith