How fresh and original: "Vatican-free Catholics"!

From the Miami Herald, this story about a "new" breed of "Catholics":

Terry Villaire, 69, has a neatly trimmed black goatee, pudgy expressive hands and penetrating dark eyes that are hard to avoid, even from the back pew.

During a recent Mass at Holy Angels Parish in Fort Lauderdale, Villaire seemed more like a party host than a presiding bishop as he circulated, distributing kisses on ready lips and cheeks. Just as effortlessly, he slipped into the solemnity of a centuries-old ritual, singing over a wine chalice and wafers.

''Our motto is love without judgment, and that's piqued some curiosity,'' said Villaire, a former Roman Catholic priest who's now a bishop in an independent Catholic movement.

Without judgment, that is, unless the issues of Church authority, moral teaching, and other doctrinal matters are raised. But not everyone is taken in by the "Catholic" signs out front:

The spread of independent Catholic communities -- Catholic congregations that reject Vatican teachings on issues such as priestly celibacy, women's ordination, divorce and papal infallibility -- has met skepticism and opposition from many mainstream Roman Catholics.

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, provost of Ave Maria University in Naples, said groups that reject the authority of Rome are ''by definition'' no longer Catholic.

''To be a Catholic is to accept the authority of the bishops in union with the pope to determine what we believe,'' said Fessio, a former theology student of Cardinal Joesph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. 'To say, `I want to be a Catholic but I don't want to accept all the teachings the church declares as part of myself' is like saying, 'Well, I want to be an employee of Ford Motor Company but I don't want to follow any of their rules.' ''

Yet the new groups press on, confident that they breaking barriers, freeing lives from the shackles of dogma, and trying to write better codes of canon law: "But as more of the faithful embrace alternative forms of Catholicism, splinter groups have started pushing radical reform by ordaining women and married men, forming their own parishes and worship communities and writing their own canon law." And so it goes:

More than 300 nontraditional Catholic congregations have formed in the United States, said Kathleen Kautzer, an associate professor of sociology at Regis College in Weston, Mass., who is writing a book on what she's termed the ''underground'' Catholic Church. Many more such parishes may exist but do not advertise, she said.

''There's a whole range of ways that you can be Catholic and stay connected to Catholicism,'' said Kautzer. "Reformers believe that some day the church will change, but it's becoming intolerable. They're saying that being a Catholic is bigger than the teachings of the Catholic Church.''

Hmmmm...sounds very familiar. Hasn't this happened before? My memory fails me, but this really does sound familiar....

Comments

Um... maybe the Protestant Revolt? Just a wild guess.

But unlike the "reformers," the current crop -- on the right and the left -- insist on maintaining some type of connection, however flimsy, with the Catholic Church. I don't believe the "reformers" used terms such as "Independent Catholics" or "New Catholics" -- but I would appreciate being corrected those with more historical knowledge.

Someone should advise Kautzer that she is not talking about "nontraditional Catholics" -- she's talking about "non-Catholics," period. But then I guess the book wouldn't (yawn) sell.

[Carl Olson]

They're saying that being a Catholic is bigger than the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Although I don't have a quote immediately at hand, this was certainly the mentality of many of the Protestant reformers. For some interesting remarks related to this issue, made from a "Reformational" perspective, see this link:

http://www.communiosanctorum.com/?p=27

Or, see this Lutheran sermon, given on "Reformation Day" last year:

http://home.earthlink.net/~graceandstpauls/id61.html

It states:

"In order to be truly Catholic, Martin Luther had to get rid of some of the most important doctrines and practices of the Pope and the Roman Church. And we modern Lutherans are in very much the same situation. Being Catholic means that we have less and less in common with the Pope of Rome of the Roman Church, because the Roman Church has less and less in common with Jesus and the Apostles."

So while the issues change a bit, some issues (authority) remain the same, as does the desire to be "truly catholic" without being really Catholic.

[Brian Michael Page]

Would St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis qualify as a Vatican-Free Catholic?

BMP

[BillyHW]

Catholic congregations that reject Vatican teachings on issues such as priestly celibacy, women's ordination, divorce and papal infallibility

What happened to contraception?

:)

[Jules]

"Pudgy expressive hands"?

[Mark Brumley]

Hmm. And here I thought "Vatican-free Catholics" were Catholics who got to go to the Vatican for free. You learn something every day.

[Fr. Stephanos Pedrano, O.S.B.]

Since the one who sits apostolically in the Vatican has heavenly authority to bind and loose, one could use "Vatican-free" to describe someone whom the apostolic Vatican-sitter has loosed on earth so as to be loose in heaven.

[Paul Hargadon]

John 15: 4-6 (edited for political correctness)
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. The person who abides in me, and I in in that person, that person bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a person does not abide in me, that person is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.

Thank you, Carl, for those very interesting links to "reformist" thought. I have never studied the Protestant reformation so was not aware of the close similarities.

BMP -- St. Joan's qualfies in spades - what an outrage. Let's have it included in the book (Archbishop Flynn will never notice). It's one group that should be sawed off, never mind break away.

[Lourdes del Calvo]

whatever it is that you e-mail to other Roman Catholics, I would like to be part of it, too. Thank you and God Bless you and us all.

[Lourdes del Calvo]

Oh, now I get it...I sent my first reply to you w/o first reading the articles and replies to you. All I can say is that it is not easy to be a good practicesing Roman Catholic, but it is very easy to be a Cafeteria Chatholic. Obedience is very important and we have to obey the Magesteriam for our Holy Father is guided by the Holy Spirit...otherwise we could not be here over 2,000 years, oh, yes there has been mistakes and will be more...look around beginning w/our priests...and the fallen away Roman Catholics...Pray, pray a lot, the Word of God, the Teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sacraments, mainly the Holy Eucharist the Real Presence Body and Blood,Soul and Divinity of our Lord. And the Cathecesim of our true Church founded by Jesus and Guided by the Holy Spirit.