The North American
Catholic Ecumenical Church/NACEC
PASTORAL STATEMENTS
Accepted August 6, 2011 in Annual Synod, Carefree, Arizona
1. Affiliation with Other Autocephalous Bodies
2. The Death Penalty
3. Celebrating the Gift of Life
4. Mary, the Mother of Jesus
5. Open and Affirming Church
6. Marriage Equality
7. Transgender Personnel in the Military August 2, 2017
AFFILIATION WITH OTHER AUTOCEPHALOUS BODIES
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church is an autocephalous jurisdiction of Catholic clergy and ministries formed to serve the spiritual needs of the local community.
Our clergy and members strive to share insights, discernment, resources and companionship with other autocephalous Catholic clergy in the interest of bringing the Gospel and sacramental ministry to the people of God.
The NACEC encourages a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect among the clergy from the various independent Catholic jurisdictions;
This faith community does not involve itself in the internal matters of any other Independent Catholic or Old Catholic
jurisdictions;
Questions of who is validly ordained or granted faculties are matters appropriate to each jurisdiction. Consequently, as an autocephalous jurisdiction the NACEC accepts as valid the priestly faculties and the ordination of all clergy who are considered to be validly and canonically ordained by their jurisdiction;
Recognizing that each Independent Catholic and Old Catholic jurisdiction has the right to determine who has valid sacerdotal faculties by that jurisdiction and that the questions of women’s ordination and gay ordination are matters all jurisdictions have yet to agree on, this faith community stands for nondiscrimination in either civil or Sacramental life. For sacramental and spiritual purposes, female and gay clergy will be accepted as such and allowed full and equal participation when attending NACEC events. Since the NACEC does not grant these clergy their sacerdotal faculties but only recognizes those faculties already granted, the NACEC does not assume any liability or debt of these clergy in attendance at local events;
The NACEC supports the advancement of the Independent and Old Catholic Movement in general and does not to promote any one jurisdiction.
THE DEATH PENALTY
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty under any circumstances.
This Catholic jurisdiction embraces the belief that all life is unconditionally precious, since life comes from God. Any act, which fails to respect the gift of life, is inherently and morally wrong.
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church fully recognizes and shares in the pain and suffering when one human commits violence against another person. When a person takes the life of another, we acknowledge the pain and the hurt of all victimized parties. But we also recognize that taking the life of the guilty will not return a lost loved one to their family and friends, or will it, in reality, erase the pain and loss. We do not wish to shield the guilty from the consequences of their actions, but we do not believe that the taking of their lives is a legitimate answer for one cannot respond to an inherently wrong action by committing another inherently wrong action. One who has perpetrated such gross violations against another person by virtue of those actions has broken the social contract and may be incarcerated for an appropriate time of punishment, up to and including lifetime incarceration.
We also believe that in this country (The United States of America) the death penalty has been applied unfairly along racial, ethnic, and socio-economic lines. Not only is the act of the death penalty inherently wrong, but the manner in which it is applied become morally wrong.
We call upon all nations, along with the United States of America, which continue to impose the death penalty, to abolish it.
CELEBRATING THE GIFT OF LIFE
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church upholds and celebrates the gift of life, for we believe that all life comes from God.
We hold that the gift of life must be celebrated and treasured. We are a pro-life and a pro-quality of life Catholic faith community. Science has not told us when life becomes human, and we do not immediately dictate that human life exists from the moment of conception. We take as our guidepost the common practice of reviewing the end-stage of human life when medical decisions are made to allow life to cease when brain waves are undetectable.
If a human body is alive and organs functioning, even with artificial aid, but the brain has ceased functioning and this is one sign of a decision to allow extraordinary mechanisms to be removed, how can the same review not be allowed at the beginning of life?
We also believe that all individuals have the right to plan the size of their families and the timing of each new member to their families.
We support responsible family planning and encourage those who wish to have children to give serious consideration to and have an honest understanding of the responsibilities they will undertake.
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church does not endorse the practice of abortion, nor do we condemn, excoriate and excommunicate any woman or man dealing with an abortion. Having said this, this Catholic faith community also understands that individuals will ultimately make their own personal moral decisions regarding abortion. Irrespective of their decisions, this Catholic faith community will not turn our back nor abandon any person who ends their pregnancy, but will welcome and embrace them in healing ministry and service.
MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church applauds and supports the traditional Catholic belief that Jesus the Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, and accepts as tradition (though there is no scriptural basis) that at the end of her life on Earth was assumed into eternal life. 1, 2
We believe that Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ continues to play a pivotal role in our spiritual life. We believe that Mary intercedes on our behalf when prayers are offered to her as first among the blessed in heaven and first among the saints.
We encourage all to celebrate the traditional feast days accorded to Mary.
We encourage all who have devotions to Mary to continue doing so.
We believe that because the role of Mary is so important and unique in our lives, that we not blur her significance by assigning titles or functions inappropriate to her.
Historically, the tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity has been a litmus test for Catholics. However scholars are at a loss to provide a scriptural justification for this tradition. For many scholars the issue of Mary’s perpetual virginity remains a mystery of the Faith.
Therefore, the CatholicEcumenical Churchrespects the various opinions on this matter, and calls upon all to respect the opinions of others. This Church accepts the time-honored prayers and references to Mary for the good of tradition.
1. Traditional Catholic teaching is that Mary, the Mother of God, was unique among humans in that she did not suffer the common human fate of bodily corruption after death, but was assumed into heaven without having to endure that indignity. The Latin Catholic Church refers to this as the “Assumption of Mary” while the Eastern Catholic Church refers to this as the “Dormition of Mary,” or the falling asleep of Mary.
2. Declaration of Utrecht, 1889 of the Old Catholic Bishop of the Netherlands, Germany & Switzerland:
“We also reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception promulgated by Pius IX in 1854 in defiance of the Holy Scriptures and in contradiction to the tradition of the centuries.”
Utrecht, 24th September, 1889 +Heykamp, +Rinkel, +Diependaal, +Reinkens, +Herzog
OPEN AND AFFIRMING CHURCH
All are welcome to the Table of the Lord. It does not matter where you have been, where you are, or where you are going. You are invited to receive our Lord at our Communion Table.
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church in America is a part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church given by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to His Apostles.
The mandate of Jesus to His Apostles to go out and preach to all nations is continued in our midst. Therefore, we are a sign and symbol of God’s love for the world. The People of God are a people of hope who reach out with a radical openness to the diversity found in our members and leaders.
In this spirit we seek to approach those who have been condemned or injured by the Church or her ministers, or others who speak in the Church’s name, and join with them in their quest for equality and justice in the Church. The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church lovingly welcomes all those who have suffered discrimination or who have been disenfranchised from religious life. Any person, couple, or family that has been ostracized or shunned by their home parish, congregation, or denomination because of who or what they are, or who or what they are perceived to be, are invited to join their spiritual and religious journey to ours. The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church invites all persons who wish to practice and fulfill their Catholic faith into full sacramental activity, membership, and ministry of this Catholic Church.
With the love of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Ecumenical Churchdeclares itself an open and affirming Catholic faith community, welcoming gays, lesbians, bisexuals, trans-gendered persons, and all marginalized and religiously disenfranchised people to full participation in Catholic life.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church hereby declares that every man and woman has the right to love and demonstrate affection to another mutually free and consenting adult of their choice. This couple, if they wish, has the right to complete and fulfill that relationship by committing themselves to each other in marriage through a legal civil ceremony.
As of this writing there are six states of the United States of America that allow Marriage Equality: gender common civil marriages on par with heterosexual couples. This faith community supports the availability of marriage and all its civil rights and responsibilities for the glbt community. This faith community encourages those gay and lesbian couples who wish to marry to do so and so celebrate their love and commitment to each other as a witness so needed in this culture, this country, and this time.
Neither homosexuality nor heterosexuality are good or bad but neutral in principle, but simply areas of orientation along the human continuum of sexual attraction and behavior. It is what a person does with their homosexuality or heterosexuality that makes that action moral or immoral. Moral theologian Christina Traina says that "the ultimate fruitfulness and durability of any union -heterosexual or homosexual-have everything to do with faith, friendship, generosity, community support, sexual and verbal affection and the hard work that goes into mutual formation of a working partnership." 1
This faith community commits its members to support each couple seeking marriage and publicly celebrate ceremonies that
formalize the aforesaid “hard work that goes into mutual formation of a working partnership.” Civil unions and domestic partnerships are not the same as “marriage” and differences in definitions and misunderstandings abound in our society when these are addressed. Civil unions and domestic partnership are inherently unequal to marriage and do not carry the same rights, benefits, privileges, and responsibilities of civil marriage.
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church declares it is unfair and discriminatory to deny same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage and to all its intrinsic benefits, rights, responsibilities, and privileges.
This faith community looks forward to the time when this statement is no longer necessary and all persons are free to marry and celebrate loving relationships.
- See
Christina L.H. Traina, "Papal Ideals, Marital Realities: One View from the
Ground," in Sexual Diversity and Catholicism: Toward the Development of
Moral Theology, ed. Patricia Beattie Jung and Joseph Andrew Coray
(Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 2001),
269-88.
TRANSGENDER MEMBERS OF OUR AMERICAN ARMED FORCES
August 2, 2017
Feast of Our Lady of the Angels
From the Episcopal Authority of the North American Catholic Ecumenical Church
Regarding Transgender Members of our American Armed Forces
To the Body of Christ,
We would like to take this moment of our Church's Pilgrimage to reaffirm the message of love and acceptance among our transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning brothers and sisters. Our Savior's ministry and life were centralized upon the themes of love, acceptance, and encouragement of life's fulfillment of God's will. As each of us seeks his or her path towards that fulfillment, we are called upon by our Brother Jesus to support one another, to treat others as we would wish to be treated and most importantly, to love one another.
Our brothers and sisters who have answered the vocation to serve as patriots in the American Armed Forces serve God as they serve their country. Gender identity is a part of each and every member of the Armed Forces, as it is for each and every member of humanity. We as the Body of Christ celebrate our diversity in this matter. Saint Paul the apostle describes the diversity of Body of Christ is his epistle to the Romans, chapter 12 verse 4-5. We are all members of the Body of Christ, each with a different role to play, yet equally important to the mission of the Church. All different, none the same, individual roles, but together we are One Body. In a secular manner this is reflected in our country’s original motto: E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One. So to is every member of the American Armed Forces.
We support the missions of our patriotic members as they seek the privilege to serve their country, their fellow Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, straight and transgender.
God bless our service men and women.
Rev. Bishop +David J. Doyle,
Presiding Bishop, NACEC
Rev. Msgr. B. Scott Burris+
Vicar for Military and Uniformed Services
NACEC and Dignity NM Response to the Vatican's Responsum to Blessing Same-Sex Unions
March 15, 2021
Feast Day of Longinus, Martyr
The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church/NACEC
P.O. Box 20744
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87154-0744
and
Dignity, New Mexico An Open and Welcoming Catholic Faith Community
To all who read this, greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is our response to the Responsum issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Their Responsum was issued to address a dubium (or question) submitted regarding the possible blessing of same-sex unions. Their one- word answer: No!
It is no surprise that this is the Vatican’s answer to Roman Catholic lgbtqa+ persons who sincerely seek to have the Church’s blessing on their relationships. For Roman Catholic lgbtqa+ persons, many of whom wish to worship with their faith community, and celebrate those life milestones which are the Sacraments, this Responsum has smashed that wish for the next several decades, at least.
The Roman Catholic Church is its own ecclesiastical jurisdiction and as such can make its own rules and regulations in guiding their members. What is sad is the negative influence it has on larger society with this ill-conceived, but perfectly understandable in their world view of lgbtqa+ persons. To put it simply: For the Roman Catholic Church all acts of sex must be open to procreation. Sexual acts outside of the Sacrament of Marriage are sinful. By this very definition same-sex unions are not open to procreation and therefore sinful. They cannot be allowed the Sacrament of Marriage. Case closed; the question is answered.
All this seems very simple and logical, and of course it is all supported in scriptural annotations. What the Vatican and its Responsum demonstrates is its lack of humanity and understanding of modern social and biological sciences. The Vatican continues to have the worldview that sexuality is exhibited by only two sexes and genders, male and female, and the sexual act between these two parties must be open to human life.
In blunt language, the Vatican continues to see lgbtqa+ persons as “intrinsically disordered” and sinful in their unions, so one can “be gay,” but “can’t do gay.” The Vatican sees no diversity in the spectrum of human sexuality.
No matter how much the Vatican and its Congregations protest, their bottom line is all sex not between husband and wife is sinful. And the Sacrament is only allowed between a man and a woman. Blessing a same-sex union might confuse the faithful and see it as a Sacrament. Whatever civil laws allow, the Church will stand firm against blessing or condoning same-sex unions.
And yet, to show its human side even the Vatican admits that some couples cannot have children. These are those where one or both are sterile, those older persons who are no longer fertile, or those persons who for biological/medical/chemical/war wounds cannot engage in normative sexual intercourse and therefore cannot reproduce. These persons may petition the Church for a dispensation to be married EVEN though regular heterosexual intercourse is not possible. And often these dispensations are granted, so as to not burden the couple more than necessary.
But does the Vatican and local Church allow these dispensations to their Catholic lgbtqa+ members who want to marry? No, Why? Because these unions are same-sex and, according to the Vatican, intrinsically disordered and sinful. Period. Just ask any bishop.
It is sad to see the Vatican publish a document pushing lgbtqa+ persons to the side in order to keep up the façade of a never-ending Truth. They should not be surprised when these children of God, and those who love them, walk away from the Church to find churches, societies and communities that welcome, affirm, and support them. To this I say: Not all Catholics are Roman.
The Roman Church needs to understand that this, and other documents like this, offer nothing to the lgbtqa+ community. These children of God love and are loved, and want to celebrate that love like so many others in their families and friendly circles. Calls by the Church to “love and respect lgbtqa+ persons” fall on deaf ears when documents like this are published.
The lgbtqa+ community needs to know there are Catholic Communities of faith that welcome and support them in their lives and in their loves. The world is a harsh enough place without our love being dismissed and condemned as intrinsically disordered, and not worthy of God’s blessing.
We are all children of God. A God who loves us as no other parent can. Let God’s children find a place where they can worship in peace and love, a house of worship and a community in which they can find and feel comfort and joy. There are Catholic communities throughout the world that are open and affirming, welcoming of any who enter their doors. In God’s House there are many mansions. The Roman Catholic Church is only one of them.
This is our response to the Responsum.
Rev. Bishop + David Doyle, Presiding Bishop The North American Catholic Ecumenical Church/NACEC Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Pastor of Christ the King Old Catholic Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico USA
and
Spiritual Advisor to Dignity, NM