Old Roman Catholic Church in North America -- New Perspectives, Issue 2

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Spring 2000

Proloquium
Welcome to the second issue of New Perspectives: The Church in the Post-Modern World. The Most Reverend Francis Facione, Presiding Bishop of the journal's publisher -- the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America -- and I were gratified by the overwhelmingly positive response to the Winter 2000 launch issue. We wish to thank all who contributed to it in content and guided it in a philosophy that balances reverence of orthodoxy with receptiveness to reasoned change. We continue that philosophy in this, the Spring 2000 issue, with columns and features that celebrate traditional Catholicism while provoking a better understanding of what, exactly, it is and how both the left and the right are endangering it. We variously term this endangerment "Crisis in the Church", and as in our launch issue, which focused on the crisis of Christian disunity, we feature in this issue another critical challenge confronting the Church: the question of authority.

In an interview Bishop Facione and I conducted last September, Roman Catholic author and scholar Father Anthony R. Kosnik of Marygrove College gave his perspective of papal authority, how John Paul II has exercised it -- not always for the better -- and how it must be rearticulated in the interests of Church unity and Christian reunification. (See, "The Question of Papal Authority: Will the next pope restore full collegiality? Can he afford not to?" p. 14.) As Old Roman Catholics, we recognize the Bishop of Rome as the head of the Church. But, along with many in the Roman and Orthodox Churches, we also call for a return to the historic collegial model of rule in which the pope recognized the authority of the bishops in local matters and governed in consultation with them. Indeed, until the mid-19th century papal pronouncements were considered infallible only when the pope spoke in council with the bishops. It is a restoration of these historic understandings of papal authority and infalliblity that we encourage in the interest of bridging long-standing divides between the various Catholic bodies and Rome. Father Kosnik's remarks clearly articulate the urgent need to do so. In keeping with a balanced perspective, our own Father Charles P. Wolff issues a caution against excessive liberalization of authority in a timely article, "Obedience: The Forgotten Vow" ( p. 8).

In the second of our two features, Part II of "Conversations With Father" (p.10), Bishop Facione allows us a rare, intimate glimpse of his life as Presiding Bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church -- both the best and worst aspects of his job. He also speaks candidly (the only way he speaks!) about his hope of greater "interdependence" among the disparate bodies within the Old Catholic movement. Moreover, in his regular column, Deus Caritas (p.3), he calls on all Catholics to set aside internecine quarrels and unite in combating growing anti-Catholic bigotry, particularly the most virile forms promulgated in the ranks of Christian fundamentalism. Every concerned Catholic will want to read his commentary and that of our inimitable Bishop Raphael J. Adams, who in The Last Word (p. 25), recounts the "trauma" of growing up Catholic in Baptist country.

My personal message to all Christians is "Wake up!" While we're busy squabbling with one another, the freedom of religion that we take for granted is under attack by secularists and eroding at an alarming rate. But according to Kenneth R. Craycraft, Jr., author of the 1999 Spence Publishing release, The American Myth of Religious Freedom (Bookshelf, p. 20), that freedom may not really exist. Further, Craycraft makes an astonishing but compelling argument that the Founding Fathers never intended that it should. Only a few years in existence, Spence Publishing of Dallas, Texas has consistently brought the work of original, provocative, and decidedly non-PC thinkers to the discussion of culture and religion, and this particular offering is no exception. It's a tough but must-read for orthodox Christians who, too readily assuming that this nation's founding philosophy and legal institutions are on their side, unknowingly comply in perpetuating a myth that marginalizes them. (See also: Notes from the PMZ p. 23). As Saint Catherine of Siena reminded us (Secrets of the saints, p. 18), truth -- God's Truth -- is our salvation.

Speaking of truth, Bishop Patrick H. King asks, "Are We Truly An Easter People?" (p.6), and challenges us to legitimate our claim to that title through soul-strengthening spiritual exercise that lasts not just through Lent but all year long. And golfers, you'll love his Tiger Woods analogies!

Lastly, I'd like to thank all those readers who have affirmed New Perspectives with subscriptions. We hope many of you will attend our fall symposium in Louisville, Kentucky: "The Church in Crisis". We've lined up an exciting roster of speakers with differing perspectives who will ensure a day of lively debate and discussion. For more information, see the form on the inside front cover, or call (502) 368-0871. -- Valerie Kane