Canons of the North American Old Catholic Church

By North American Old Catholic Church

The Canons of a church are the laws that govern the behavior of its clergy.
These Canons apply to the North American Old Catholic Church, the national Latin Rite church in the United States.
The Canons were adopted and went into effect on Advent Sunday (the start of the liturgical year) in 2009.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abp. Wynn Wagner
• Release date: Nov 30, 2009
• ISBN: 9781102469650

North American Old Catholic Church

The North American Old Catholic Church (NAOCC) is 100% Catholic but 0% Roman Catholic. It is the national Latin Rite church in the United States.The NAOCC is a catholic denomination in the worldwide, universal church of Jesus Christ.It is dedicated to fostering a continued, strong commitment to catholic tradition and the search for contemporary meaning, our parishes and ministries throughout the US reach out to and embrace all of God's Children. Our ministries are transparent - no one is turned away from learning about God's love and acceptance.

Book preview

Canons of

The North American

Old Catholic Church

Canons of The North American Old Catholic Church

Advent Sunday, 2009

Smashwords edition

Print Version ISBN:978-0-557-21972-8

NOTE: There are multiple footnotes in the original canons. They are preserved in print editions. However, for this electronic version, foot notes are brought into the text of the canon: [like this]

The Old Catholic Church on the Internet

The North American Old Catholic Church

http://www.naOldCatholic.com

The Catholic Wikipedia

http://www.CatholicWikipedia.com

The Old Catholic Library

http://www.global.org

Saint Wolbodo Seminary

http://www.wolbodo.org

Table of Contents

Article I. General Canons

Section I.01 Preamble

Section I.02 The Church

Section I.03 The Two Unique Traits of Old Catholics

Section I.04 Theses of the Old Catholic Union

Section I.05 Diversity

Article II. Organization and Governance

Section II.01 Parishes and Non-parochial Ministries

Section II.02 Jurisdictional Duties in General

Section II.03 The Ecumenical Councils

Section II.04 The General Episcopal Synod (GES)

Section II.05 Executive Committee

Section II.06 Presiding Bishop

Section II.07 Coadjutor of the Church

Section II.08 Vicar General to the Presiding Bishop

Section II.09 The Curia

Section II.10 Chancellor

Section II.11 Church Archivist

Section II.12 Communications Director

Section II.13 Regions and Provinces

Section II.14 Diocese

Section II.16 Church Property

Article III. Clergy

Section III.01 Old Catholic Apostolic Succession

Section III.02 Rankings of Clergy

Section III.03 Active and Inactive Lists

Section III.04 Good Standing

Section III.05 Ministry

Section III.06 The Minor Orders (Seminarian Ministers-in-Training)

Section III.07 The Major Order of Deacons

Section III.08 The Major Order of Priests

Section III.09 The Major Order of Bishops

Section III.10 Other Titles and Designations

Article IV. Religious Orders

Article V. Teachings and Practices

Section V.01 Creed

Section V.02 Charters and Credentials

Section V.03 Baptism

Section V.04 The Eucharist

Section V.05 Confirmation

Section V.06 Confession and Absolution

Section V.07 Unction

Section V.08 Matrimony

Article I. General Canons

Section I.01 Preamble

Our Lord’s law is clear: love.

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment; and the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. [Mark 12:28-31]

When someone in the scripture gets on the wrong side of the discussion, it is often someone who holds that rules trump love.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. [Matthew 23:25]

That said, canons are the rules we consider necessary or helpful in the running of our denomination. Canons impact our clergy more directly than laity. In fact, canons are most often limitations placed on the clergy to protect lay people or enhance their experience.

Section I.02 The Church

The North American Old Catholic Church is the national Latin Rite church for the USA.

The North American Old Catholic Church (hereafter called the Church) is a Fellowship of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, that upholds and propagates the ancient faith, practice and traditions of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

We look to the primitive church in Holland for tradition and inspiration. That body, centered in the See of Ütrecht, is commonly dated to the 1870s when the Church of Rome declared its patriarch to be infallible when speaking ex cathedra on church matters. In fact, the primitive church in Holland is one of the oldest of all Christian groups. The church is bound to honor but not acquiesce to any other body, including the newer break-away groups such as the Roman Rite.

The Church is, first and foremost, a channel of God’s love and a bearer of the Good News (Greek: eucharista) of Jesus Christ. It celebrates Mass in parishes and elsewhere for the benefit of the entire community, not merely for the parish or for those present.

The Good News comes to us through an unbroken line of Holy Orders that stretches back to the original apostles.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching