Carmelo Enrico Carfora
1917
(Adapted from OORCC )
THE METROPOLITAN ARCHDIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA
is a constituent Province of
THE PRIMATIAL SEE OF NOVA TERRA
Though one of the smallest Sui Iuris churches in Christendom, the Old Roman Catholic Church is among the most ancient. United to the Catholic Church “by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist”, the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, like the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches, is recognized as a “true particular church” (DOMINUS IESUS).
While united in this blessed way to the Catholic Church, and in direct and unbroken Apostolic Succession from Her, the NAORCC descends directly from the See of Utrecht.
St. Willibrord, Apostle of the Netherlands, was consecrated Bishop by Pope Sergius I, in 696 A.D. at Rome. In the Netherlands, he founded his See at Utrecht, from which successors such as St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, Pope Hadrian VI (the last non-Italian pope until John Paul II, 455 years later), and Thomas à Kempis (Thomas van Kempen) who is credited with writing “The Imitation of Christ”, also came forth.
Old Roman Catholicism is the modern expression of the Catholic Faith, spirituality, devotion, religiousity, and action lived in the first centuries. We strive to conform our lives, times and circumstances, to the image of Christ, and heal the Church’s wounds and divisions suffered over the centuries. Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit and inspired by the example of the saints, Old Roman Catholics work to accept the Church’s past, in order to heal the Church’s present, and bring hope for the Church’s future.
