An Autocephalous Catholic Synod

A Proposal for the Autocephalous Catholic Synod

In 1908 William C. “Billy” Durant was the force behind the creation of the General Motors Corporation in the United States.  GM was created as an umbrella company to support the weak and struggling Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and later Cadillac automobiles companies.  In union within GM these nameplates were able to grow and survive in Detroit. Under the GM banner these automobiles were able to retain their charism and also avoid unnecessary competition with one another.

In many ways I view the serious jurisdictions within the Autocephalous Movement akin to Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Cadillac – jurisdictions with common and very unique charisms which could be supported and enhanced by a fraternal umbrella.

Therefore, I am embolden to propose a fraternal umbrella with the working name of The Autocephalous Catholic Synod to invite jurisdictions within the Autocephalous Catholic Movement to come together in association to advance the ultimate mission of the Autocephalous Catholic Movement – to provide Sacramental, Spiritual, Liturgical and Pastoral Care to the People of God with the highest of possible professional standards.

The key to this Synod will be the commitment of member jurisdictions to embrace and implement the highest of professional and ethical pastoral standards to counter the profound lack of such standards common within the ACM.

Membership within this Synod will not require member jurisdictions to abdicate their charisms.  On the contrary, this Synod will encourage member jurisdictions to discern, discover and design a potential new pathway for common Sacramental, Spiritual, Liturgical and Pastoral travel.

The prime prerequisite for membership within the Synod will be for candidate jurisdiction to demonstrate their pastoral pro-activity and fidelity to the core dogmas of the historic Catholic Faith.  Applications from play-acting “jurisdictions” or bishops lacking credentials will not be eligible for consideration.

Under the GM corporate umbrella, five nameplates were able to thrive and prosper within the automotive industry.  I believe that under the umbrella of the Autocephalous Catholic Synod, serious jurisdictions have a unique opportunity to enhance the potentiality of the ACM.

Define Us By Who We Are, Not By Who We Are Not

Text of the Pastoral Letter

Francis Cardinal George does not speak for all Catholic jurisdictions

In recent times the Roman Catholic Archbishop for Chicago has been making his personal and ecclesial views about the GLTB community rather well known.  First let me say that as the pastoral leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, he has the right and obligation to advocate the ecclesiology and pastoral positions of his jurisdiction and in doing so, I shall respect and defend his right to do so on behalf of his jurisdiction.

What I am willing to take issue with on this matter is the assertion or implication that the views being expressed by the Cardinal Archbishop for the Roman jurisdiction reflects the ecclesiology and pastoral theology of all catholic jurisdictions and of all who hold and celebrate the catholic faith – for this is not so.

As Bishop for the Evangelical Catholic Diocese of the Northwest, I respectfully wish to state that on the matter of marriage equality, the Evangelical Catholic Church long-ago advocated this matter as part of our commitment and fidelity to the precepts found in the theology of Social Justice and Peace.  In addition, the Evangelical Catholic Church also committed itself to respecting the dignity and rights of all members of the family of God in keeping with Pauline theology.

I believe that it would be right and just for me to say that our catholic jurisdiction declines to become obsessed and neurotic with the concept of “pelvic theology,” nor would I or our jurisdiction attempt to infer that our ecclesiology is binding upon members of other catholic jurisdictions.  The inference of the Cardinal Archbishop for the Roman jurisdiction that all Catholics living within the boundaries of his See and metropolitan domain are subject to his dictate is ethically unacceptable.  The inference and dynamics of authority being advocated by the Cardinal Archbishop is that all Catholics, regardless of their jurisdictional membership, are subject to the dictates of the Roman jurisdiction. This is akin to China’s view of Taiwan.   It is the political view of China that there can only be ONE China and the people of Taiwan are part of China and the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago is applying this philosophy to advocate that all Catholics can only be part of the Roman jurisdiction and that there can never be any valid celebration or expression of the catholic faith outside of it.

The public statements by the Cardinal Archbishop expressing his views and the views of his jurisdiction regarding equality and human rights has become much more that his demands for universal compliance to the ecclesiology of his jurisdiction.  It has placed an unfair burden upon other catholic jurisdiction who are perceived as to sharing his view and the views of his jurisdiction. As the Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest I must protect my community from this.

There are many avenues of commonality that is shared by each of the catholic jurisdictions.  Sadly on the matter of human rights and equality our two jurisdictions travel different roads.  I would recommend that as the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago continues to speak his views and the views of his jurisdiction on this subject that he clarifies that he is speaking only for himself and his jurisdiction and not for other catholic jurisdictions.

We respectfully remind all that we are not an ecclesial Taiwan.

Congratulations Father David Verhasslet - Priest for the Evangelical Catholic Diocese of the Northwest

On Saturday, August 10th, 2013, I had the honor of celebrating the Rite of Clerical Incardination of Father David Verhasselt as a priest for the Evangelical Catholic Diocese of the Northwest at Holy Name of Jesus Evangelical Catholic Church in Ashippun Wisconsin.

Together with Fathers Peter Julian McGechie and Matthew Pozen, our concelebrated Mass was attended by a near over-flow crowd of Holy Name of Jesus parishioners, guests and members of the Verhasselt Family.

The road which brought Father David to the Evangelical Catholic Church was not a easy one and throughout this journey and transition, Father David never failed to witness his personal and priestly dignity and integrity.

Holy Names of Jesus is a catholic faith community that is strong and vibrant in spirit and faith.  I know that Father David will continue to lead and mentor this parish to its fullest potential.

Saint John the Evangelist Seminary

I am pleased to be able to share with you that the Evangelical Catholic Church has assumed the pastoral stewardship for Saint John the Evangelist Seminary and is currently reorganizing and preparing to rededicate this online program for the academic formation of candidates for the priesthood on January 1st, 2014.

This commitment to the academic formation of priests has now put the Evangelical Catholic Church and myself in the position of "putting our money where our mouth are."   I have long stated that one of the elements hindering the potential success of the Autocephalous Catholic Movement has been our collective lack of academic formation.  The Evangelical Catholic Church cannot solely depend on the incardination of priests who have studied for the priesthood and come to us with a wealth of experiences.  We must also be prepared to invest in the academic formation of candidates for the priesthood who have never participated in academic formation or for candidates who had some past experience in academic formation.

Of all of the commitments which the Evangelical Catholic Church has embraced, I believe that this mission will be one of the most important areas of work we will undertake.

I invite you to visit the new website for Saint John the Evangelist Seminary at sjtes.com 

To Russia, With Love via (202) 298-5735

In recent weeks we have read reports regarding the anti-Gay laws recently implemented in Russia, which has caused international human rights activists to respond with a chorus of unified voices.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has announced that Russian anti-LGBT Propaganda Laws will be fully enforced during the Sochi Olympics in February of 2014.

According to Minister Mutko, "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable."

I wonder how the Minister and Russian LEO's will define propagandizing activities?  Would walking down a street wearing a jacket with a = symbol be regarded as propagandizing?  Would a gender common couple holding hands be in violation of their laws?  Would the simple presence of any internationally known gay or lesbian sports figure constitute an act of propagandizing?  These anti-propagandizing laws simply opens the door to the Russian authorities to make massive wholesales arrests, empowered by legislation solely aimed at profiling people based on their sexual orientation.

A tremendous number of American citizens have been voicing their objections to these laws based upon their fidelity to the concept of international human rights - but it is very difficult for bullies and oppressors of human rights to hear or even acknowledge such cries for justice.

Here in the United States, I have read suggestions that emails of protest be sent to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC.  I don't that this would work for all someone in the Embassy has to do is press their delete button and wipe out any emails they do not wish to read.

Because I am feeling a bit empowered today with the spirit of being a nuisance - let me suggest that faxes of protests be sent to the Russian Embassy.  If their fax machine is clogged up all day with faxes of protests flooding their office, they might get the message and their budget for fax machine paper might be stretched beyond their limits. 

If one wishes to send a clear message to the Russian government just send them a fax at 202.298.5735.

And if their line is busy, please call back again.

 

Thank You B37

"When you are given lemons, make lemonade."

As impossible as it may seem, we have finally seen something that lasts less than a Kardashian marriage and that is the fame and potential fortune of Zimmerman jury member B37. Within a 36 hour news cycle, Ms. B37 had announced her contract for a book deal, semi-appeared with Anderson Cooper of AC360 and then quicker than you could say Kris Humphries, the book deal was kaput, other members of the Zimmerman jury rebutted and rebuked B37's comments on AC360 and B37 was shut down.

Anyone with a degree of common sense and intelligence was able to discern from her shadowed appearance on AC360, that B37 was clearly a opportunistic and unstable individual.  Putting aside from a moment the vulgarities of B37's agenda and the damages she has done to the integrity of the American jury system, I see the opportunity for a new fresh pitcher of lemonade.

For more years than I would care to admit, I had been functioning under the belief that the jury system is a sacred secular aspect of our legal system.  It is an civic opportunity and obligation of each able member of society to fulfill with the utmost of integrity and decorum. 

At least this is what we have been teaching in our Civic Classes for many years.

Sadly in recent years we have begun to see a new trend that seems to be trending in our jury system called post-trial commercialism.  It seems that after the conclusion of trials which garners national media coverage, we see members of such juries rushing off to wardrobe and make-up for their post trial press conferences and interviews on the cable news shows to share their experiences, observations and angst of the trial they participated in.  I find it odd that beginning with the process of jury selection, the names and identities of jurors are kept strictly confidential and their faces are never shown on television during the duration of the trial.  I have to wonder when it became common for former jury members to use their experiences for post-trial fame and notoriety.

For those who remember the original Henry Fonda version of the movie, "Twelve Angry Men," - the closing scene, just before the roll of credits begins contains a powerful fact about our jury system.  We see in this scene all of members of the jury heading off in different directions to resume their personal lives without any fanfare or without any exercise in self-promotions. Sometimes it now appears that as soon as jurors are discharged from their service, they have a publicist awaiting them outside of the courtroom prepared to guide them on the rounds of the media talk shows.

It is my sincere opinion that these demeaning and vulgar activities needs to end.

Thanks to the extreme outrageous behavior of B37, I am prepared to advocate legislation requiring jurors to maintain post-trial confidentiality and to prohibit any forms of post-trial profiteering.  

Yesterday, I sent letters to Illinois State Senator Kwane Rauol, Chairman of the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee, Illinois State Representative Elaine Nekritz, Chairperson of the Illinois House Judiciary Committee, Illinois State Senator John J. Cullerton, President of the Illinois State Senate and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan advocating new legislation establishing new guidelines for juror behavior and standards and I have committed the full weight of my office as Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest behind this effort.

I do not believe that any defendant in a case that garners notoriety should have to look at a potential pool of jurors and wonder how many of them hope to be selected in order reap financial benefit. 

Returning for a moment to the matter of George Zimmerman.  It is most probable that Mr. Zimmerman will be involved in future legal actions stemming from the death of Treyvon Martin.  It is my opinion that the actions of B37 has seriously poisoned the pool of potential future jurors needed for any new trials involving Mr. Zimmerman.  It is sad enough that we have to deal with Nancy Grace and her HLN comrades holding their rump courts of hysteria concurrent with the proceedings of actual trials, but B37 has now crossed such a significant line of acceptance that a thoughtful reaction needs to be discerned by society.

I hope that here in the State of Illinois we might become the vanguards responsible for protecting the sanctity of our jury system. 

Jason Richwine's Heritage Foundation Study on the Lower IQ's of Immigrants

My father was often found of saying that the more education some people get the dumber they become.

While I don't think that was the case after I had earned my second Masters Degree, I believe that my father would be shouting this from the rooftop if he had head about today's publication of a "study" written by Jason Richwine for the Heritage Foundation.  This "study" entitled "IQ and Immigration Policy" promotes the theory that immigrants have an lower IQ than those of White Natives.

This is the title of Richwine's 2009 doctoral dissertation submitted to Harvard University from which Richwine earned his PhD.  This thesis claims that " there are deep=set differentials in intelligence between races."   I would suspect that Harvard is not answering their telephone or emails today.

Permit me to share with you some of Dr. Richwine's theories:

"No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.  From the perspective of Americans alive today, the low average IQ of Hispanics is effectively permanent."

As our government is working of the matter of Immigration Reform, those in Congress who are embracing this "study" to defeat much needed Immigration Reform are only embracing racism.

I think that in this case of higher academic learning, my dad was right.

The 2013 NRA Convention: An Exercise in Neurotic Reinforcement

Today in Huston Texas, the NRA is holding its 2013 National Convention.  After puppeteering the recent defeat of the Manchin – Toomey Background Check Bill in the United States Senate, the NRA is in a joyous celebratory mood, along with all those who manufacture and sell guns and bullets.

In his book Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler wrote “The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.”

When Hitler published this in 1925, I wonder if he had any idea how many others would apply this principle in the future.  Eighty-eight years later the NRA has, thus far, successfully applied this psychological scam on the American public and the American political system.

The Hitlerian-based scheme of the NRA is to con the American public and political system with the concept that any form of gun regulation is a direct attack on the Second Amendment of the United States and must be defeated at all cost to defend the rights of Americans to bear arms.  The fluke of this Hitlerian-based scheme is that all respected public opinion polls shows that over 80% of the American public, despite political affiliations, supported the Manchin – Toomey Background Check Bill and yet the NRA was successful in killing this legislation in the Senate.

Form my fallible role within the greater pastoral community, I am amazed as to the ability of the NRA to create and maintain their control over our society and political system.  In many ways, the controls exercised over our society and political system has enslaved such just as the philosophy of Apartheid held over South Africa – a system in which a neurotic minority controlled the majority of the country.

Over 80% of Americans believed in and supported the concepts articulated in the Manchin – Toomey Background Check Bill.  This begs the question of whose rights are actually being denied – the majority or the minority?  Given the supposed fidelity of the NRA to the Second Amendment I am forced to ask where is their fidelity to the wishes to the majority of the citizens in this democracy.

Captain Mark Kelly, husband of Representative-emeritus Gabriel Giffords of Arizona, has reminded us that NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre and the gun manufacturers he represents exploit people's fears and in return gun manufacturers gave LaPierre and the NRA tens of millions of dollars last year alone - and he spent almost $1 million of it on his own salary.   Nice work if you can get it.

In its infancy, the original purpose of the NRA was to promote and educate gun owners on the safe usage of firearms.  It now seems that the principle role of the NRA has evolved to being the industrial pimps for gun manufacturers.

I have no personal or professional desire to delete the Second Amendment from our Constitution of the United States, but I do have a desire to embrace and ensure that each and every person in this country has the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Sadly, the apartheid stranglehold which the NRA has over our political system failed the children of Sandy Hook and all other locations where the slaughter of the innocents has taken place.  I believe that the Manchin – Toomey Background Check Bill would have protected the rights of our national family to experience life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness at NO expense to the Second Amendment.

I must confess my sadness at the political cowardness recently exhibited by the democratic members of the United States Senate.  I am not sure what strings the NRA employed to manipulate their votes, but they did indeed know which ones to pull.  I must also extend my gratitude to those members of the Republican party who supported Mancin – Toomey.  These individuals demonstrated their understanding that saving lives comes before politics.

History has taught us that us that the evils of Hitler and Apartheid had limited life spans.  I can only hope and pray that the current stranglehold which the NRA has over our country shall also have a limited life span. For as long as the NRA continues to endanger our rights to experience life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the body county will surely continue to grow.

Let me conclude with a suggestion.

To those families who will loose their loved ones due to the failure of the passage of Manchin – Toomey, I recommend that you send the bill for their funerals to the NRA and also to those members of Congress who opposed the Manchin – Toomey Background Check Bill.

They have enough blood money to cover the costs.

Father, forgive them; even though they know what they are doing.

The following is an Abstract for the upcoming Pastoral Essay entitled "Father, forgive them; even though they know what they are doing."

“If you want someone to be marginalized, enable a bully.

If you want to eliminate the sin of marginalization, enable Grace”

This personal essay focuses on the events that led up to the termination of Bishop James Wilkowski from his secular position with the office of the Cook County Clerk in August of 2012.

During the last two years of the Bishop's nine year employment with the Cook County Clerk, he was transferred into a different department where he encountered multiple forms of marginalization because of his race, clerical status and health.  When repeated acts of supervisional bullying failed to force the Bishop's resignation, a scheme to manipulate grounds for termination began and where completed on August 12th, 2013.

This essay witnesses acts of bullying, prejudice and racism within the workplace.