Independent Catholic churches are Christian churches which identify with Catholic tradition but are not in communion with the See of Rome or any other churches whose sacraments are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church (such as the Eastern Orthodox and some Oriental Orthodox churches). Virtually all groups in the independent Catholic movement claim to have valid apostolic succession for their bishops. The bishops of independent Catholic churches are sometimes referred to as episcopi vagantes ("wandering bishops") because of their lack of affiliation with a larger communion of churches.
Read more about Independent Catholic Churches: History, Groupings, Faith and Practice, Holy Orders
Famous quotes containing the words independent, catholic and/or churches:
“It is so rare to meet with a man outdoors who cherishes a worthy thought in his mind, which is independent of the labor of his hands. Behind every man’s busy-ness there should be a level of undisturbed serenity and industry, as within the reef encircling a coral isle there is always an expanse of still water, where the depositions are going on which will finally raise it above the surface.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“You do not mean by mystery what a Catholic does. You mean an interesting uncertainty: the uncertainty ceasing interest ceases also.... But a Catholic by mystery means an incomprehensible certainty: without certainty, without formulation there is no interest;... the clearer the formulation the greater the interest.”
—Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)
“The churches ... have lost much of their authority over youth because they have refused to re-examine their religious sanctions and their dogmatic preaching in the light of modern physiology, psychology and sociology.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)