The English National Catholic Ch

The English National Catholic Church

A Diocese of the Mexican National Catholic Church

What We Are

The English National Catholic Church (ENCC) is a diocese of the Mexican National Catholic Church (MNCC), is incorporated in the U.K. [under registered law….]The ENCC is a valid Roman Catholic entity not currently in communion with the Holy See. The technical term employed by the Holy See for this type of Church is "valid Roman Catholic, but canonically independent," which means "sacramentally real, but legally out of communion with Rome." What this amounts to, in practical terms, is that the ENCC, and other Churches like it, are able to offer purely valid Catholic sacraments to individuals who for a variety of reasons do not feel comfortable receiving them from mainline Roman Catholic churches. We also are sympathetic to those educated in the Anglican and Episcopal tradition that have been abandoned by their church leadership.

The ENCC Diocese, under the Episcopal leadership of Bishop O'Neil and Archbishop Parnell, is unique in the world of Old Roman Catholicism for being at great pains to identify as much as possible with the Universal Church, though "canonically independent" of it. Another way to view this fact is to consider the Archdiocese as "non-Papal," although we feel we are part of the Pope's flock and in spiritual union with Rome through Christ. We do not claim that the See of Peter is vacant; we are not the product of rejection of Vatican II, nor are we a part of the "liberal reform" movement within the Roman Catholic Church; we are not Gnostics or theosophists.

With "Our History" [below] in mind, Presiding Archbishop Parnell (consecrated and appointed by retired Archbishop Rodriguez as his successor in 1995) has actively sought to establish and retain mutually satisfying working relationships with the local ordinary and clergy of the mainline Roman Catholic Church and certain Protestant groups. The Archbishop also seeks to remind those who come to him and his clergy for the various forms of sacramental ministry that if they are Roman Catholics, their membership in the mainline Church is their first obligation, and that they should only seek him out if their consciences so dictate.

This also means that the ENCC Diocese is essentially a "wayfarers' Church." But a Church with its heart and arms open to those who come to it to receive Christ's sacramental grace.

Our History

In the year 1688 the Archdiocese of Guanajuato was declared by the Holy Father to be a minor see, the same status as Utrecht and Canterbury. When Vatican I came along the bishop walked out of the meeting, then a further separation occurred in 1920 in the Mexican revolution when the see was attacked by papal funded troops of the Italian Cardinal in Mexico City. The legitimate Bishop of Mexico fled to the hills to fight with the Rebels. He continued to Ordain Priests and to Consecrate Bishops even though an illegitimate bishop was installed in Mexico to replace him. The Cardinal was on the side of the Federal army. The Roman Catholic bishops of Taumalipas, Coahuilla, and Guanajuato formed an army to defend against the land grabbing Cardinal and federals, Their army included the famous Cristeros . The division of the North led by outlaw Pancho Villa, the division of the South led by Emiliano Zapata, the groups defeated the Federal and Cardinal's armies at Guanajuato. The entire Roman Catholic clergy and it's cardinal was expelled from Mexico for 4 years. They fled into various countries. Rome later ratified and legitimized the illegitimate bishop. The Mexican National Catholic Church was begun during the Mexican Revolution and is is the outgrowth of the Original Legitimate Bishop's efforts to preserve the Catholic Church in Mexico.. The Mexican Government assisted as first in the formation of a National Catholic church. They funded the operation of the seminaries and they allied with Archbishop ++Carfora of Chicago who sent priests to assist in the training of new clergy.

The English National Catholic Church bears its apostolic lineage from the Ancient Catholic Church of the Netherlands, the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the Russian Orthodox Church. The ENCC has its beginnings in the Roman Catholic Church, within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in around 1724 A.D. Early on, three principle Diocese were established in the cities of Utrecht, Deventer and Haarlem; Utrecht eventually became the archiepiscopal see with supervision over the others. Assenting to the petition made by the Roman Emperor Conrad III and Bishop Herbert of Utrecht, Blessed Pope Eugene III, in 1145 A.D. granted Utrecht the right to elect successors to the See in times of vacancy; this was later extended to include three additional collegial churches and confirmed by the 4th Council of the Lateran in 1215. The archiepiscopal see was given a second grant by Pope Leo X, Debitum Pastoralius, conceded to the Bishop of Utrecht, that he, Pope Leo X, nor his successors, nor any of their clergy or laity, should ever have cause invoked to any external tribunal, not even under pretence of any apostolic letters whatever; and that all such proceedings should be, ipso facto, null and void. This papal concession, in 1520, was of the greatest importance in defence of the rights of the Church. Armed with the protection of the papal concessions, the Church continued to minister even through the Reformation -- the Archbishop of Utrecht and other Church leaders reached an informal agreement with the civil government, whereby if could function openly without interference from the Reformers. In 1592, the Jesuit Order first entered the Netherlands, they sought to consolidate all canonical authority in the office of the Pope, even the local Church which had the ancient rights, canonically possessed, to elect its own successors to the local bishoprics. The Archdiocese of Utrecht, along with Haarlem and Deventer were under siege by the Jesuit Order, for refusing to relinquish their right to freely elect Episcopal successors. Attempts at reconciliation failed, as Rome was adamant that the local Church give up its ancient rights and privileges, deny the existence of the grants, sign the Formulary and accept the leadership of Rome. At this point and time, the Church experienced a vacancy to the archiepiscopal see and no bishops outside of the Netherlands wished to incur the punishment of Rome for supporting a consecration. However, Dominique Marie Varlet, Bishop of Babylon, while travelling incognito under orders from Rome to his new See, consented to confirm children for the Church and then continue his journey to Persia. He was later suspended from his office by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith for failing to adhere to the Bull "Ungenitus" and not obtaining permission to perform Episcopal functions in the Netherlands (which he couldn't have possibly obtained while travelling, under the orders of Rome, and incognito). The Bishop travelled back to Europe, stopping in France to prepare his defence where he was told his defence would fail because of his unwillingness to apologize for having confirmed the children. He then travelled to Holland. While there, he was prevailed upon by the Church to, under their lawful right of election, to consecrate bishops for them without papal consent, which he did. On October 15, 1724, Cornelius van Steenoven was consecrated the 7th Archbishop of Utrecht by Dominique Marie Varlet, Bishop of Babylon. Following the First Vatican Council in 1870 (at which the hierarchy of the Church in the Netherlands were refused admittance), a great dissent among Catholics, especially from Germany, Austria and Switzerland arose over the dogma of papal infallibility. The dissenters, while holding the Church in General Council to be infallible, did not accept the proposition that the Pope, acting alone, in matters of faith and morals is infallible. Many formed independent communities that came to be known as "old Catholic" and called such because they sought to adhere to the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church of the post-Apostolic era and theology of the Church prior to the Vatican Council. These communities appealed to the Archbishop of Utrecht who consecrated the first bishops for these communities. Eventually, under his leadership, the communities joined together and formed the Utrecht Union of Churches, which approbated in 1908, the establishment of a mission in Great Britain. Archbishop Gerardus Gul of Utrecht consecrated Father Arnold H. Mathew, a resigned Catholic priest, Regional Bishop for England. Bishop Mathew later consecrated Austrian nobleman, Prince Rudolph Edward de Landes Berghes in 1913 for Scotland. Prince Rudolph (1873-1920) left England at the beginning of World War I, bringing his episcopacy to the United States. Bishop Landes Berghes in spite of difficulties and isolation from the Utrecht Union of Churches, due to Bishop Mathew's withdrawing from the Union, was able to plant an Independent expression of Catholicism in America. He elevated to the episcopacy two priests, Carmel Henry Carfora and William Francis Brothers. Each of these bishops, continued the mission. With the passing of these original organizers, the North American Old Roman Catholic Church evolved from a centralized administration with to a local and regional model of administration with self-governing Dioceses and Provinces.