Roman Catholics & The Ulc

[BpCorey]

Interesting topic. The RC Church is against anything that they think goes against their Supreme Laws, that is why they use the words excommunicate. Who is going to do this?, certainly sure the Pope won't and the lower priest crowd cannot, no authority, etc.

I wouldn't worry about it, do what you believe in.

That is the problems with any religion, if one moves out from the clan to do something else in a religion they are against it, one should not open their minds to another groups belief. Religions cause grief, wars, and pressures into any family.

You did what YOU wanted to do, and that is what it is about....FREEDOM of choice.

REVPO

the RC church is just a old boys club.

tons of catholic groups told the roman popes where to stick it.

look at the english church, women can be priests and all can live like normal people.

Not that kind of voice, just feelings that somethings are worth sacrificing for.... NOW if I got one of those booming voices, burning bushes, I'd say I was in trouble. No those voices are just gut feelings that tell me that maybe its time....

not to be confused with the gut feeling you get with cheep food.

[RevJohnG]

Cradle RC here. Former Old Catholic priest. I have shed my ties to Catholicism in general as I see the underlying patterns as being the same. I do value some things that Catholicism has to offer such as sacramental worship of deity.

I value my ULC ordination as my only ordination now.

Silly of me?

Edited September 11, 2013 by RevJohnG

[Zequatanil]

Cradle RC here. Former Old Catholic priest. I have shed my ties to Catholicism in general as I see the underlying patterns as being the same. I do value some things that Catholicism has to offer such as sacramental worship of deity.

I value my ULC ordination as my only ordination now.

Silly of me?

Silly you?? Not at all Rev.JohnG! At times our view changes, and our soul knows. God is not a religion-, though I am a Catholic. But there are many roads to the heart of God.

blessings and peace,

Suzanne

[Kingfisher]

I was also raised RC, became a lay minister on a path toward Franciscan (TOR) seminary when I separated from the Church. Though I take issue with many points of faith, for me the most poignant struggle comes during mass, as I'm drawn to commune while wrestling with the knowledge that I'm not "properly" confessed. I can't conceive of a Saviour who would turn away from anyone who sincerely seeks Him, so I reject absolute obedience to man's dogma in favour of following the Lord's call. What are they gonna do, excommunicate me twice? Their doctrine tells me I am apart from God (depending on who you talk to my fate is already sealed,) but I still approach that altar with a confident faith. I brave the threat of hellfire not only for myself, but for all those who have been made to feel exiled from divine grace. The Church may lock her doors... but I know His arms are always open.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

[lordie]

Rev. Cam

I understand and u came to the right place

I must applaud you for be coming a rev. Welcome sis . And as so many tell me here there is women in the christian catholic

My favorites are mary madagalane mother mary . Remember allow god to guide you and you can send me a message any time . I been there . It sucks not for us for them .

[RevJohnG]

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

My favorite line of the Mass.

[MTaylor21]

Hello new minister here...product of a mixed marriage...devout catholic mother, spiritual southern methodist father...as a child I could not attend my fathers families weddings, funerals because of church teaching...when I was an adult I asked my father why he converted to catholisism...his reply was after serving in north africa and the mediteranean theatre during WWII...he had found a good women...and wasn't going to let a trivial thing like religion keep him from marrying the woman he loved.

I was raised an easter Christmas catholic, lost faith in the church, but not in God...and as for women not being allowed to be priests...my fathers side of the family has multiple generations of Female Christian Ministers whose witness would surely please the Father...one day maybe I might please Him as well.

Peace and Grace be with You All

Rev. Michael

[Bro. Hex]

I have always felt that nobody can walk your spiritual path for you. Walk your path as you see fit.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

Thank you, Hermano Luis..... I really needed to hear this today.

[BpCorey]

Rev. Cam

I understand and u came to the right place

I must applaud you for be coming a rev. Welcome sis . And as so many tell me here there is women in the christian catholic

My favorites are mary madagalane mother mary . Remember allow god to guide you and you can send me a message any time . I been there . It sucks not for us for them .

I was ordained into the priesthood with a RC deacon.

he felt the roman church was not doing it's job anymore and wanted to become independent.

[Seeker]

I was also raised RC, became a lay minister on a path toward Franciscan (TOR) seminary when I separated from the Church. Though I take issue with many points of faith, for me the most poignant struggle comes during mass, as I'm drawn to commune while wrestling with the knowledge that I'm not "properly" confessed. I can't conceive of a Saviour who would turn away from anyone who sincerely seeks Him, so I reject absolute obedience to man's dogma in favour of following the Lord's call. What are they gonna do, excommunicate me twice? Their doctrine tells me I am apart from God (depending on who you talk to my fate is already sealed,) but I still approach that altar with a confident faith. I brave the threat of hellfire not only for myself, but for all those who have been made to feel exiled from divine grace. The Church may lock her doors... but I know His arms are always open.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

I found this quite inspirational. Thank you, Kingfisher.

[Atwater Vitki]

To me its not important whether the RCC gets rid of me, but they can't take my faith away.

[gizaap]

I received a copy of this in an email group for the ULCCF today. Its seems be fitting to the original topic so I quote in entirety.

"On Oct 14, 2013, at 12:24 PM, Frank Coleman wrote:

Morpheus: “The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters; the very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system... You have to understand; most of the people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.”

It is all they know. The main point is once you are comfortable with the institutional church, there is a real cost to unplugging.

We need to count the cost of freedom and growth. Many “church” people will react in fear we we stop playing the “church” game. When people are fearful, they usually react in the fight of flight mode, in which they will either turn away from you or turn on you. Most of us, while under the influence of the church system, were fairly fearful. We have been programed by the church system to be fearful about most everything. We are afraid of God because the Old Testament Law is still taught in church, as if we, by our own willpower, could ever keep it. We couldn't, so we often felt like failures. We were certainly afraid to question the many contradictions of the church life because we would have risked rejection or ostracization. We were afraid to think for ourselves for fear that we might come up with a different answer to the church dogma and be out of sync with our friends, denomination, or church beliefs. We were taught if you are “out of church” too long that the devil will get a hold of you, trick you, hurt you, and cause you to backslide.

Church attenders have been assimilated onto a system that is based on this world's ways, disguised as the Body of Christ. Things contrary to Christ abound: association around a denomination (division), approval based on works, coercion and manipulation using shame and guilt, law keeping, motivating by using fear, honoring the wealthy, to name a few. Many people have been involved in church for years, or even decades. Church involvement is not an easy pattern to get free from because we get so entrenched in it. But freedom does exist.

-Excerpt from, “Was church God's Idea?” by Marc Winter (italacs & bold mine)"

[kokigami]

I don't think the RCC cares if you are ordained by a church that they don't recognize. A bit like if one of their members joined a fan club.

They would probably care about what you do with that ordination. Think of every church as a brand, or a trademark. The RCC has a specific brand image they wish to present. At some level, this image is based upon belief and tradition, at some level, it is about customer retention.

Their brand is Patriarchal, and built on Central Authority, with very restrictive dogma. If you act on your ordination, you erode their brand, even if you don't claim any RCC allegiance. But in such a minor way that they probably won't take notice. Unless you get a lot of publicity, or simply inform them.

But if you do so with a claim to RCC doctrine, or dogma, etc, you are effectively mis representing their product. So, say you perform weddings, in a manner similar to, inspired by, or outright stolen from the Catholic Liturgy. Their view would be that you are selling a counterfeit product.. and thus diminishing the percieved value of their product. As they can't really sue on copyright, they might take other actions to suppress, or at least distance themselves from you.

Ostensibly, they would do so based upon the fact that, as a member of the RCC, you were actively working against the teachings of the RCC. This is what they say when they threaten to apply sanctions to politicians who support Gay Rights or Abortion Rights. The church teaches X, and the member professes Z in contradiction of X. The member has lost standing by their own actions, and the church can't condone their errors.

[MGEATUSLANS]

Enjoy the irony here, "broke bad" they did.

Yuck, I sing this better. Need telepromter to remember though.

I like the "blessed mother" trip, dislike the "not worthy" slop and generally seek to find fixers and doers, not piggy-back riders. Stop the "my way or the highway" mentals also.

If there is only one right way to do things, I think it would have caught on by now.

My trip... A R.C.C. hit, yeah?

Edited January 3, 2015 by MGEATUSLANS

[kokigami]

Hi being a Roman Catholic, I had wondered whether I was gong to be excommunicated for being a minister in the ULC. After hearing both sides of the coin, one from a very conservative Catholic Magazine with all of their exports who told me that I was in grave mortal sin for becoming a ULC Minister. I even talked to Amy at ULC.NET, and she told me she didn't have too much information, so today I asked a good Priest friend of the family at a parade.

What he told me is that "SO Long as I'm not representing the Catholic Church I should do fine. He didn't think me wearing a bright blue Clergy shirt to Sunday Mass would be appreciated by our Pastor Fr. Paul, but he said go ahead and do it.... So today I found a message from the Conservative Catholic Magazine who told me in so many words, that I was going to burn in Hell, and I had committed a grave sin against the Roman Catholic Church....

So my answer, I really don't care what they think. I have a calling in God's own mysterious ways, and I don't fear about being excommunicated from the church. Since I'm a Baptized Catholic and went through Confirmation, its hard to throw me out of the church since I have been blessed with the "Holy Spirit" (Third person of the Trinity).... But I won't be able to receive the body and blood of Christ... to which I"m not afraid of not getting....

Hi being a Roman Catholic, I had wondered whether I was gong to be excommunicated for being a minister in the ULC. After hearing both sides of the coin, one from a very conservative Catholic Magazine with all of their exports who told me that I was in grave mortal sin for becoming a ULC Minister. I even talked to Amy at ULC.NET, and she told me she didn't have too much information, so today I asked a good Priest friend of the family at a parade.

What he told me is that "SO Long as I'm not representing the Catholic Church I should do fine. He didn't think me wearing a bright blue Clergy shirt to Sunday Mass would be appreciated by our Pastor Fr. Paul, but he said go ahead and do it.... So today I found a message from the Conservative Catholic Magazine who told me in so many words, that I was going to burn in Hell, and I had committed a grave sin against the Roman Catholic Church....

So my answer, I really don't care what they think. I have a calling in God's own mysterious ways, and I don't fear about being excommunicated from the church. Since I'm a Baptized Catholic and went through Confirmation, its hard to throw me out of the church since I have been blessed with the "Holy Spirit" (Third person of the Trinity).... But I won't be able to receive the body and blood of Christ... to which I"m not afraid of not getting....

Well, my best friend became Catholic while ordained, so I don't think they will excommunicate you simply for that. It takes a lot to be excommunicated. But, it also appears it is a local decision, so, depending on the nature of the local cardinals and Bishops, your mileage may vary.