A Silent Crisis Beneath the Surface There are moments in the Church’s history when the gravest crises are not those proclaimed in thunder from the pulpits or the decrees of Rome, but those suffered in silence by her sons. Such is the case today, when many priests—those who once came to the altar aflame with the love of God—now minister beneath the shadow of a wounded fatherhood. Their suffering is seldom spoken of; yet it gnaws at the heart of the Church. It is the hidden trial of a generation of priests orphaned not by heresy or persecution, but by the cold neglect of their spiritual fathers.
The crisis of fatherhood—so visible in society, where fathers have abdicated responsibility for their children—has entered the sanctuary. Bishops, once spiritual patriarchs who guided their clergy as sons, have become administrators, functionaries, and managers of decline. Their governance too often resembles the bureaucracy of a corporation rather than the heart of a father. The result is an orphaned presbyterate: weary, mistrustful, and fearful. What begins as administrative efficiency ends as spiritual sterility.
The Fatherhood that Gives Life The priesthood, by its nature, is relational. Every priest must stand both in persona Christi and sub episcopo, in filial obedience to his bishop as to a father in Christ. The bishop’s ring signifies not only governance but spousal fidelity to the Church and paternal love for his priests. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote, “Where the bishop is, there is the Church”¹—yet he also meant that where the bishop is not father, the Church withers into institution.
In the golden age of the Fathers, bishops were shepherds whose charity bound together the presbyterate and flock in a single spirit. St. Gregory the Great described the bishop as “a watchman set upon the walls of Israel”², one who guards both the purity of doctrine and the souls of those under his care. The bishop’s first duty was not strategy but sanctity. He was to pour himself out for his priests, that they might pour themselves out for their people.
But today, that supernatural fatherhood is often eclipsed by managerial pragmatism. Meetings replace mentorship; compliance replaces counsel; fear replaces fraternity. Many priests now dread a summons to the chancery more than the final judgment. They no longer expect paternal concern, only procedural rebuke. In such a climate, holiness becomes private heroism rather than shared pursuit.
The Withering of Fraternal Communion The health of the Church depends not on policies but on love. When bishops cease to love their priests, when priests no longer feel the warmth of fatherly affection, the supernatural life of the Church begins to bleed away. The priest, deprived of affirmation and guidance, turns inward. Some grow cautious, preaching only what offends no one. Others grow hardened, their zeal dulled by cynicism. Still others, desiring escape, fill their lives with distractions and comforts.
In earlier centuries, the bishop’s household was a school of holiness. Priests were formed by the example of their prelate’s prayer, fasting, and simplicity. But in many dioceses today, bishops live in splendid isolation, surrounded not by brothers but by lawyers, secretaries, and consultants. The house of prayer has become an office; the mitre, a badge of status. The faithful look on, bewildered, while the priests beneath such leadership struggle to remember why they first left all to follow Christ.
The Holy Curé of Ars laboured eighteen hours a day, hearing confessions and offering the Holy Sacrifice with tears. His sanctity rebuilt a nation scarred by revolution. Yet he would be dismissed in many modern dioceses as “too pious,” “too rigid,” or “insufficiently pastoral.” His zeal is out of fashion because the supernatural has been eclipsed by the sociological. Bishops speak of accompaniment but rarely of conversion; of mercy but seldom of repentance. They wish to smell like the sheep, yet too often smell only of politics.
Bureaucracy and the Eclipse of the Supernatural One of the great deceptions of our time is to confuse activity with vitality. Endless consultations, synodal reports, and policy documents give the illusion of motion while the soul of the Church languishes. The very structures designed to support priests have become labyrinths of paperwork. The priest who once found solace in his bishop’s blessing now finds himself mired in compliance forms and risk assessments.
It is not administration that kills, but the substitution of administration for fatherhood. When the shepherd delegates the care of souls to committees, his priests are left to fend for themselves. “Feed my sheep,” said the Lord to Peter³—not “survey them,” nor “appoint a task force.” Yet many priests live as though their father has forgotten those words. The Church cannot be governed as a corporation without ceasing to be a family.
The Psychological and Spiritual Toll Behind the statistics of declining vocations lies a deeper tragedy. Priests today are among the loneliest men in society. Studies show widespread distrust between clergy and bishops⁴; many confess to isolation, anxiety, and fear of reprisal. The priest who preaches the moral law risks complaint; the one who maintains reverence in the liturgy risks accusation of rigidity. In such conditions, virtue becomes suspect and mediocrity safe.
Some priests respond with stoic endurance; others withdraw into a safe professionalism that avoids controversy but also avoids conversion. A few, deprived of spiritual fatherhood, lose themselves to the very world they were ordained to sanctify. Thus the bishop’s failure to father becomes the devil’s victory twice over—first by silencing truth, then by corrupting its messenger.
A Mirror of the World’s Fatherlessness The collapse of paternal identity among bishops mirrors the world’s wider loss of fatherhood. The same cultural forces that have made earthly fathers absent, fearful, or effeminate have also weakened spiritual fathers. Many bishops, trained in the post-conciliar decades of experimentation and ambiguity, have never known genuine paternal formation themselves. They were not taught to command with love, nor to love with authority. They are products of a therapeutic age that mistrusts both discipline and sacrifice.
And yet the Church can no more survive without fathers than a family can. When bishops cease to be fathers, priests become orphans, and the faithful—children of those priests—grow rootless. The contagion of fatherlessness spreads from chancery to rectory, from rectory to home, until the very idea of authority is despised. The devil, who hates the name “Father,” rejoices in such a hierarchy.
The Patristic Measure of True Shepherds The Fathers of the Church would scarcely recognize many of today’s episcopal priorities. St. Cyprian taught that a bishop must be “united in heart with his priests, sharing their labours, their tears, and their dangers”⁵. St. John Chrysostom warned that the bishop who neglects his clergy commits a sin against the Body of Christ. St. Gregory Nazianzen resigned his see rather than become a mere functionary, declaring that “to lead others, one must first be purified oneself.”
This is the pattern of episcopal life the Church once held up as ideal: ascetical, paternal, prophetic. The bishop was not an administrator of budgets but a man of prayer, whose tears could baptize a diocese. When such men led, their priests followed willingly—even unto martyrdom. The vitality of the early Church sprang not from programs but from the living transmission of holiness.
The Roots of Renewal The renewal of the priesthood will not begin in offices or conferences. It will begin when bishops again become fathers, and priests sons. True fatherhood does not flatter; it corrects, encourages, and forgives. It does not isolate; it draws near. It does not fear holiness in its sons; it rejoices in it. Bishops who imitate Christ the Good Shepherd will attract vocations even in desolate times, because love always begets life.
What can the faithful do in the meantime? First, pray and fast for priests and bishops. The Rosary is no longer optional in this war for souls. Offer reparation for the sins of shepherds, but also for their wounds. Many bishops act as they do because they have forgotten that they, too, were once priests trembling at the altar. Pray that they may recover the simplicity of their first Mass.
Second, give your priests the warmth of genuine friendship. Invite them into your homes. Encourage them when they preach the truth. Write to them when they are maligned. Many have never heard a layman say, “Father, your priesthood has changed my life.” Such words can rekindle hope more powerfully than any policy.
Finally, resist the temptation to despair. The priesthood belongs to Christ, not to bureaucrats. The same Lord who called Peter from his nets can still raise up saints from the ruins of clericalism. When the hierarchy forgets the Cross, God raises prophets from the laity. The Church’s renewal will come not from strategy but from sanctity.
The Model of the Crucified Father Christ on the Cross is the image of every true bishop: arms outstretched, heart pierced, blood spent for his children. In Him, authority and love are one. The world can imitate compassion, but it cannot imitate Calvary. It is there that spiritual fatherhood finds its meaning—not in power, but in sacrifice. The bishop who forgets this becomes an official; the priest who forgets it becomes a hireling.
When bishops once again weep for their priests, and priests once again lay down their lives for their flocks, the Church will bloom even in the desert. Until then, we live in the long Lent of ecclesial fatherlessness. Yet even now, grace is not absent. Among the ruins, there are still fathers who love and sons who obey, still altars where the Lamb is offered in purity and faith. In that hidden fidelity, the Church endures.
A Call to Courage and Contrition Every bishop should kneel before his priests and ask himself: “Do they see in me the face of Christ? Do they hear in my words the voice of a father?” If the answer is uncertain, repentance is the only path forward. The episcopal palace must again become a house of prayer. The miter must be exchanged for the towel of the servant. The shepherd must rediscover the smell not only of the sheep but of the Cross.
The world’s night grows darker, and the Church must shine the brighter. Our age does not need bishops who blend into the world’s noise, but men who bear within themselves the stillness of Gethsemane. Priests will find their courage again when they see courage on the cathedra; they will become holy when holiness is enthroned above them.
Conclusion: Hope Through Paternal Renewal The renewal of the Church will not come from the top down, nor from the bottom up, but from heart to heart—from father to son. When bishops once more speak to their priests as fathers, when priests rediscover in their bishop the image of Christ, the channels of grace will open again. And from that grace will flow the courage to confront the world’s darkness with divine charity.
Let us therefore pray not for new strategies but for new hearts: hearts of fathers, hearts of sons, hearts conformed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who is both Priest and Victim, Shepherd and Lamb. Then the orphaned priests of our time will cease to wander, and the Church will once more be known not for her structures, but for her sanctity.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8:1.
St. Gregory the Great, Regula Pastoralis (Book II, ch. 4).
John 21:17.
The Catholic Project, Catholic University of America, Survey of American Catholic Priests (2022).
St. Cyprian of Carthage, De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate, 5.
On the feast of St Michael, 29 September 1850, Pope Pius IX restored diocesan bishops to England and Wales. Nicholas Wiseman, made Archbishop of Westminster, cried out with joy that Catholic England was “restored to its orbit in the ecclesiastical firmament.”¹ That orbit had been broken for nearly three centuries. The Church in England had lived in eclipse. It had been stripped of its altars, mocked by its enemies, betrayed by its rulers, and sustained only by the blood of martyrs and the courage of recusants. What was restored in 1850 had first been shattered in 1559, when Elizabeth’s Act of Supremacy and Act of Uniformity outlawed the ancient Mass.²
The parish altar, once the heart of every village, was torn down. Chalices were hidden in cupboards, vestments ripped for rags, bishops thrown into prison, priests exiled or compelled to conform. Families were dragged to court, fined into ruin for missing the new services. By the 1580s, a Catholic who refused to attend owed £20 each month, a fine calculated to destroy.³ In 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth in the bull Regnans in Excelsis.⁴ To Catholics, it was a defence of truth; to the Crown, it was proof of treason. Parliament tightened the law still further. In 1585, the Act against Jesuits and Seminary Priests decreed that any priest ordained abroad who returned home should die as a traitor, and any layman who gave him shelter could share his fate.⁵ From that moment, the presence of a Catholic priest on English soil was a hanging crime.
Yet priests came anyway. Edmund Campion, Oxford’s golden boy, traded honours for a disguise and a chalice. He moved by night, heard confessions in barns, preached Christ in attics. Caught, racked in the Tower, he went to Tyburn in 1581 and told his judges they condemned their own ancestors. He died with calm defiance.⁶ Margaret Clitherow, the butcher’s wife of York, opened her home to fugitives. When arrested, she refused to plead, knowing that a trial would force her children to betray her. For this she was crushed to death beneath stones in 1586, thirty-three years old, pregnant, praying for her killers.⁷ Nicholas Owen, a Jesuit carpenter, turned wood and stone into weapons of survival. He built priest-holes so cunning that many remain hidden even now. He saved countless priests, then died under torture in 1606.⁸ More than three hundred Catholics were executed under Elizabeth and James, many for nothing more than saying Mass.⁹
For those who lived, recusancy meant a slow martyrdom. Fines ruined estates, laws excluded children from schools, informers prowled villages. Whole communities gathered at midnight for a furtive Mass, watchmen posted on the lanes. Rosaries were fingered in whispers, catechisms taught in secret, faith lived under constant threat. The Armada of 1588 convinced Protestants that Catholics were Spain’s agents. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the folly of a few, stained the entire community with treason. Bonfires and sermons each November renewed the suspicion. Later, Titus Oates’s fabricated Popish Plot in 1678 sent innocent men to the gallows.¹⁰ In 1780, the Gordon Riots set chapels aflame and mobs howled “No Popery!” in the streets.¹¹
Rome did not abandon England. In 1623, Pope Gregory XV appointed William Bishop as Vicar Apostolic, the first of a line of bishops without dioceses, shepherds of shadows who confirmed children in barns and ordained priests abroad.¹² And in London, Richard Challoner sustained the hidden faithful with his revision of the Douai-Rheims Bible and his Garden of the Soul (1740), a book of prayers that became the catechism of generations who had no parish or procession but carried the Church in their hearts.¹³
By the late eighteenth century the storm began to lift. The Relief Act of 1778 permitted Catholics to inherit land, though it provoked the Gordon Riots. The Act of 1791 allowed registered chapels and schools, still under scrutiny.¹⁴ At last the great Relief Act of 1829 swept away most remaining restrictions. Catholics could sit in Parliament, hold office, live as citizens.¹⁵ The long night of penal times was ending.
But the missionary structure of vicariates could no longer suffice. Catholics were multiplying, parishes thriving, schools spreading. In 1850, Pius IX restored the hierarchy by Universalis Ecclesiae. Thirteen dioceses were created, with Westminster as metropolitan. Wiseman, newly made cardinal, was appointed archbishop.¹⁶ Protestant England fumed. Lord John Russell railed against papal aggression in his “Durham Letter.”¹⁷ Effigies of the Pope were burned, and Parliament passed the Ecclesiastical Titles Act forbidding Catholic bishops to use Anglican titles.¹⁸ But the storm passed, and the hierarchy endured.
Catholic England was visible once more. Parishes multiplied, schools flourished, orders revived, Irish immigration filled churches, and converts like John Henry Newman gave prestige. Westminster Cathedral rose in 1895 as a sign of permanence.¹⁹ Through two world wars Catholics fought, served, and suffered alongside their countrymen. Chaplains brought the sacraments to the trenches, parishes endured the Blitz. By mid-century, Catholics were no longer outsiders. The old stigma of recusancy was gone.
But even as the Church grew strong in public, new storms rose from within. The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) sought renewal but brought upheaval. The traditional Latin Mass, the anchor through centuries of persecution, was replaced. Vocations fell. Catechesis faltered.²⁰ The faith that had survived rope and rack now waned in an age of comfort. Meanwhile Britain itself drifted into secularism, with laws liberalising abortion and divorce, reshaping family life, and eroding Christian morality. Later decades exalted ideologies hostile to Catholic truth. Attendance dwindled, parishes closed, vocations dried up. The diocesan structure restored in 1850 still stands, but the Church it governs is weakened.
And yet the story is not finished. The martyrs still speak. Campion from the scaffold, Clitherow from beneath the stones, Owen from the hidden chamber, Challoner from the secret chapel. They endured not only for their own age but for ours. Their sacrifice is our summons. The England that once outlawed the Mass now shrugs at it. Indifference has replaced hostility. But the demand remains the same: fidelity to Christ, whatever the cost.
If Catholic England was restored to its orbit in 1850, it must not drift into eclipse today. The Church that survived rope and rack must not surrender to compromise. Catholic England will be truly restored only if her children reclaim the fidelity of the martyrs, the patience of the confessors, the courage of the recusants. The dawn broke once before. It can break again. But only if the faith that endured the darkness burns as brightly in our own time.
Nicholas Wiseman, Pastoral Letter from out of the Flaminian Gate (1850).
Statutes of the Realm: 1 Eliz. I, c.1–2 (1559).
23 Eliz. I, c.1 (1581).
Regnans in Excelsis (Pius V), 25 February 1570.
27 Eliz. I, c.2 (1585).
Evelyn Waugh, Edmund Campion (1935).
John Mush, A True Report of the Life and Martyrdom of Mrs Margaret Clitherow (1586).
Michael Questier, Catholicism and Community in Early Modern England (2006).
John Bossy, The English Catholic Community, 1570–1850 (1975).
In recent months, secular media outlets that once predicted Christianity’s decline have begun to notice a different story. Fox News reported a “major resurgence among Gen Z,” the New York Post spoke of conversions “en masse,” and CNN launched a podcast entitled “Catholicism Is So Hot Right Now. Why?” The shift suggests that a quiet revival may be underway, though its depth remains uncertain.
Statistical Signals New data have helped fuel this narrative. Pew Research reported in February 2025 that the decline of Christianity in the United States had slowed and may have stabilised. The Harvard Cooperative Election Study showed an increase in Gen Z Americans identifying as Catholic, rising from 15 percent in 2022 to 21 percent in 2023. In Britain, the Bible Society reported that 41 percent of Gen Z now identify as Catholic, compared to 20 percent as Anglican.
While striking, these statistics measure identification more than conversion, and cannot by themselves prove fidelity to Catholic teaching or sacramental life.
The Attraction of the Latin Mass A key feature of this revival is the attraction of youth to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). Codified by Pope Pius V in 1570 and eclipsed after 1969 by the Novus Ordo Missae, the old rite has experienced remarkable growth.
The annual Chartres pilgrimage, centred on the TLM, drew 19,000 participants in 2025, with an average age of 20 and thousands placed on waiting lists. Traditional parishes, especially those served by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and similar institutes, have reported congregations doubling in size, with young adults and families leading the way.
The attraction lies in the ritual stability, silence, Gregorian chant, and eastward orientation of priest and faithful. These elements embody transcendence and permanence in a world marked by fragmentation and chaos.
Beauty as Evangelical Power Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger observed that beauty is not a superficial adornment but a piercing truth that “wounds man and opens his eyes.”¹ Romano Guardini, whose thought shaped much of the modern liturgical movement, emphasised that liturgy is not mere ceremony but the engagement of the whole person in worship.²
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski has underlined that the qualities which modern critics dismiss—length, silence, formality—are precisely those that form souls, offering “time for the mysteries to be absorbed.”³ For a generation immersed in digital noise, such contemplative worship offers healing and depth.
A Question of Depth: Gen Z Morality Yet the decisive question remains: does this attraction to traditional liturgy correspond to conversion of life? Survey evidence is mixed.
Abortion and Assisted Suicide: In the United States, 65 percent of Gen Z men and 71 percent of Gen Z women support legal abortion.⁴ In the UK, nearly one-third of Gen Z respondents considered suicide “justifiable.”⁵
Honesty: Only 34 percent of Gen Z strongly agree that lying is immoral, compared with 61 percent of the oldest generation.⁶
Marriage and Modesty:67 percent of Gen Z are indifferent to premarital cohabitation, and fewer than 40 percent affirm marriage as lifelong between one man and one woman.⁷
Family and Integrity: Family remains a strong personal value, often alongside honesty, but usually framed individualistically rather than sacramentally.⁸
The evidence suggests that while Gen Z is drawn to the beauty of Catholic worship, many remain shaped by secular relativism. Without catechesis, sacramental confession, and formation in moral truth, this attraction risks remaining at the level of aesthetics rather than maturing into conviction.
The Peril of Marginalisation There is further danger in the ecclesial context. Traditional communities are often treated with suspicion by the mainstream hierarchy, restricted or marginalised under modernist policies. A Church controlled by bureaucratic hostility to tradition cannot hope to form a generation capable of resisting the world’s pressures. Communities reduced to mere enclaves, tolerated at best, are unlikely to engender the holiness and conviction necessary to withstand persecution or cultural collapse.
The lesson of history confirms this. During the English penal times, Catholics worshipped secretly in domestic chapels and barns, preserving not only the old Mass but the full moral vision of the faith. During the French Revolution, priests risked their lives to offer the sacraments in forests and private homes. In both cases, fidelity required more than aesthetic preference: it demanded conversion, sacrifice, and courage.
The Old Roman Apostolate (ORA) stands in this tradition. Born of the Catholic resistance to modernism, it has preserved both the traditional liturgy and the fullness of Catholic doctrine through decades of hostility. Like the underground priests of penal England or revolutionary France, the ORA insists that beauty without truth cannot save; only fidelity to the perennial magisterium can produce saints.
Conclusion: Beauty Must Lead to Conversion The attraction of Gen Z to the Latin Mass is a hopeful sign. It reveals a generation longing for transcendence, permanence, and beauty. But beauty alone is insufficient. Cardinal Ratzinger reminded us: “The true apology of Christian faith … are the saints, and the beauty that the faith has generated.”⁹
To move from aesthetic attraction to authentic conversion, the Church must provide more than permission for isolated enclaves. It must preach moral truth, provide sacramental confession, restore ascetic discipline, and resist the corrosive influence of modernism. Only then will today’s “quiet revival” become a true restoration of Catholic faith—producing not cultural tourists, but saints.
The Old Roman Apostolate: Continuity Amidst Persecution
The attraction of Gen Z to the Traditional Latin Mass cannot be understood in isolation from the broader history of Catholic fidelity under persecution. In every age, when the dominant ecclesial or political powers sought to suppress the fullness of Catholic tradition, it has been small, marginalised communities that preserved both liturgy and doctrine intact.
Historical Parallels
Penal Times in England: Catholics deprived of churches maintained the Mass in manor houses, barns, and secret chapels. These gatherings were not social clubs but lifelines of grace, uniting fidelity to the ancient liturgy with courage to endure fines, imprisonment, or martyrdom.
The French Revolution: Priests risked execution to celebrate Mass clandestinely in forests or private homes. Here again, the faith survived not through accommodation but through heroic perseverance.
The Communist Era: In Eastern Europe, underground churches and hidden seminaries trained priests, preserving the sacraments against relentless hostility.
In every case, survival demanded more than aesthetic attachment. Fidelity to the Mass was inseparable from fidelity to Catholic moral truth, even at great personal cost.
The Witness of the Old Roman Apostolate The Old Roman Apostolate (ORA) stands in this same line of witness. Originating in the rejection of modernist innovations, it preserved both the Traditional Latin Mass and the perennial magisterium through decades of marginalisation and misunderstanding.
Like the recusants of England or the confessors of Revolutionary France, Old Roman clergy and laity have endured the suspicion of mainstream ecclesiastical authorities while maintaining sacramental life with reverence, discipline, and doctrinal clarity.
The ORA insists that the liturgy cannot be severed from the fullness of Catholic moral teaching. It is not enough to be drawn by incense, chant, or solemnity; beauty must form souls for fidelity, for the daily carrying of the Cross, and for resistance to the spirit of the age. As the Apostolate has repeatedly emphasised, sacraments celebrated in continuity with tradition are efficacious only when accompanied by conversion of life.
A Model for Gen Z For Gen Z Catholics newly discovering the TLM, the history and witness of the Old Roman Apostolate offers a model. The ORA shows that beauty and truth must be safeguarded together, that tradition without moral courage degenerates into aesthetics, and that authentic Catholic revival will always attract hostility from the world—and often from compromised churchmen.
The challenge is therefore clear: to ensure that the current “quiet revival” does not fade into cultural trendiness, but deepens into the kind of fidelity that produced martyrs, confessors, and saints. In this task, the ORA provides both example and encouragement: a living proof that amidst persecution, Catholic tradition endures.
Joseph Ratzinger, The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty (Rimini Meeting, 2002).
Romano Guardini, The Spirit of the Liturgy (1923).
Peter Kwasniewski, Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright (Arouca Press, 2020).
Pew Research Center, “Public Opinion on Abortion” (2022).
King’s College London, “UK now among most socially liberal of countries” (2021).
Barna Group, The Gen Z Morality Report (2018).
Pew Research Center, “Marriage and Cohabitation in the U.S.” (2019).
The ongoing crisis within the Church has underscored the imperative for groundbreaking approaches that can secure the Church’s endurance for future generations. It is evident that the decline in vocations within the institutional church is a clear indication of this pressing matter. Nevertheless, despite the issuance of “Traditionis Custodes”1 aiming to eradicate the Traditional Latin Mass, there has been a notable upsurge in vocations within the Traditional Catholic movement. Seminaries such as the Society of St Pius X, former Ecclesia Dei apostolates and communities, and sedevacantist groups are all experiencing a substantial demand from aspiring vocations. Some Traditionalists even discuss the revitalization of the “simplex” or “chantry” priest model2 to cater to the increasing demand for Masses and alleviate the scarcity of seminary-trained priests. To confront this challenge, it is crucial to explore innovative methods of attracting and engaging individuals who are eager to devote themselves to the Church’s mission and values.
Prior to the Council of Trent and since the time of the apostles, an apprenticeship model for discerning and training priests was standard across the Church. A candidate might live near or with a priest and be trained by him, or be attached to the bishop’s household (domi episcoporum) and learn from the bishop or his delegate, the praepositus,3 or attend a Cathedral school. This latter model essentially became codified and expanded by Trent to create the seminary model we are familiar with today. However, in the current circumstances, the seminary model is unable to meet the demands of the Traditional Catholic movement due to insufficient resources and the exponentially rising costs of providing residential training for the number of vocations. Nevertheless, for more than a century, the Old Roman apostolate has effectively utilized an apprenticeship model despite limited means.
The Worker Priest Movement
The emergence of the Worker Priest Movement in France4 during the 1940s was a direct response to the profound changes brought about by World War II. This innovative concept involved Catholic priests residing and working alongside industrial laborers, with the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of and providing support to the working class. The movement aimed to bridge the gap between the Church and the labour force, promoting unity and addressing the social and economic challenges faced by the working class. In practice, the worker priests took on manual labour jobs, resided in working-class communities, and actively engaged in social and political activism. Their objective was to bring the teachings of the Catholic Church directly to industrial workers and advocate for social justice in the context of their everyday lives.
The progress of the movement was met with obstacles and ultimately experienced setbacks due to resistance from conservative factions within the Catholic Church hierarchy. The worker priests’ active participation in labour unions and left-wing political movements caused tensions with the Church leadership, which resulted in a crackdown on the movement. The Vatican’s determination to suppress the movement during the 1950s constituted a substantial setback for the worker priest ideology, leading to its decline and eventual extinction. However, during these prolonged periods of turmoil within the Church, the Old Roman apostolate through necessity has managed to cultivate a cohort of conservative and orthodox clergy, utilizing the finest components and initial noble aspirations of the worker priest concept.
Sacred & Profane
If one were to imagine a monastery, what would come to mind? Perhaps a sanctuary devoted to prayer? A secluded spiritual refuge detached from the limitations and preoccupations of the material realm? A dwelling where individuals who have forsaken worldly pursuits lead lives of dedication and service to God? Without a doubt, these qualities are often associated with monasteries. However, a fundamental aspect that is shared among all monasteries is their ability to sustain themselves materially. This involves the monastery, along with its monks and nuns, typically ensuring the financial and physical support required for their contemplative existence. Whether it be through cultivating crops, utilizing artistic talents, or engaging in scholarly pursuits to acquire the commodities they cannot provide for themselves, they are not completely disengaged from the world. Nevertheless, their lives and the environments they inhabit are commonly regarded as sacred. They harmoniously blend the sacred (religious life) and profane (worldly concerns).
Similar to the monks and nuns residing within monasteries, as well as other Catholic clergy worldwide, some of our Old Roman priests also navigate the delicate balance between the sacred and the secular. Like their monastic counterparts, Old Roman clergy strive to attain sanctity by diligently adhering to the canonical requirements of praying the Divine Office, celebrating Mass, and administering sacraments to faithful Christians who, too, strive for holiness. However, many Old Roman priests also engage in secular occupations to sustain themselves materially. In various aspects, contrary to the prevailing perception of clericalism, our Old Roman clergy fully empathize with the daily struggles faced by the laity and are, therefore, better equipped to care for, understand, and guide them in their spiritual journey. Unlike those whose worldly concerns have been entirely relinquished, our priests do not take basic aspects of life for granted, such as housing, sustenance, and expenses. These ordinary matters hold equal significance for our priests as they do for any other individual.
In the past, the seminary and rectory were considered suitable environments for the support and sustenance of sacred ministers. However, this practice is a relatively new development that emerged from the reformative endeavours of the Counter-reformation. Throughout the Church’s extensive history, clerics like religious monks and nuns, were self-sufficient in addition to their ecclesiastical appointments from skilled or scholarly employment, family wealth or dependent on the generosity of benefactors. The era of wealthy benefactors has significantly diminished, and in the current climate, marked by a multitude of scandals, setbacks, and a prevailing crisis of faith within the Church, it is unlikely that they will make a comeback anytime soon. Furthermore, there are only a limited number of wealthy benefactors who can adequately address this situation and meet the material needs of orthodox priests in sufficient numbers to tackle the crisis. As the rectors of the few Traditional yet oversubscribed seminaries can attest, fundraising is more difficult, not easier, in the present climate if only due to the surge in vocations and the commensurate increase in costs.
Bivocation
Every human being, regardless of their background or circumstances, will hopefully discern two distinct yet complementary vocations in their lifetime. The first is the universal spiritual calling to seek knowledge of, and cultivate a deep love for God. This profound connection with the Divine is ultimately fulfilled through the sacrament of baptism and the subsequent inclusion in the Church community. The nature of this undertaking is both individual and communal. The calling is personally acknowledged and fulfilled (baptism), but it is also embraced and expressed as a collective effort (membership of the Church).
However, alongside this collective spiritual vocation to humanity, each individual is also bestowed with a unique and personal calling. This personal vocation is a reflection of God’s plan for their life and is intricately woven into their inherent predispositions, skills, and abilities. It is a divine invitation to serve God’s Will in a way that is distinct to them alone. This personal vocation is not a mere coincidence or happenstance, but rather a deliberate design by a loving Creator who has endowed every person with a specific set of talents and gifts. It is through the cultivation and refinement of these innate qualities that individuals can effectively contribute to the betterment of themselves and society as a whole.
These dualistic vocations are clearly evident in the lives of individuals who have undergone Christian baptism. These individuals not only establish a profound and meaningful connection with God, but also find a deep sense of purpose and fulfillment in their chosen careers, which span across various fields such as healthcare, education, finance, business, and the arts, among others. The range of professional paths and pursuits is vast and diverse. Each of these fields necessitates specific skills, knowledge, and expertise for success. Whether it involves nurturing young minds, preparing delectable meals, maintaining a clean and orderly environment, or devising innovative solutions, the contributions made by individuals in these diverse disciplines are crucial to the functioning of society. Each profession plays a distinctive role in shaping the world we inhabit.
St. Irenaeus said, “The glory of God is a living man5… the life of a man is the vision of God.”6In essence, every human being is called to embrace both the universal spiritual vocation and their personal vocation. These two vocations are intertwined, complementing and enriching one another to realise the whole person. While the spiritual vocation provides a foundation of faith and a connection to the Divine, the personal vocation empowers individuals to actively participate in God’s plan for the world. Therefore, it is essential for individuals to recognize the significance of their personal vocation and to nurture it with care and intentionality. By doing so, they not only fulfill their own purpose but also contribute to the greater tapestry of humanity, playing their part in the grand symphony of the restoration of God’s creation through Jesus Christ.
Bivocational Clergy
Since the inception of the Church, individuals have dutifully answered God’s summons to fulfill their spiritual and personal vocations in service to Him. Throughout history, we have witnessed the remarkable dedication of monks and nuns within the sphere of monastic existence. These individuals collectively embrace a shared devotion to the religious life, finding solace and purpose in their commitment to God. However, what sets them apart is their ability to simultaneously utilize their distinctive skills and capabilities to contribute to the overall welfare, sustenance and maintenance of the community.
In exploring the multifaceted nature of the clergy’s calling, we can find numerous examples of individuals who have exemplified this duality, i.e. spiritual and personal vocations. Renowned composers such as Victoria, Allegri, and Vivaldi, all of whom were priests, serve as prime examples. Their musical genius not only enriched the spiritual lives of those within the Church but also left an indelible mark on the world of music. Similarly, esteemed scientists like Copernicus, Mendel, and Lemaître, who were also priests, made groundbreaking contributions to their respective fields. Copernicus’s revolutionary work on Heliocentrism challenged prevailing beliefs about the universe, while Mendel’s advancements in Genetics laid the foundation for modern understanding of heredity. Lemaître’s work on the Big Bang Theory fundamentally reshaped our understanding of the origins of the universe.
Even in the present day, we continue to witness priests undertaking various roles alongside their religious responsibilities. These individuals serve as educators, imparting knowledge and wisdom to the next generation. They are scientists, pushing the boundaries of human understanding and unraveling the mysteries of the natural world. They are scholars, delving deep into the annals of history and preserving knowledge for future generations. They are medical professionals, providing care and healing to those in need. They are musicians, using their talents to uplift and inspire. They are artists, capturing the beauty of creation through their creative expressions. They are historians, uncovering the past and shedding light on our shared heritage.
It is important to note that many of these individuals successfully pursue notable professions in their specific areas, separate from their duties and obligations as priests. They are able to balance their religious calling with their personal gifts and talents, finding fulfillment in both vocations. In some cases, these individuals even receive compensation for their non-religious endeavors, either alongside their stipend or as a substitute for it. This allows them to support themselves financially while continuing to serve their communities and fulfill their spiritual vocations.
Various examples throughout history and in the present day demonstrate the incredible versatility and dedication of priests who embrace their sacred calling while also making significant contributions in various fields. They embody the idea that one’s spiritual and personal vocations need not be mutually exclusive, but rather can be harmoniously integrated to create a more enriched and fulfilling life. From Pope Benedict XVI, who as Joseph Ratzinger was an accomplished academic and theologian as well as a cleric, to Fr David Brown, S.J., who is an astronomer working as a research astronomer specializing in stellar evolution. Many priests have gifts and talents to share beyond sacramental, pastoral, and administrative roles.
Tentmaker Ministry
“Tentmaker” ministry is sometimes used to describe the bi-vocational or worker priest vocation after the Apostle Paul who supported himself by utilising the skills he learned from his own father’s tentmaking trade while living and preaching in Corinth7. Unlike the other apostles in the early Christian Church, who devoted themselves entirely to their religious ministry and lived off the money donated by church members8, St Paul frequently performed outside work, not desiring to be a financial burden to the young churches he founded. In Thessaloniki, St Paul states that he and his companions “worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.”9
St Paul’s purpose in working was to set an example for the faithful, “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”10 He also hoped that his refusal to accept financial support would build his credibility among non-Christians, thus giving him the chance to win over more of them “If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.”11
Many of the clericalist attitudes that have been significantly criticized by some within the contemporary Church can be attributed to the adverse consequences of attempting to create a rigid separation between the sacred and the profane. The now conventional seminary system providing full-time residential formation and subsequently diocesan board and lodging, stipend, and expenses for regular clergy, or even the comparably high standard of living provided to many religious priests by their religious congregations and orders, has produced expectations and standards that have influenced the perceptions and clericalist behaviors of many clergy members within the contemporary Church. This has led to a dependent and elitist culture within the Church, and fostered a lack of accountability, transparency, and humility.
Old Roman Formation Houses
In response to the query regarding formation, it is acknowledged that traditional seminary formation, though highly desirable, may not always be financially feasible. Consequently, the Old Roman apostolate is actively exploring the foundation of Formation Houses, which follow the time-tested model of the domus ecclesiae or episcopi providing practical training and moral formation. Saints Eusebius of Vercelli, Augustine of Hippo, and Isidore of Seville each set up small communities of young men who lived and studied with their bishop. We have a missionary precedence for such institutions in the example of St Gregory the Great who instructed St Augustine of Canterbury regarding his mission to the Angles, to set up separate places where men could study, live, and pray together.12 It is worth noting that Formation Houses are not a novel concept even today; numerous religious orders and priestly societies still utilise this model, wherein aspiring individuals, be they postulants, novices, or seminarians, reside alongside experienced mentors, engaging in comprehensive learning and study under their guidance.
The Old Roman apostolate being essentially a missionary endeavour, seeks to utilise this model of formation to answer the crisis in seminary formation and the Church. In the UK13 and Philippine territories of the Old Roman apostolate, the process is already underway to find suitable premises for aspiring candidates to be mentored primarily by the episcopal-administrator and by supporting experienced chaplains and qualified professors.
However, what will set these Formation Houses apart from others will be the requirement for candidates to contribute financially to the upkeep of the residence and community experience by being gainfully employed or apprenticed to a secular occupation. This means that candidates will not only be responsible for their own financial well-being but will also have the opportunity to gain practical skills and experience in a real-world setting. By being gainfully employed or apprenticed, candidates will not only be able to support themselves but also contribute to the overall functioning and sustainability of the Formation House.
Furthermore, rather than being separated from the local community, candidates will be expected to actively participate in the life of the local church. This involvement goes beyond attending regular worship services; candidates will have the opportunity to host study groups and fellowship events, thereby fostering a sense of community and connection within the Formation House and the local church. Additionally, candidates may even engage in outreach activities, reaching out to those in need and making a positive impact on the wider community.
In terms of academic qualifications, candidates are expected either to have previously acquired academic credentials in philosophy and theology or be actively pursuing such qualifications14. However, in addition to these traditional academic pursuits, candidates will also be required to accept training in domestic sciences and other practical skills. This emphasis on practical skills is aimed at equipping candidates with the necessary tools to live independently or in a community setting. By acquiring these skills, candidates will be better prepared to serve others practically in outreach efforts, further enhancing their ability to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those they encounter.
In summary, the Formation Houses will not only provide a residence and community experience for candidates, but they will also offer opportunities for personal and professional growth. Through gainful employment or apprenticeships, candidates will contribute financially to the Formation House while gaining valuable skills and experience. By actively participating in the local church, candidates will foster a sense of community and connection. Additionally, the emphasis on practical skills will enable candidates to live independently, in a community, or serve others practically in outreach.
Though the atmosphere of the Formation Houses will be overtly spiritual and educational, the rarified context will be balanced with a practical and interactive experience. Overall, with exposure to the sciences and discipline of the sacred ministry, liturgy, spiritual direction and daily routine, these Formation Houses will aim to provide a holistic and enriching experience for candidates, equipping them with the necessary tools to thrive in their priestly and personal lives suited to their mission-oriented context.
Old Roman Worker Priests
Many priests in communities worldwide take on additional ministries to help local churches that have limited resources and personnel. In addition, there may be cultural norms that place expectations upon priests to provide for their parents and siblings. Similarly, numerous Old Roman priests adopt a “bi-vocational” approach, wherein they have identified and developed skills and talents that extend beyond religious pursuits and align with complementary professions. This enables them to seamlessly integrate their priestly duties with regular, secular employment, though avoiding jobs and associations that “cannot be reconciled with the obligations proper to the clerical state.”15The primary benefit of this arrangement is that it empowers them to achieve financial independence and, in some cases, provide for their families. Additionally, they actively contribute to the local church and community outreach initiatives, assuming an active role and patronage akin to fellow congregants within the areas they reside and operate.
Old Roman clergy have discovered straddling as it were both worlds, they have the opportunity to interact with individuals who would not typically encounter an orthodox Catholic priest. In doing so, they can offer guidance to colleagues who are on a spiritual quest, and when appropriate, shed light on how a Catholic perspective might approach certain situations or issues. By sowing seeds of faith and fostering awareness, our clergy are actively spreading the teachings of our religion. It is often appreciated that some of our clergy do not rely on donations or stipends; this positively influences those who view the Church as a profit-driven institution rather than a sanctuary for salvation. While it is evident in Scripture that ministers deserve remuneration for their labour, historical instances of individuals exploiting this privilege have marred the reputation of the priesthood. One need only recall the Vatileaks Scandal16, the degradation of the former cardinal, Theodore McCarrick17 and the recent trial of Giovanni, Cardinal Becciu18.
Old Roman clergy in their pursuit of the growth and success of our missions, recognize the inherent conflict often between accepting financial support and growing the sanctity of the faithful. They firmly believe that compromising their teachings or preaching to appease donors is unnecessary. As worker priests, their principles and the sanctity of their office are invaluable and cannot be influenced by monetary means. Their dedication and commitment to the salvation of souls, including their own, are the only factors that should be taken into account. Similar to holy monks and nuns who sustain themselves through their temporal labours, the clergy of the Old Roman apostolate also enjoy the freedom of being supported by their own efforts and utilising the skills and abilities bestowed upon them by God, so they are free to fulfil their calling.
Among the worker priests in the Old Roman apostolates, there is a diverse array of backgrounds and experiences. Some received their formation in residential seminaries, while others attended university or pursued theology part-time. Remarkably, one individual managed to balance a demanding job and daily commute while studying for a theology degree for five years. Our priests possess a wealth of experience in various sectors including hospitality, catering, public service, small business, education, corporate roles, chaplaincy, nursing and even qualified counseling in psychotherapy. Additionally, many of them have lived, worked, and studied abroad, enabling them to communicate in multiple languages. We consider ourselves truly fortunate to have such a wide array of talents and skills to contribute to our mission. Engaging in a bi-vocational ministry entails numerous stresses and challenges, with competing obligations and occasional frustrations. In such circumstances, we all rely on God’s grace and assistance.
Certainly, we aim to foster the support of individuals with the financial means to contribute to the mission work of the Old Roman apostolate. We express our sincere gratitude to those individuals who already provide support enough to enable some of our priests to dedicate their time fully to pastoral duties and meet the liturgical needs of the faithful they serve. We do ask that those with means prayerfully consider supporting our Old Roman priests and perhaps establishing mission societies to help our clergy, so that they can dedicate more time to the work of God and pastoral care. Though currently, we find that the status of being bi-vocational is a fortunate aspect for our clergy and our mission. They demonstrate an equivalent level of dedication as full-time pastors voluntarily and by vocation, while adhering to the limitations imposed by time and circumstances, all the while avoiding any temptations or aspirations associated with clericalism. However, above all it is essential to acknowledge that our clergy require the support of your prayers.
Conclusion
While Formation Houses and worker priests may offer a response to the current challenges faced by the Church, it is crucial to acknowledge that the optimal resolution rests in leveraging the profound wisdom and extensive experience accumulated and developed by the Church over two millennia. These alternative models should not supplant the conventional seminary approach and the presence of dedicated pastors, for despite contemporary concerns, these well-established models have otherwise demonstrated their efficacy in delivering a comprehensive theological education and priestly preparation.
However, it is also essential to acknowledge that the Church is a living entity that must adapt to the changing times and needs of its followers. The emergence of Formation Houses and worker priests as alternative paths for formation and ministry reflects this need for flexibility and innovation. While the traditional seminary model provides a comprehensive and structured education, it may not always be accessible or suitable for everyone. Formation Houses, on the other hand, offer a more flexible and localized approach to formation, allowing individuals to receive training and guidance within their own communities. This can be particularly beneficial in areas where access to traditional seminaries is limited or where the needs of the local community require a more tailored approach to ministry.
Worker priests emphasise the integration of faith and work, allowing individuals to serve as both pastors and workers in their respective fields examples to the faithful how to live a wholly integrated spiritual and material life. This approach recognizes that ministry is not confined to the walls of a church but extends into the everyday lives, homes and workplaces of individuals. By engaging with the world in this way, worker priests can also bring the teachings of the Church to a wider audience and address the spiritual needs of those who may not otherwise interact with nor have experience of the Church and the Catholic religion.
In conclusion, while Formation Houses and worker priests provide innovative approaches to formation and ministry, they should be seen as complementary to, rather than replacements for, the traditional seminary model and full-time pastors. The ideal solution lies in embracing the wisdom and experience of the Church’s rich history while also adapting to the changing needs and realities of the Church in the modern world, and particularly during this critical and extended time of crisis of faith and doctrine in the Church.
Lateran IV required bishops to prepare and instruct ordinandi, either personally or through a delegate, ‘‘in the divine services and the sacraments of the church.’’↩︎
Orthodox Old Romans have never claimed to be anything other than Catholics striving to maintain and perpetuate the perennial Catholic faith. The following distinctives should assist the inquirer to recognise authentic Old Roman apostolates and missions from others who call themselves “Old Roman Catholic” who are anything but!
Old Roman apostolates are few in number and their histories often overlap in terms of individuals and events. Old Roman apostolates are conservative in their governance, beliefs, and religious practices. They are identifiable by their endurance and steadfastness. Although they acknowledge their roots in the early See of Utrecht, they reject any association with “Old Catholics” and reject being labeled as “schismatic.”
Annexed by Bl. Pius IX in 1853 to avoid settling a long standing canonical dispute over rights and privileges granted by previous Popes “in perpetuity” to the See of Utrecht (Netherlands). Old Roman clergy have continued to preserve intact the doctrine and liturgy extant at the time of their disavowal by Rome; it is for this they are known as “Old” and for their fidelity to the Latin Rite tradition as, “Roman”.
Doctrine
Old Romans believe “… that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all” (St Vincent of Lerins, Commonitory 434AD). Central to the Old Roman apostolate is the preservation and continuance of the orthodox Catholic Faith received from the Apostles and understood through the collective experience, study and testimony of two thousand years of Catholic tradition. To this end the Old Romans have been particularly vigilant concerning the development of Modernism within the Church, noting its subtleties and insidious progression from the time of the Enlightenment to the present day.
As the Old Roman bishops stated to the papal legate in 1823, “We accept with the greatest willingness, and without any exception whatever, all the articles of the Holy Catholic Faith; we will neither hold nor teach, now or afterwards, any other opinions than those which have been decreed, determined and published by our Mother, the Holy Church, conformably to Holy Scripture, tradition, the acts of the Ecumenical Councils, and those of the Council of Trent.”
This Old Roman anti-modernist position is in stark contrast to the progressiveness of Old Catholicism with whom Old Romans are sometimes confused. The two could not be more different. Though Old Romans and Old Catholics share a common history derived from the primitive See of Utrecht, they each represent two quite distinct progressions from the same source; one orthodox, the other apostate. The difference should be obvious to even the most casual observer.
✠Arnold Harris Mathew of England was consecrated to the Episcopate in 1908 by ✠Gerard Gul of Utrecht at a time when Utrecht was still truly orthodox. At the time of ✠Mathew’s consecration at Utrecht, no serious inroads had been made upon the Catholic Faith by the Church of Utrecht, nor had she yet departed in any way from Catholic traditions and practice. By the end of 1910, however, the heterodox influence of the “Old Catholics” had proved too much for Utrecht, overwhelmed her, and so great and far-reaching were the changes which she was prevailed upon to make in her formularies and doctrinal position, that on December 29, 1910, ✠Mathew was forced to break ties with Utrecht in order to preserve the Old Roman legacy ✠Mathew adopted the name previously used by the Utrajectine Church before they deviated from orthodox beliefs, “Old Roman” Catholic. He composed the following prayer, still recited in Old Roman churches after the Leonine prayers.
Almighty and everlasting God, Whose only begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, has said, “Other sheep I have that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd”; let Thy rich and abundant blessing rest upon the Old Roman Catholic Church, to the end that it may serve Thy purpose by gathering in the lost and straying sheep. Enlighten, sanctify, and quicken it by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, that suspicions and prejudices may be disarmed, and the other sheep being brought to hear and to know the voice of their true Shepherd thereby, all may be brought into full and perfect unity in the one fold of Thy Holy Catholic Church, under the wise and loving keeping of Thy Vicar, through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Amen.
On 12 April, 1925 the successor to ✠Mathew of the Old Romans in England, ✠Bernard M Williams repudiated again the errors of the Old Catholics and in 1939, ✠Williams would further declare “We disclaim all pretensions to being in any sense ‘a Church.’ We are simply a Rite within the Catholic Church…” In traditional papal encyclicals, a “schismatic community” is a Christian community adhering to valid sacraments but without recognizing the primacy of place of Rome or the importance of the papacy. This cannot be levelled at the Old Romans who clearly betray a recognition of the primacy of the Popes and the importance of maintaining communion with all Catholics. But after the promulgation of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council and the Novus Ordo Missae that followed, seeing the crisis in the Church increase exponentially, the Old Romans have taken a position to continue in the practice of the immemorial Catholic Faith.
“If someone, for a reasonable motive, holds the person of the Pope in suspicion and refuses his presence, even his jurisdiction, he does not commit the delict of schism nor any other whatsoever, provided that he be ready to accept the Pope were he not held in suspicion. It goes without saying that one has the right to avoid what is harmful and to ward off dangers. In fact, it may happen that the Pope could govern tyrannically and that is all the easier as he is the more powerful and does not fear any punishment from anyone on earth.”
Thomas, Cardinal Cajetan, De divina institutione Pontificatus Romani Pontificis (1521)
Apostolic Succession
Orthodox Old Roman bishops possess only one line of Apostolic succession in close lineal descent directly from Archbishop Gul of Utrecht via the consecration of ✠Arnold Harris Mathew in 1908. This succession is shared in common with 95% of Roman Catholic bishops in the world today and is generally known as the Rebiba succession. Old Roman bishops do not claim multiple lines of succession nor are their co-consecrators from non-Old Roman groups.
Authentic Old Roman bishops are consecrated exclusively employing the Pontificale Romanum according to the Tridentine Rite of episcopal consecration as extant in 1908. To the prejudice of those ordained by any other pretended western rite who petition to join them, Old Romans will reordain sub-conditione according to the Pontificale Romanum.
All the Ultrajectine Old Roman bishops from ✠Steenoven in 1725 down to ✠Mathew in 1908 were decreed individually excommunicate by successive Popes for receiving episcopal consecration without a papal mandate. The mandatum is the papal document granting permission for the consecration of a bishop who will serve as a bishop in any capacity, including as an auxiliary or titular bishop. It is important to note that this excommunication occurred despite the historical privilege granted to the Chapter of Utrecht by Bl. Pope Eugene III in 1145, which allowed them to elect their own bishops. Furthermore, this privilege was affirmed by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (canons 23 & 24), and the Ultrajectine bishops duly informed and sought approval from Rome for their elections and consecrations.
Even though the historical bishops in the Ultrajectine succession received declaratory sentences of excommunication, the 1917 CIC states; “It is not permitted to extend penalties from person to person or from case to case, even though the reason is the same or even stronger.” Canon 2219§3. In other words, excommunication is not contagious nor contiguous, but personal and its effects limited to the named individual. Since the consecrations of ✠Herbert Beale and ✠Arthur Howarth no Old Roman bishop has been declared excommunicate since 1911.
Rome still recognises the validity of the Ultrajectine apostolic succession as various Old Roman clergy who were previously under Roman obedience and have individually reconciled with the Holy See have been required to repent of their receiving holy Orders. Likewise, in dialogue with the Polish National Catholic Church (in America) since 1996 the Holy See has recognised the validity of the holy Orders and sacraments administered by them which derive from the same Old Roman apostolic succession. Anecdotally, individual Old Roman bishops upon enquiry with the Holy See have also had the presumed validity of this Apostolic succession confirmed.
Ecclesiology
Though different Old Roman apostolates have used distinguishing titles to differentiate between themselves, usually reflecting geographical location, they have always been titled Old Roman Catholic.
The Old Romans adhere to an ecclesiological system of episcopal governance and strive to follow the 1917 CIC as closely as possible. They do not regard their apostolates as parallel to nor opposing existing contemporary Roman Catholic jurisdictional structures. They sincerely hold themselves to be operating in unprecedented times under a state of necessity for the Church.
Before and after the promulgation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the latæ sententiæ penalty for episcopal consecration without a papal mandate was asuspension a divinis (Canon 2370) “… suspended by the Law itself, until the Apostolic See dispenses them.” In 1951 Pius XII decreed an ipso facto“automatic excommunication most especially reserved to the Apostolic See” for a man appointed to a canonical office without appointment by the Holy See, i.e. as an ordinary over an existing canonically erected jurisdiction. This was reaffirmed by the encyclical Ad Apostolorum Principis (29 June, 1958) concerning the problem of the Chinese Patriotic Association’s illicit installation of schismatic bishops to head vacant dioceses in China.
Though some might assume the automatic sentences described above apply to Old Roman bishops, under both codes of Canon Law, i.e. 1917 Canon 2205§2 and 1983 Canon 1323§4 respectively, persons acting contrary to the law believing there to be a grave necessity to do so, are dispensed from canonical penalty: “No penalty is incurred by a person forced by a necessity to act against the law.” Both the original dispute between Utrecht and Rome over the election of bishops, the usurpation of the primitive Ultrajectine See’s hierarchy, and particularly the prevailing modernist crisis in the contemporary Church are considered sufficiently grave by Old Roman bishops enough to necessitate their actions.
Following traditional custom, Old Roman bishops are consecrated to “titular titles” of vacant extinct sees – careful to check they are vacant at the time of their election and consecration. Bishops are elected and consecrated to provide episcopal oversight to specific geographical areas of the Old Roman apostolate and to guarantee the validity of sacraments. Old Roman bishops understand these titular titles will be surrendered to an orthodox Pope when reconciliation with the Holy See occurs.
Catholic faithful who attend and support Old Roman apostolates, missions and chapels, do so on a voluntary basis i.e. by implicit request for sacraments and pastoral services. They are not required to make a contrary profession of Faith to that which any Catholic rightly holds to be the Catholic Faith and only if converting from other Christian traditions is an abjuration of heresy and profession of Faith required.
Though Old Roman bishops and clergy do not consider themselves to be labouring under any sentence or censure, Canon Law provides, “If a censure prohibits the celebration of sacraments or sacramentals or the placing of an act of governance, the prohibition is suspended whenever it is necessary to care for the faithful in danger of death. If a latae sententiae censure has not been declared, the prohibition is also suspended whenever a member of the faithful requests a sacrament or sacramental or an act of governance; a person is permitted to request this for any just cause.” Canon 1335 CIC 1983
Liturgy
The Old RomanOrdo is based upon the Universal Kalendar as it was extant in 1910, before the apostolic constitution Divino afflatu [by which Pope Pius X promulgated his revision of the Roman Breviary], though local variations in regions and territories are of course permitted.
Authentic chapels and missions of the Old Roman apostolate offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass exclusively according to the perennial Latin Rite, i.e. the “Tridentine Rite” as codified by the Council of Trent and promulgated by Pope St Pius V with Quo primum (14 July, 1570). Traditionally and whenever possible using earlier editions of the Missale Romanum prior to 1948.
The solemn liturgies of Holy Week and the Sacrum Triduum are offered similarly according to the rites and ceremonies as extant prior to the changes introduced by Pope Pius XII with Maxima Redemptionis (19 November, 1955).Likewise the pastoral offices e.g. Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Viaticum, etc, are all taken from the Rituale Romanum of the Tridentine Rite. Though predominantly in Latin, occasional parts may be said in the vernacular for pastoral and catechetical reasons.
All ordinations both to the minor and major orders respectively employ exclusively the Tridentine Rite, i.e. the Pontificale Romanum and from earlier editions dated before Sacramentum Ordinis (30 November, 1947) of Pope Pius XII and for the consecration of bishops, the editions prior to Episcopalis Consecrationis (30 November, 1944).
Old Roman clergy and religious pray from earlier editions either of the Breviarium Romanum prior to the 1910 reform, Divino Afflatu (01 November, 1911) promulgated by Pope St Pius X, or using earlier editions of the Diurnale monasticum.
Conclusion
It should be obvious then to any inquirer coming across a group claiming to be Old Roman, that
if the Pope is not prayed for, if the liturgy offered is not Tridentine, if traditional Catholic customs are not practised, if the clergy have not received minor ordinations, and if the teaching contains modernist errors and attitudes…
the likelihood is they are NOT Old Roman Catholics.
Airing on Saturday evenings following the Angelus/Regina Caeli, Archbishop Jerome hosts a new online programme titled “Old Romans Unscripted”!
The Archbishop was inspired by the trailblazing efforts of acquaintances Kevin Kallsen, George Conger and friend Gavin Ashenden whose programme “Anglican Unscripted” aired on YouTube has drawn interest from conservative Christians of all stripes for the past five years. The format is very simple, commentators discuss topics of the day or other subjects in an informal and “light-hearted” discussion and the occasional frank exchange of views. From ecclesiastical politics through civil politics, social commentary and personal devotion, religious stories in the Media and general philosophical or theological topics, the flexible format allows a great breadth and diversity of interesting perspectives and possibilities.
A long time fan of the Anglican version and having committed himself to broadcasting content at 6pm everyday during the Coronavirus imposed lock-down, the Archbishop has adapted the format to accommodate for his and others’ limited technological resources to create “Old Romans Unscripted”. The Archbishop hopes the medium will provide a way for Old Roman faithful around the globe to better know and understand each other’s perspectives and experiences in living the faith elsewhere in the world and provide an interesting way for enquirers and others to learn about Old Romans and our raison d’etre.
The first two episodes were broadcast April 2020, His Grace’s first collaborator being Father Thomas Gierke OSF a Franciscan friar in Chicago. Responding to the Archbishop’s appeal for vernacular broadcasts of Mass to serve the faithful during the global COVID19 pandemic, Fr Tom responded to broadcast his Masses in English. Fr Tom works in EMS – Emergency Medical Services – at Cook County Jail, one of the world’s largest prisons and prison populations, though at the moment the inmate population has been reduced to cope with the pandemic. Fr Tom broadcast his Mass at 5am every weekday via the Friary’s Facebook page before starting his twelve hour shift at the jail.
In the first two episodes, Fr Tom and Archbishop Jerome discussed the benefits and types of traditional private devotional practices that Old Romans may observe to deepen their understanding and appreciation for the liturgical seasons and the many graces available through them. Frank observations lamenting the differences in approach and attitude of contemporary Catholics to personal piety and pious customs in stark contrast with those of Old Romans are shared explaining the demise in spiritual growth and development affecting so many today and the negative impact on the Church’s witness to the Gospel that is having. Recommending particular devotions and resources to find traditional devotional materials, the clerics also share personal anecdotes and insights into the spiritual life.
