About the Catholic Bishops Forum
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We are bishops of canonically and administratively independent Catholic Churches in the United States whose jurisdictions can be traced to various local Churches that passed on the essentials of the Catholic Church in a succession from the apostolic age. We have come together to support and encourage each other in building up the body of Christ.
Participating Ecclesial Bodies
Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch
-Bishop Mark Newman*
-Bishop Theodore Feldmann >
-Bishop Linda Rounds-Nichols *
-Bishop Michael Talbot <
Christ's Apostolic Catholic Church
-Bishop William F. von Rolappe, osb >"
Ecumenical Catholic Church USA
-Bishop Robert Catlett *+^
Ecumenical Catholic Communion
-Bishop Kedda Keough *>
-Bishop-Emeritus Francis Krebs *>
Old Catholic Communion
-Bishop Michael Scalzi, osb +
-Bishop Steven Rosczewski, oc
-Bishop Martin Shanahan +
-Bishop Gordon Barcalow, osf
-Bishop Dewayne Messenger
Catholic Apostolic Church in North America
-Bishop Michael Theogene ^<"
Society of St. Damien de Veuster
-Bishop Kimo Keawe +
Associate Members (Non-Jurisdictional)
-Bishop Cathy Chalmers (Ascension Alliance)
* Steering Committee
+ Reception Commission
^ Worship Commission
> Spiritual Formation Commission
< Academic Preparation Commission
" Social Media Outreach Commission
Statement of Agreement
As Affirmed and Signed by the Bishop-Participants of the 2021 Assembly
Description
We are bishops of canonically and administratively independent Catholic Churches in the United States whose jurisdictions can be traced to various local Churches that passed on the essentials of the Catholic Church in a succession from the apostolic age. We have come together to support and encourage each other in building up the body of Christ. We hope to accomplish this through embracing the points below.
Parameters
Essentials
"In essentials unity, in doubtful matters freedom, in all things charity." -author uncertain
We embrace as essential to our Catholicity:
-the Holy Scriptures
-the ancient Creeds
-our liturgical and sacramental life
-the ministerial structure of the apostolic era, and
-synodality1.
Expectation of Constructive Communal Participation
We promise to behave toward each other in ways that promote a healthy and positive place for interaction with each other for the sake of our common purpose.
Purpose
We intend
-to provide opportunities for getting to know, and for growing in communion with each other.
-to be a council to advise each other.
-to be a way in which other Christian churches can learn about the independent Catholic landscape through our network of relations.
-to collaborate on common endeavors, e.g. to provide education and formation opportunities for our Churches.
-to re-evaluate annually our call to communion and mission, and to redirect ourselves accordingly.
We agree
-to consult with each other when clergy move from one of our jurisdictions to another of our jurisdictions.
-to collaborate in addressing the problem of the multiplication of episcopal ordinations.
-to use the Catholic Bishops Forum contact list to send mass mailings only with the express permission of the Steering Committee. This list is primarily intended for member-to-member personal communication.
Ecumenism and Full Communion Agreements
The Catholic Bishops Forum recognizes that jurisdictions participating in the Forum may have already formed inter-communion/full communion agreements with other participating jurisdictions or may have an interest in establishing such agreements. The Catholic Bishops Forum recognizes those choices as internal decisions made by each participating jurisdiction and neither encourages nor discourages such actions. The Forum hopes to learn from the experience of those jurisdictions who have entered into such agreements should the Spirit lead us to the possibility of full inter-communion among all the jurisdictions participating in the Forum.
_________________
1 The Episcopal Church and then the entire Anglican Communion in the 1880’s agreed on the first four points of this list in what became the ecumenically groundbreaking “Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.” To these four points we have added the essential feature noted in the agreement between the Old Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden: “Though Old Catholics acknowledge the fact that [episcopacy] underwent great fluctuations in the course of history, it is considered to be as binding as the canon of Holy Scripture, the creeds of the ancient church (i.e., the Niceno-Constantinopolitan as well as the Apostolic) and the nascent conciliar system of common witness and decision-making of the church.” Utrecht and Uppsala, Section 3.4, p. 16 [emphasis ours].
We are bishops of canonically and administratively independent Catholic Churches in the United States whose jurisdictions can be traced to various local Churches that passed on the essentials of the Catholic Church in a succession from the apostolic age. We have come together to support and encourage each other in building up the body of Christ. We hope to accomplish this through embracing the points below.
Parameters
Essentials
"In essentials unity, in doubtful matters freedom, in all things charity." -author uncertain
We embrace as essential to our Catholicity:
-the Holy Scriptures
-the ancient Creeds
-our liturgical and sacramental life
-the ministerial structure of the apostolic era, and
-synodality1.
Expectation of Constructive Communal Participation
We promise to behave toward each other in ways that promote a healthy and positive place for interaction with each other for the sake of our common purpose.
Purpose
We intend
-to provide opportunities for getting to know, and for growing in communion with each other.
-to be a council to advise each other.
-to be a way in which other Christian churches can learn about the independent Catholic landscape through our network of relations.
-to collaborate on common endeavors, e.g. to provide education and formation opportunities for our Churches.
-to re-evaluate annually our call to communion and mission, and to redirect ourselves accordingly.
We agree
-to consult with each other when clergy move from one of our jurisdictions to another of our jurisdictions.
-to collaborate in addressing the problem of the multiplication of episcopal ordinations.
-to use the Catholic Bishops Forum contact list to send mass mailings only with the express permission of the Steering Committee. This list is primarily intended for member-to-member personal communication.
Ecumenism and Full Communion Agreements
The Catholic Bishops Forum recognizes that jurisdictions participating in the Forum may have already formed inter-communion/full communion agreements with other participating jurisdictions or may have an interest in establishing such agreements. The Catholic Bishops Forum recognizes those choices as internal decisions made by each participating jurisdiction and neither encourages nor discourages such actions. The Forum hopes to learn from the experience of those jurisdictions who have entered into such agreements should the Spirit lead us to the possibility of full inter-communion among all the jurisdictions participating in the Forum.
_________________
1 The Episcopal Church and then the entire Anglican Communion in the 1880’s agreed on the first four points of this list in what became the ecumenically groundbreaking “Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.” To these four points we have added the essential feature noted in the agreement between the Old Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden: “Though Old Catholics acknowledge the fact that [episcopacy] underwent great fluctuations in the course of history, it is considered to be as binding as the canon of Holy Scripture, the creeds of the ancient church (i.e., the Niceno-Constantinopolitan as well as the Apostolic) and the nascent conciliar system of common witness and decision-making of the church.” Utrecht and Uppsala, Section 3.4, p. 16 [emphasis ours].