The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch (CACA) is an Independent Catholic jurisdiction in the United States, established in 1958 by Herman Adrian Spruit. Since 2009, the Presiding Bishop of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch has been the Most Rev. Mark Elliott Newman.

History

After exploring several theological and mystical practices, Herman Adrian Spruit established the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch in 1958. Being consecrated by Charles H. Hampton a formerly Liberal Catholic priest who became an

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches, or Old Catholic movement, designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great C ...

bishop whose

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

descend through Hugh George de Willmott-Newman and the

Catholicate of the West The Catholicate of the West was a Christian denomination established in 1944 and which ceased to exist in 1994 to become the British Orthodox Church. The denomination was also known as the Catholic Apostolic Church, the Catholicate of the West ( ...

Spruit's jurisdiction became religiously pluralistic. Renting a former

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

chapel on Sundays, Spruit's jurisdiction has been described as theologically liberal through the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

and LGBT persons to the presbyterate and episcopate. The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch also practices

open communion Open communion is the practice of some Protestant Churches of allowing members and non-members to receive the Eucharist (also called Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper). Many but not all churches that practice open communion require that the ...

. Until her retirement in 2005, Spruit declared and consecrated his 4th wife, Meri Louise Spruit to succeed as head of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch—establishing the church as a matriarchy. She was then succeeded by Richard Alston Gundrey in 2005 who ordained numerous independent sacramental bishops for several jurisdictions other than the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch. Mark Newman was elected as the fourth Presiding Bishop in 2009. At an unknown time, the Catholic Church hierarchy condemned lay participation in this jurisdiction's sacramental activities.

Impact

Through the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch, multiple jurisdictions have sought and acquired episcopal consecration, such as the founding bishops of the

Charismatic Episcopal Church The Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), officially the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC), is a Christian denomination established in 1992. The ICCEC is a part of the Convergence Movement. Within North America, mo ...

, and some founding bishops of the

Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches (CEEC) is a Christian convergence communion established in 1995 within the United States of America. With a large international presence in five provinces and seven U.S. dioceses, most of its churche ...

although conditional consecrations extended forth through others such as a continuation of the

American Orthodox Catholic Church The American Orthodox Catholic Church (AOCC), or The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America (THEOCACNA), and sometimes simply the American Orthodox Patriarchate (AOP), was an independent Eastern Orthodox Christian c ...

and the

Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church The Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (, ; ICAB) is an Independent Catholicism, Independent Catholic Christian denomination, Christian church established in 1945 by Excommunication in the Catholic Church, excommunicated Catholic Church in Brazi ...

for both churches. Edward Jarvis, ''God, Land & Freedom: the true story of ICAB,'' Apocryphile Press, Berkeley CA, 2018, p 168

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch Christian organizations established in 1958 Christian denominations established in the 20th century Christian denominations founded in the United States