Mission Statement Independent Roman Catholic Community
We are a small group of Traditionalist Catholics existing to preserve the Traditional practices of the church. We adhere solely to the Rite of Mass Codified by the Council of Trent in 1570, and to all Rites and Usages Codified by the same Council and in Venerable Usage until the Heresies of the Second Vatican Council. We regard these Traditional Rites as fitting for the expression of Divine Worship.
Unlike many Traditionalist groups we do not engage in debate, or arguments concerning Validity of Orders, the minutia of Ritualistic practice, or the rights and wrongs of Vatican II. Such arguments cause further wounds to the body of Christ and are not conducive to the practice of true religion.
The Community, while living in the world, attempt to live according to the Rule of Saint Augustine as much as is practically possible. We are self supporting having to engaged in secular work to cover our expenses.
We started out as a group of five priests, having been ordained by a Thuc line Bishop in France. We first worked with a group of disaffected Catholics on the outskirts of London. After the death of three of our number in quick succession we were forced to downsize. Since this time we have been working with a group of Traditionalist lay people in South East Kent for some nine years.
Our attempt to establish a mission in France has failed due to the hostility of the local clergy of the Conciliar Church. Need we say more.
EPISCOPAL LINEAGE/EPISCOPAL SUCCESSION
SCIPIONE CARDINAL REBIBA (1504-1577)
GIULIO ANTONIO CARDINAL SANTORIO (1566)
GIROLAMO CARDINAL BERNERIO O.P. (1586)
ARCHBISHOP GALEAZZO SANVITALE (1604)
LUDOVICO CARDINAL LUDOVISI (1621)
LUIGI CARDINAL CAETANI (1622)
ULDERICO CARDINAL CARPEGNA (1630)
PALUZZO CARDINAL PALUZZI ALTIERI DEGLI ALBERTONI (1666)
POPE PIETRO FRANCESCO(VINCENZO MARIA)ORSINI DE GRAVINA O.P.(1675)POPE BENEDICT XIII
POPE PROSPERO LORENZO LAMBERTINI (1724) POPE BENEDICT XIV
POPE CARLO DELLA TORRE REZZONICO (1743) POPE CLEMENT XIII
MARCANTONIO CARDINAL COLONNA (1762)
HYACINTHE-SIGISMOND CARDINAL GERDIL,B.(1777)
GIULIO MARIA CARDINAL DELLA SOMAGLIA (1788)
ARCHBISHOP CARLO ODESCALCHI S.J. (1823)
COSTANTINO CARDINAL PATRIZI NARO (1828)
LUCIDO MARIA CARDINAL PAROCCHI (1871)
POPE ST. GUISEPPE MECHIORAE SARTO (1884) POPE PIUS X
POPE GIACOMO DELLA
CHIESA (1907) POPE BENEDICT XV
POPE EUGENIO MARIA GUISEPPE
GIOVANNI PACELLI (1917) POPE PIUS XII
ARCHBISHOP SAVEIO RITTER (1935)
JOSEF CARDINAL BEREN (1946)
ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH MATOCHA (1948)
ARCHBISHOP ROBERT POBOZNY (1949)
ARCHBISHOP PAVEL MARIA HNILICA S.J. (1951)
BISHOP EMMANUEL KORAB (1999)
BISHOP MICHAEL PHILIP FRENCH (2004)
The records of Episcopal Consecration for all Roman Catholic Bishops in our Line of Succession, prior to
His Eminence, Scipione Cardinal Rebiba
are located in the Archives of the Vatican.
All of the Popes since December 8, 1700, except for two, trace their Apostolic Succession from the same
His Eminence, Scipione Cardinal Rebiba.
More than 91% of the more than 4,900 Roman Catholic Bishops alive today, trace their episcopal lineage back to one bishop who was appointed in 1541 - Scipione Rebiba. Why so many bishops trace their lineages to this one bishop can be explained in great part by the intense sacramental activity of Pope Benedict XIII, who consecrated 139 bishops during his episcopate and pontificate, including many cardinals, papal diplomats, and bishops of important dioceses, who in turn, consecrated many other bishops.
The Community holds the SEDEVACANTIS position which is the only logical course for believers in Tradition.
ALL THE CLERGY OF THIS COMMUNITY SWEAR THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM GIVEN BY HIS HOLINESS POPE SAINT PIUS X
OATH AGAINST MODERNISM
Given by His Holiness Pope Saint Pius X
September 1, 1910.
To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors,
and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries.
"I firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.
"And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated.
"Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.
"Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.
"Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.
"Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our Creator and Lord.
"Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality - that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm.
"Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.
"Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact?one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history?the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.
"I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God. . ."
