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Statement of Union

INTERNATIONAL 

FREE CATHOLIC COMMUNION

 

1. The Way of Salvation

    Being created in the image and likeness of God, the human family has a glorious birthright which has become obscured through ignorance, doubt and sin resulting in a sense of alienation from God, from our true spiritual nature and from all of Creation. In the infinite compassion of God, Christ came forth from the heart of  the Father, to take upon himself the fullness of our human estate, to liberate us and all Creation. By his incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, a fully liberating and transforming grace was released into all Creation. In his love, He invites us to embrace this freedom and to participate in the work of redemption. By accepting and cooperating with this grace our lives are transfigured and Creation is transformed.

2. The Church

    The Mystical Body of Christ consists of all who have consciously embraced the grace of Christ. A temple built with living stones, the Church is a sacrament of Christ and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Referred to as the pillar and ground of truth, she has been entrusted with the care of Sacred Scripture and Tradition. However, the ultimate mission of the Church is to hold forth the message of Christ’s eternal love and healing grace to all the world.

3. Scripture and Tradition

    The principal guides for Christian faith and practice are found in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. Through the inspired writings of Sacred Scripture God has revealed the Word of Life. In addition to the Christian and Hebrew Scriptures, the Church has received oral, written and liturgical traditions which come to us from apostolic times. Through the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, Tradition is constantly nourished, renewed and expanded by the unique contributions of each generation and culture. Ever mindful that all people belong to God’s Family, the Church must remain open to recognize the wisdom of the other great spiritual traditions of the world.

4. The Creeds

    The principle doctrines of the Christian Faith are succinctly stated in what are commonly known as the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. The Church looks to these ancient confessions as a standard and basis for Christian Unity

5. The Law

    Jesus said: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."  

    Free Will is a fundamental and precious endowment given to all God’s children. The Church must seek to cultivate and to protect individual freedom of thought, conscience and choice. While gently offering guidance, it is her duty to help God’s People develop the faculty of discernment and take personal responsibility for their choices in life.  

    "You have been called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom for self-indulgence, but through love serve one another." —St. Paul

6. The Sacraments

    The sacraments are outward signs which confer the very grace they signify. These Mysteries, ordained by Christ, are seven in number, namely Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

•Baptism

    This Sacrament of Spiritual regeneration, administered by immersion or by the pouring on of water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, imparts sanctifying grace and constitutes initiation into the Mystical Body of Christ, the royal priesthood of believers and the sacramental life of the Christian community.

•Confirmation

    The grace of Pentecost, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, administered by the successors of the apostles with Chrism and the laying on of hands, empowers Christians to participate in the apostolic mission of the Church. 

•Holy Eucharist

    The central act of worship of the People of God, in which we offer ourselves and our gifts in union with the eternal sacrifice of Christ and partake of His Real Presence under the forms of Bread and Wine, offers to us the privilege of direct Communion with our Lord Jesus Christ

•Reconciliation

    The Sacrament in which Jesus Christ, through the ministry of the church, bestows the forgiveness of sins, heals broken fellowship and imparts grace for the amendment of life.

•Anointing the Sick

    The ministers of the Church anoint the sick with sacred oil, imparting the grace of Christ to those in need of healing for body or soul.

•Matrimony

    The Mystery of Marriage corresponds to the union of Christ and his Church. Through a voluntary, mutual commitment declared before God and the Church, the marital union becomes a channel of sacramental grace.

•Holy Orders

    The Holy Spirit, though the laying on of hands and the consecratory prayer of the Bishop, ordains women and men, married or single, who are called to serve the Church, imparting to them special grace to administer the Sacraments and feed the flock of Christ.

7. The Ministry

    The Supreme High Priest and Bishop of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, from whom all Bishops and other ministers derive their spiritual powers and jurisdiction.  

    Our Lord Jesus Christ chose and ordained apostles to guide the Church and to carry on His ministry after His Ascension. To this day, in an unbroken chain, their priesthood and ministry of oversight have continued through their successors, the bishops.

    In the exercise of their ministry, bishops are autonomous with respect to that part of the Church entrusted to their care. However, this apostolic privilege cannot be taken lightly. Each bishop should remain rooted in apostolic tradition, responsive to the collegial nature of the episcopacy, and remain ever submissive to Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

    The fullness of the ministry of Christ is shared by all the people of God. The episcopacy is complimented by various other ministries in the Church. In addition to the presbytery, which assists the bishop, there are also charismatic and lay ministries incorporating the whole priesthood of believers.  

    "Jesus called His disciples together and said: You know how those who exercise authority among the Gentiles lord it over them; their great ones make their importance felt. It cannot be like that with you. Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest, and whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all.  Such is the case with the Son of Man who has came, not to be served by others but to serve, to give his own life as a ransom for the many."  

Pentecost, 1991

Bremerton, Washington

 

Copyright © 1991 Timothy M. Barker & Maclin R. Milner, Jr.

All Rights Reserved

 

For more information, write, call or email:

INTERNATIONAL FREE CATHOLIC COMMUNION

P.O. Box 3454

Clearwater, Florida 33767

BpMilner@yahoo.com

 

 

 

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Copyright © 2003 Maclin R. Milner, Jr.

All Rights Reserved