THE NORTH AMERICAN
OLD ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
- The Primatial See of Nova-Terra -
"A Traditional Church for Today's Catholics."
Founded at Jerusalem in 33 A.D.; Organized at Utrecht in 696 A.D.; Established in Great Britain in 1908 A.D.; Established in America in 1914 A.D.
Dioceses of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church
The North American Old Roman Catholic Church currently consists of two geographical dioceses and a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction known as the Patrimony of the Primatial See.
In its early days the North American Old Roman Catholic Church functioned as a single diocese under Archbishop Carfora. As the years went on, a number of diocesan structures were established, but rather than structuring them as geographical dioceses, they were established along ethnic lines, in order to minister appropriately to the spiritual needs of each ethnic group within the Church. This practice was followed in a similar but smaller vein in the Roman Catholic Church by the establishment of "national" parishes which co-existed alongside the regular territorial parishes. The "national" parishes enrolled any Catholic of that particular ethnic background, regardless of where within the diocese the person lived. Thus in our jurisdiction we had "national" or ethnic dioceses whereas in the Roman Catholic Church they had "national" or ethnic parishes. In our jurisdiction there was a Polish diocese, a Lithuanian diocese, a Ukrainian diocese, an Italian diocese, a Portuguese diocese, a Mexican-Spanish diocese (Texas), and others, as well as a basic American English speaking diocese for those who were not part of an ethnic grouping in need of special linguistic ministerial services by the clergy. All of these dioceses functioned simultaneously and were often overlapping in the geographical sense while maintaining their own diocesan structure and while also maintaining loyalty to their own bishop and to the Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church.
The ethnic dioceses were not a long-term tenable solution to meeting the ecclesiastical needs of the Church. They were needed at the time, but could not remain the permanent structure of diocesan administration within the Church. As the rapid assimilation of the ethnic peoples into the general populace of the country continued to increase, the numerical strength of the ethnic dioceses and their overlapping boundaries soon created more problems of their own, thus needing a new solution and structure.
In later years as more and more of the various ethnic peoples assimilated into the mainstream of American society, the necessity of providing ethnic dioceses ceased and territorial or geographical diocese were established to replace the former ethnic dioceses. Currently we have two geographical dioceses: The Diocese of New Enlgand in the northeast, and the Diocese of the Southeast in the southeastern states of the country.
We also have a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction known as the Patrimony of the Primatial See. This jurisdiction consists of any missions, parishes or ecclesiastical work of our Church which is outside of the geographical territory of a current diocese. The Primate of the Church serves as the ecclesiastical ordinary for the Patrimonial missions or parishes together with their clergy. As soon as a sufficient number of missions, parishes or local works exist within a particular geographical area, the Church will establish a formal diocesan structure for them and will provide them with an Ordinary, thus transferring them from the Patrimony of the Primatial See to their own new Diocese.
The Archdiocese of New York - New England
The present Archdiocese of New York-New England was established by an act of the College of Bishops in 2016 that decreed an equally principal union of the Diocese of New York and the Diocese of New England. The Most Reverend Edward J. Ford, TOR of Springvale, Maine, as the senior prelate and the Ordinary of the Diocese of New England as well as the Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church was designated to be the Ordinary of the newly erected Diocese of New York-New England. The new diocese comprises the states formerly comprising the Diocese of New York: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia as well as those of the Diocese of New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
The Diocese of New York had been established in 1946, and for the many years since 1958 had been the principal diocese of the church. In subsequent years it comprised the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The first ordinary of the Diocese of New York was The Most Reverend Hubert Augustus Rogers from its founding in 1946 until his retirement in 1972. The second Ordinary was The Most Reverend James Hubert Rogers from 1972 until his death in 1991. Upon the death of Archbishop James Rogers, the Diocese of New York entered into a dark period of her history. During the interregnum caused by the death of Archbishop Rogers, several unscrupulous clergy saw an opportunity for their own self-aggrandisement, and defying the authority and directives of the Primate, held an uncanonical synod which led to a schism within the Diocese. They sought and received support for their illegal actions from a bishop of the American Catholic Church, a former friend of our church, Bishop Joseph M Nevilloyd, OFM. As a result of these uncanonical actions and after ignoring the repeated admonitions of the Primate, the remaining faithful clergy of the Diocese of New York were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Diocese of New England and were constituted as the Vicariate of New York under the Diocese of New England, and the the former Diocese of New York was officially suppressed in 1992. Shortly after the death of Bp Nevilloyd in 1994, one of the schismatic clergy further divided the schismatic group by securing for himself an illegal "consecration" as a "bishop" from outside of the church. Only he and one other cleric continued in the schismatic body, while the others sought the assistance of Bishop Vincent E Natoli, OFM and began the process of reconciliation with the NAORCC. Once the reconciliation was completed, the Vicariate of New York was reunited with the reconciled clergy and the Diocese of New York was re-established under the leadership of Bishop Natoli and continued until 2016 when the College of Bishops decided to unite the Diocese of New York and the Diocese of New England into the current Diocese of New York-New England. Bishop Natoli currently serves as the Vicar General of the newly erected Diocese of New York-New England, as Auxiliary to Archbishop Ford and as the Regional Bishop for the areas of the former Diocese of New York.
The Diocese of New England was canonically erected in January 1979. It comprised the six New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. There have been several other times in the history of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church when diocesan structures have been established in New England. The first was in the 1920's under Bishop Roman Slocinski of Manchester, New Hampshire, which at that time comprised the Polish Diocese of our church, and for a very short term on paper in the early 1970's under Bishop Edward C Payne of Wethersfield, CT, but which never really functioned within this church, as Bishop Payne separated himself from the jurisdiction of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church within 45 days of his episcopal consecration. The first Ordinary of the canonically erected Diocese was His Eminence, The Most Reverend Edward James Ford, TOR.
The Missionary Diocese of the Southeast
The Missionary Diocese of the Southeast was established in 2011. It comprises the five southeastern states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Flordia. The present Ordinary of the Diocese is The Most Reverend Irvin Nicholas Plant of Max Meadows, Virginia.
The establishment of the Missionary Diocese of the Southeast is the fulfillment of a mission in this part of the United States that was first planned back in 1819-1820 nearly one hundred years before the North American Old Roman Catholic Church was formally was established. Irish Catholics in Norfolk, Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina, unable to relate to or to approach Archbishop Marechal of Baltimore due his aristocratic heritage, imperious nature, unsympathetic prejudice and apparent antipathy for them, together with his overbearing French manner and preferences in all things ,to the total disregard for the needs and desires of his non-French flock, had alienated them from his jurisdiction, and they thus petitioned the Holy See for redress of their grievances, and obtained the support of Cardinal Litta in Roma who took up their cause. The case dragged on at Rome for quite some time, and in frustration and despair, they finally approached the Old Roman Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht from whom The North American Old Roman Catholic Church is descended, asking him to assist them by caring for their spiritual needs and by appointing a Bishop for them and to also establish a true and proper a diocese of our Church at Norfolk. Before such an action could take place however, once the Vatican learned of these plans, the Holy See hastily established the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond to prevent the Old Roman Catholic Church from establishing a missionay diocese in the United States. However, the Vatican's plans for a functioning diocese in Virginia would have to wait, for the first bishop of the Riocese of Richmond, resigned his See after a mere eighteen months, returned to Ireland, and the Diocese of Richmond was without a Bishop for the next nineteen years until the appointment the second bishop of the Richmond Diocese.
The establishment of our Missionary Diocese of the Southeast is therefore the ultimate completion of a project nearly one hundred years in the planning.
Patrimony of the Primatial See
The Patrimony of the Primatial See was officially established as a canonical ecclesiastical jurisdiction within The North American Old Roman Catholic Church with the promulgation of the new Constitution and Codex of Canon Law in 2011. Since the original foundation of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church under Archbishop Berghes, any parochial work or individual clergy or religious were placed under the immediate ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Primate. After the establishment of the first dioceses of the church during the adminstration of Archbishop Carfora, those parishes, missions, clergy and religious who lived too far from an established diocese were placed under the Primate's direct ecclesiastical authority and jurisiction. It is only since the promulgation of the new Constitution and Codex of Canon Law, that those parochial works, clergy, religious and laity were given a specific ecclesiastical identity, with a visible presence and participation at Synod, as a recognized and integral and canonical unit of Church administration and government.
The Patrimony of the Primatial See includes all of those parishes, missions, and faith communities, as well as individual clergy and religious who live in areas well outside of the confines of an established diocese of this Church, and who lacking a bishop of their own, are placed under the direct spiritual and jurisdictional authority of the Primate of The North American Old Roman Catholic Church, who thus serves as their ecclesiastical superior and Ordinary until such time as a diocesan structure can be established to more regularly serve their spiritual needs. They are represented at Synods of the Church by virtue of delegates from the Patrimony, who are appointed by the Primate, to canonically represent the members of the parochial works together the clergy, religious and laity therein, who constitute the Patrimony of the Primatial See.