Cross Denominational Mission
Back to our Home Page The Old Roman Catholic Church (Latin Rite)
We
celebrate the Tridentine Rite in Latin and Vervacular and keep the
lesser hours of the Divine Office here at Our Lady and St. John Parish
in London, Canada, the Province of Ontario (not the well known
settlement in England!).
I began my Vocation with Old Catholicism back in 1968, which was at
that time the Liberal Old Catholic Church of Ontario, which has now
become the Christ Catholic Church, International. During the days when
I began my studies with the Church, the late Archbishop Harry Daw and
Bishop John Russell, whose orders came from Archbishop James Roberts of
St. Thomas Liberal Catholic Church, New York City.
We are part of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church,
established by the illustrious Bishop de Landas Berghes of blessed
memory, who upon coming to North America, consecrated Father Carmel
Henry Carfora of blessed memory, from whom all true Old Roman Catholics
come. My own consecrator was Archbishop Edward C. Payne, of Hartford,
Connecticut.
The late Ernest Widdifield Jackson, was one of my co-consecrators in
1974; and Bishop Jackson was the Regionary Bishop for the Liberal
Catholic Church, here in Canada until his death some years ago. Bishop
Jackson was Consecrated at Saint Mary's Liberal Catholic Cathedral in
England, and was a very special friend of the Old Roman Catholics.
We are in much the same position here in Canada as many other small
independant catholic Churches. However, one good Blessing did come to
us for ten years, in the form of the free use of Saint Joseph's Roman
Catholic Chapel, which has been left by the good Nuns of St. Joseph,
almost in pristine condition, the lovely old marble High Altar still in
place, with relics and all things pertaining to our Latin or English
Tridentine Rite; and for those years we did indeed celebrate Holy Mass,
and did Baptize many a child at the font, each being registered at the
Chapel Office, so that each of these dear little ones may find their
way into the Catholic School system, if and when the parents so choose;
and usually they do. Here in Canada, the Roman Catholic Separate School
Board is given assistance from the Governments, as was promised after
the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, at Quebec City three hundred or so
years ago. In respect to that, the Roman Catholic School Board is
somewhat governed by the Governments, in that they are only to take
into their junior Schools, those whose parents, or at least one parent
is attending Roman Catholic Church, on a pretty regular basis. So, in
that the office at St. Josephs kindly registered our children, under
the name of the Old Roman Catholic Church, they are quite free to
attend the Catholic School system.
Archbishop Omar benefits from his previous years within the Papal Roman
Catholic Church, for most of the clergy who come to us through the good
Bishop, were Priests or Seminarians, usually Deacons, from the Papal
Church. Our clergy are able to Marry in Christ, with no bad conscience
about it; and Archbishop Arnold H. Mathew set the precedence in that
area, over one hundred years ago, in 1908. Deo Gratias.
Bishop Boniface Grosvold,
Metropolitan, Province of Canada