In John XXIII’s first encyclical, Ad Petri cathedram, he states in paragraph 72:
“But the common saying, expressed in various ways and attributed to various authors, must be recalled with approval: in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.”
This is the “Old Catholic” way. We are united with each other in the essentials of our Catholic faith, but allowed the autonomy to practice our faith in a way that honors the mystery of God.
Our creeds:
I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
We are apostolic.
As Catholics, we are the original Christian Church, which began with Jesus himself when he said to the Apostle Peter, “You are the rock on which I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Every pope since then has been part of an unbroken line of succession since Peter, the first pope. Our church maintains the apostolic succession.
We are Eucharistic.
We believe Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine—the glorified Christ who rose from the dead after dying for our sins. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.
Early in the history of the Church, there was the belief that when Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Take this and eat – this is my body; take this and drink – this is my blood,” he was giving us the gift of his real presence in the form of bread and wine. We call this the Eucharist – a name that comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving. The Catholic Mass is a Eucharistic celebration and a celebration of God’s word in Scriptures.
We are sacramental.
The saving words and deeds of Jesus Christ are the foundation of what he would communicate in the Sacraments through the ministers of the Church. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we recognize the existence of Seven Sacraments instituted by the Lord. They are the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders. Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier.
We believe in scripture and tradition.
Catholics believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. From the beginning of Christianity, the Catholic Church defined the canon of Scripture – the books you find in every Christian Bible – and defined what it meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Through the centuries, it’s the Catholic Church that preserved the Bible, as well as many other written works, through its monasteries and libraries.
In the early Church, the Gospel was preached by those who had known Christ, or who had known his Apostles. The Apostles handed on their preaching and writing to all generations through bishops, who continue to preach the truth revealed in the Gospel. This living transmission of the Word of God is called tradition, which is distinct from Scripture, but closely tied to it. Tradition infuses the entire life of the Church, and along with Scripture, comprises the deposit of the Word of God.
We are pro-choice.
We believe that abortion is a deeply personal decision and should be entrusted to individual conscience.
We are pro-LGBTQ.
We fully affirm LGBTQ people and their identities as we believe the diversity of human gender and sexuality is a reflection of the image of God. We welcome LGBTQ people into the full participation of the church.
We are pro-women’s ordination.
Women, including our Holy Mother, and the Apostle to the Apostles’ Mary Magdalene, were among the first to proclaim the Gospel. We believe that holy women are fully worthy of receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders. As Dr. Dorothy Ann Lee stated, “If the world received the Body of Christ from this woman, Mary, then women today should not be excluded from giving the body of Christ, as priests, to the faithful at mass.”
We believe in clerical celibacy.
Although the Old Catholic tradition teaches that celibacy is a calling rather than an obligation, all clergy involved with Our Lady of Light, including our pastor, are voluntarily celibate. Following the example of Christ, who himself remained celibate, we believe that a celibate priesthood is a powerful testament to the joy that can be found only in Christ. It is a rebellion against desire and attachment, and a practice of trust in God to provide a whole and fulfilling life. Celibacy also allows such freedom and availability in Christian life and ministry as to make it highly suited to service of the Church. The priest who is celibate for the sake of the kingdom can carry out particularly difficult missions more easily and freely than a married man, tied down by family responsibilities. The priest can leave for anywhere, at any moment, in response to the Church’s urgent request.
We respect the Pope.
While we don’t believe in the doctrine of papal infallibility, we still believe that the Pope is the leader of the Church and seek his wisdom and guidance on matters regarding our faith.
We venerate Mary.
We believe that Mary is the Mother of God, God-bearer, Theotokos. We believe that she was free from original sin at the moment of her conception. Therefore, we affirm the four Marian dogmas: Mary’s divine motherhood, her immaculate conception, her perpetual virginity, and her bodily assumption into heaven. Although the Assumption was not proclaimed as dogma until November 1, 1950, by Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, and is therefore not part of the Old Catholic tradition, we believe that the Assumption was a tradition long before it was formally declared as dogma. As such, we honor this belief.
Our Lady of Light 