The American Catholic Church in the United States (ACCUS) is an Independent Catholic church primarily in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, founded in 1999. ACCUS is an offshoot of the Independent Catholic movement, and so has no ecclesiastical relation with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. ACCUS claims

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

through Duarte Costa.

Overview

ACCUS is listed as 501(c)(3) under the name American Catholic Church, Frederick, MD.

History

The American Catholic Church in the United States was founded in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

, by Lawrence J. Harms. At the beginning of 2018, ACCUS was composed of 1 bishop, 15 priests, and 3 deacons in 13 states.

Theology and sacraments

The American Catholic Church in the United States states that it adheres to the doctrine of Vatican Council II.. ACCUS celebrates the

seven sacraments There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those ...

Baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

, Communion, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and

Matrimony Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

, and believes the sacrament of marriage can be celebrated for same-sex couples.{{cite news, url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F369E4A11BAFD06&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM , title='Gay unions OK:' Local cleric officiated at many , newspaper=The Frederick News-Post , location=Frederick, Maryland , date= April 5, 2004, accessdate=April 11, 2018

References

External links

Homepage of the American Catholic Church in the U.S.
Christian organizations established in 1999 Christian denominations established in the 20th century Old Catholic denominations in the United States Independent Catholic denominations 1999 establishments in the United States