The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA) is an independent and self-governing Christian

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

(

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

/ Oriental Orthodox/ Western Catholic)

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

based 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 territori ...

(including the territory of the

US Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

), with clergy also in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Africa, and Australia."OCCA Background – 3 Councils"
Orthodox-Catholic Church of America. Retrieved 2017-07-31. The church celebrates predominantly a version of the Western Liturgy ( Roman Rite) though some priests also celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom ( Byzantine Rite) or the

Liturgy of Addai and Mari The Liturgy of Addai and Mari (or the ''Holy Qurbana of Mar Addai and Mar Mari'') is the Eucharistic liturgy belonging to the East Syriac Rite and was historically used in the Church of the East of the Sasanian (Persian) Empire. This liturgy ...

(

East Syriac Rite The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...

)."About OCCA"
Orthodox-Catholic Church of America. Retrieved 2017-07-31. The OCCA is not associated with the Eastern Orthodox churches whose bishops are members of the

Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America (formerly the Episcopal Assembly of North and Central America and later the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America) is an organization of churc ...

. The OCCA is governed by a synod of diocesan bishops, currently six. The ecclesial purpose of the OCCA is to be a loving, welcoming and inclusive community where all people can attain the fundamental goal of the Orthodox Catholic faith, summed up by St.

Maximos the Confessor Maximus the Confessor ( el, Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής), also spelt Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his earl ...

(580-662 CE) as "All that God is, except for an identity in being, one becomes when one is deified by grace". This is effected through the worship of God in the Holy Trinity and the proclamation and living of the faith as taught in

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

, the Apostolic tradition, and the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided and ancient church. The church recognizes

sacramental A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...

ordination of women to the clergy and

homosexual marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. The OCCA is one of a number of churches practicing Orthodoxy in an American setting. Its worship and beliefs are influenced by Oriental, Eastern, and Western traditions, and considers itself to be one "self-governing" church out of many in the Orthodox tradition.

Clergy and sacraments

The clergy ordained by the denomination operate their ministries independently from the denomination. According to a statement on the OCCA website:

History

The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America was established in the United States in 1892 under the mandate of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch,

Ignatius Peter IV Moran Mor Ignatius Peter IV (1798 – 8 October 1894), also known as Ignatius Peter III, was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1872 until his death in 1894. He is regarded by many as the architect of the ...

. The founding archbishop,

Joseph René Vilatte Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(ordained as Mar Timotheus), had been ordained as a priest by Bishop Ernst Herzog of the Old Catholic Church in Bern, Switzerland on June 7, 1885. Working in the Great Lakes area, predominantly in Wisconsin, Vilatte sought to bring about the return of a Western Rite of Orthodoxy. Fr. Vilatte received both support and opposition in this attempt, but eventually he was consecrated as archbishop for North America, in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by Archbishop Francis Alvarez with the permission of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in 1892.Theriault, Serge A., 2006. ''Msgr. Rene Vilatte: Community Organizer of Religion (1854–1929)''. Berkeley: Apocryphile Press.

Saints

The OCCA has canonized two saints: St. David Edwards, a former priest of the OCCA, and St. Fr.

Mychal Judge Mychal Fallon Judge (born Robert Emmett Judge; May 11, 1933 – September 11, 2001), was an American Franciscan friar and Catholic priest who served as a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. While serving in that capacity he was ki ...

, O.F.M., a Catholic Franciscan friar and firehouse chaplain who was the first identified victim of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

in 2001.Saints of the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America
Archived fro

on June 29, 2010. Retrieved 2017-07-31.

Name

In May 1891, Bishop Vladimir (Sokolovsky), the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States, referred to Fr. Vilatte's flock as "true 'Old Catholic-Orthodox Christians' owunder the patronage of our Church".

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA) Christian denominations in North America Religious organizations established in 1892 Christian denominations established in the 19th century Independent Catholic denominations Independent Eastern Orthodox denominations Eastern Orthodox Church bodies in North America Oriental Orthodox church bodies Oriental Orthodoxy in the United States