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THE ANGLO-LUTHERAN CATHOLIC CHURCH FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How is the ALCC different from other Lutheran Churches?
1. The ALCC accepts the Anglican 39 Articles of Religion from The Book of Common Prayer as reconciled with Catholic theology by John Henry Cardinal Newman in Tracts for the Times (only,) and even then only insofar as they agree with authentic Catholic faith, tradition, and spirituality as defined by the Roman Catholic Magisterium.
2. The ALCC accepts The Catechism of the Catholic Church and all other documents of the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church as its ultimate standard of Faith, Order, Tradition, and Spirituality. It believes and teaches nothing contrary to the Catholic Magisterium. All clergy and postulants for ordination are required to sign the Roman Catholic Mandatum, and may not preach, teach, write, or publish anything contrary to the Roman Catholic Magisterium.
3. The ALCC has accepted Papal Primacy and Papal Infallibility. Though it is not legally under Papal control at this time, it acts as if it was, and is actively working toward visible, corporate reunion with the Roman Catholic Church. The ALCC also operates under Roman Catholic Canon Law to the greatest extent practical in matters not covered by its own Canon Law Code.
4. The ALCC teaches that Bishops ordained in the historic Apostolic Succession are of the essence (esse) of the Church. The ALCC’s clergymen are ordained into a sacerdotal (sacrificing) Priesthood consisting of the three Sacred Orders of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops, in the historic Apostolic Succession in lineages recognized as valid by the Roman Catholic Church, using the Ordination rites of the Catholic Church Catholic Church within the setting of the Mass of Pope Paul VI (Novis Ordo) or the Mass from the Roman Catholic Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship exclusively. The ALCC’s primary apostolic lineage is the Duarte-Costa branch of the Rebiban (Vatican) Succession, though it also holds the apostolic lineage of the Dutch Old Catholic Church among many others which have been ruled technically valid by various Popes.
5. The ALCC accepts the Catholic Church’s teachings about “the Last Things,” the Saints, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It encourages prayers and other devotions to Mary and the Saints, along with all of the other aids to devotion used in Roman Catholicism.
6. The ALCC has the same ecclesiology (teachings about the nature of the Church, and how the Church is organized and governed) as the Roman Catholic Church. It worships using the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church exclusively. It observes the Seasons, Holy Days, and Saint’s Days of the Roman Catholic Church’s Calendar. The ALCC accepts the same books of the Bible recognized by the Catholic Church. The Pontifical Biblical Commission’s magisterial document, “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church” has been officially adopted as the ALCC’s official statement of the nature and authority of Scripture, the principle sand methods to be used to interpret the Bible, and the rules, boundaries, and limitations of those methods.
How is the ALCC different from the Old Catholics and Independent Catholics? Unlike Old Catholics, the ALCC accepts and enthusiastically proclaims the doctrines of Papal Primacy, Papal Infallibility, and the teachings about the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaimed by the First Vatican Council. The ALCC’s Apostolate is working (from within Lutheranism) for the return of large numbers of Lutherans (and those from other Communions as well) to visible, corporate reunion with the Roman Catholic Church. This is the “bottom line.”
Then why doesn’t the ALCC simply join the Roman Catholic Church? The ALCC is actively working on just that, and is making excellent progress toward that goal. But this takes time. Visible, corporate union with the Roman Catholic Church in whatever form is deemed appropriate by the Pope, bringing along as many other Lutherans and Lutheran Churches as possible along with it is the ALCC’s apostolate and goal.
