| Christ Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| Orientation | IndependentOld Catholic |
| Region | United States |
| Founder | Karl Pruter |
| Origin | 1965 Boston, Massachusetts |
TheChrist Catholic Church is anIndependentOld Catholicdenomination founded byKarl Pruter in 1965.[1]
The denomination was founded when Pruter founded acongregation in 1965 inBoston, under the authority of theindependentEastern Orthodox Abp. Peter A. Zhurawetsky (1901-1994),[1] head of theChrist Catholic Church of the Americas and Europe.[2]
In 1967, Pruter wasconsecrated bishop of theDiocese of Boston by Abp. Peter A. Zhurawetsky and Abp. Uladyslau Ryzy-Ryski (the latter was part of theAmerican World Patriarchs). In 1968, Pruter decided his diocese would be independent, and Zhurawetsky agreed.[1]
After this, over the years the denomination, headed by Pruter, moved its headquarters from Boston toNew Hampshire, then toScottsdale in Arizona, then toChicago, and then finally, in the early 1980s, toHighlandsville in Missouri. In Highlandsville, Pruter was the bishop of a smallchapel called the Cathedral Church of the Prince of Peace.[1]
In 1988, Frederick P. Dunleavy was consecrated bishop by Pruter. In 1989, the denomination of which Dunleavy was the head, the Ontario Old Catholic Church, consisting of a singleparish, merged into the Christ Catholic Church. In 1991, Dunleavy was elected as the head of the Christ Catholic Church, replacing Pruter.[1]
The denomination was officiallyincorporated as a501(c)(3)non-profit organization in November 1990.[3]
In 1992, in an optic of expansionism, the Christ Catholic Church and the Liberal Catholic Church of Ontario merged to form theChrist Catholic Church International. The bishop who headed the now merged Liberal Catholic Church of Ontario became the head of the Christ Catholic Church International.[1]
Thereafter, Pruter, retired, disagreed with some actions done by the new entity. In 1995, he came out of retirement, called for the dissolution of the merger and reorganized some of the former Christ Catholic Churchparishes under his leadership as the Christ Catholic Church. Those who disagreed with Pruter remained in the Christ Catholic Church International.[1]
In 2004, the Christ Catholic Church claimed to have about 2000 members and 3 bishops (including Pruter).[4]
Pruter's denomination took the nameChrist Catholic Church (Diocese of Boston) in 2006.[5] Pruter died in 2007.[1]
In 2008 William Martin Sloane, a priest in the Southern Episcopal Church of the USA, was consecrated a bishop of "Christ Catholic Church (Diocese of Boston)" and of theSouthern Episcopal Church. The consecrating bishops were Huron Clay Manning, Jr.; William Harold Corley; Charles George Fry; Robert William Hotes; Richard Melvin Johnson; and Robert Louis O'Block. The board of directors of the Christ Catholic Church (Diocese of Boston) then voted for Sloane to be the CCC/DoB's archbishop and for the "CCC/DoB to function as a diocese of the SEC/USA".[6]
The diocese brings traditional Anglicans and Old Catholics into fellowship together, believing "in the essential unity of all Christians, and the Sacramental unity of those in communion with validly consecrated Bishops of the Apostolic Succession, who teach and practice the Faith of the undivided Church. [...] The work of Christ Catholic Church today is the same as that of theApostolic Church, to lovingly offer the fullness of Orthodox-Catholic Faith, Worship and Witness to all who would seek Christ and His Kingdom".[7]