Who Are the Independent Catholics?

by John P. Plummer, John R. Mabry

Independent Catholics are the fastest-growing variety of Catholic in the West. They are found in every city of every state in the U.S. and Mexico, every Province of Canada, and throughout Australia, Europe, and South America. This book arises out of a need in the Independent Catholic community for a compact and concise introduction to the movement. This is intended to be a book that can introduce interested people to the movement in a friendly, easy-to-read style that will not tax their patience or their wallets. The Independent Catholic movement is wonderfully diverse, and it is not possible to adequately cover the full spectrum within an introductory volume of this size. Rather, this book focuses on the most common varieties of Independent Catholicism in hopes of providing a short, useful orientation to the newcomer.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

100 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in January I read and reviewed The Kingdom: A Berkeley Blackfriars Novel by John Hambry - coauthor of this book. In 'The Kingdom', we encounter a group of priests of the Old Catholic or Independent Catholic variety.

I had heard of the Old Catholics once, in passing, but I never knew much about them, and, as I was raised Roman Catholic and that, to me, was what "Catholic" means, aside from the Orthodox churches which were always "over there", I was intrigued by the notion - especially the way they are portrayed in 'The Kingdom'.

At the front of that book was a list of non-fiction books the author had written and I contacted him noting my interest, and he was nice enough to send me this and a few other of his non-fiction titles.

So, backstory aside, this little book is a brief introduction the the Independent Catholics - who they are and what they believe. Given the information presented in the book, this is no easy task since the history is a bit confounding and the beliefs are varied, depending on the jurisdiction.

Long story short, it seems the major break was a disagreement over local authority versus central authority (i.e. Rome), and, with the Old Catholics, local authority is the winner, so different jurisdictions have different flavors.

It sort of reminded me of the turbulent and complicated history of Trad Wicca, amongst other various paths with similar types of histories.

Anyway - the book, by necessity, covers the basics, but it does it in a way which is informative without being dry or preachy. I particularly appreciated the appendix at the back which compared and contrasted some beliefs as filtered through Roman Catholic, New Catholic, and Protestant understandings.

I recommend this book for people, like myself, who, while not Christian myself, is interested in the different spiritual branches of the world, and also for those who may be of a Catholic bend, but want to find a less rigid system than Roman Catholicism offers.


If interested, I'd be willing to send you my copy through swap - just let me know and I'll put it up for offer.

[Salina Bear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the appendixes to be the most helpful/informative part of this little book.

[Fr. Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not 100% how best to rate a book like this, but on its own terms, I think it is quite good. It is meant as a short - very short - introduction to independent Catholicism, which is a daunting task given the complex variety in this arena. What we get here though is a humane, friendly, quick but not insulting intro which helps one get his or her foot in the door. It's an exciting arena for an eclectically spiritual person such as myself, and I'm glad to have read it. The appendices contain certain historical documents which I find valuable to keep in my own library as well.