www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall OCA in Mexico

Recently, in my research into the independent Catholic movement I came across the Mexican National Catholic Church.

This movement was an attempt to supplant the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico with a nationalist Church.

The movement was largely a failure and in the 1970's most of what was left of that Church entered into full communion with the Orthodox Church of America (OCA).

According to a website for an independent Catholic jurisdiction, those churches that did not enter into communion with the OCA in 1972, including all of its former missions in Texas joined the Roman Catholic Church.

Does anyone have any knowledge of these mission churches in Texas? Or what diocese they were in?

I am curious as I know of very, very few independent Catholic churches that become Roman.

Anyway hope someone can help.

Blessings

ProCatholico

The history of this Church is kinda confusing.

The Exarchate of Mexico was founded by independent catholics whose original Bishop (Jose) received his first consecration (he was truly consecrated as an Orthodox Bishop much later when they joined the OCA) from an itinerant bishop of what remained of the "National Church", but they were NOT the "National Church".

The so-called National Church was modeled after the "Living Church" of Lenin. It was an attempt to replace the Roman Church with a Church that would have it services in the vernacular, accept civil marriage as sacramental and be subject to the President instead of the Pope during the religious persecutions (when the RC was banned).

However, when the hierarchy of the Roman Church accepted the "agreements" with the government that group lost the sympathy of the authorities (the official Church adopted many of its attitudes anyways and became a government-tool when most of the original bishops were replaced by socialist-leaning ones).

Almost 100% of their former followers joined the mainstram Church including the founder Perez Budar (a massonic priest who was married). The group's original orders came from John Henry Carfora, an "Old Catholic" prelate who was also a Communist agent. The orders were always treated as graceless (priests ordained by them were re-ordained by the RC). As far as I know the group continued to exist only in the United States and the name "National Church" was used by many vagant groups (some weren't even Mexican).

Unlike the "National Church" which was a leftist faction, Bishop Jose's group was conservative and nationalist (Bishop Jose himself left the Roman Church in 1950, many years after the "National Church" time as he perceived the RC had betrayed its faithful by supporting the government).