"A gracious Church is one that avoids distinctions conferring special status, prestige, or authority.  Bishops, priests and pastors are not called to greater power, but to more intentional and specific service.  They are not immune to error or bestowed with special gifts.  Whatever authority they have is in response to what others experience in them."

--Philip Gulley and James Mulholland, If God Is Love

Welcome!

 

Thank you and welcome to Holy Redeemer Catholic Community. Our vocation is to reach out to those who feel alienated from or rejected by the Church, as well as those who feel they that their understanding of faith has evolved beyond the limits of their particular denomination. Taking Jesus as our model, we accept all people exactly where they are on the path of life without insisting that they become like us or think like us. Are you divorced and remarried?  Trying to be true to yourself as a lesbian or gay?  Struggling to live as a single parent and feeling stressed and spread too thin?  Are you feeling out of touch with the direction your parish is taking?  Do you feel that the Church can be so much more than it is?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you belong to us, because you belong to Christ.  We welcome you in His name.

True to our Catholic heritage, we celebrate seven sacraments, which we offer to everyone, regardless of denomination or faith. Our sacraments are considered valid by the Roman Catholic Church, but unlike our Roman brethren, we are able to welcome everyone: the divorced and remarried, those who believe, and those who doubt, those who have hope for the future, and those who have lost hope. We invite everyone to partake of Eucharist. We do not presume to interfere in an individual person's discernment of God's will for his or her life, and we honor each person's understanding of theology and God's plan for her/his life.  We respect our Catholic Tradition, but we humbly admit that some of its man-made regulations are causing more harm than good.  We are fully committed to inclusive vision proposed by Vatican II and to creating a viable, sustainable Catholic presence in Fort Wayne.

In a couple articles published by the Fort Wayne papers on Oct. 15, 2011, the Roman Catholic bishop issued a statement that contained some factual errors, including the insinuation that we claim to be Roman and that I am not a real Catholic priest.  Here is our response to those articles:

"First, neither I nor the parish of Holy Redeemer Catholic Community have ever represented ourselves to be "Roman" Catholic.  I have never claimed to be a Roman priest or a member of this diocese, though I am a validly ordained Catholic priest.  It is clear to all who read the parish website, who come to Mass and pick up a brochure explaining who we are, or who attend Mass where I welcome everyone to receive Eucharist,  that we are not a Roman Catholic parish.  This will become more evident in the weeks to come when the Roman churches adopt a modified translation of the Mass, while our parish has voted to keep using the current translation.  In the four short years of our ministry, I have had the privilege of giving communion and other sacraments to persons of nearly all the Christian denominations, as well as to Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists.  This, I believe with all my heart and soul, is exactly what Jesus would have me do.  It is the meaning of the word "catholic."
 
Second, the inchoate organization, Reformed Catholic Communion, is not a denomination.  At this point, it is merely a proposed umbrella organization, a federation of independent Catholic churches around the country and in Europe.  Negotiations with other interested Catholic parishes, including former Roman parishes (priests and people both) who have left their dioceses over the sex abuse scandals, closing of parishes, etc... have just begun.  There are no official pronouncements, declarations or policies pertaining to the ordination of women, married men or gays.  I have my own opinions, of course, but these issues have not even been discussed with potential member parishes at this point.  (The interview you did with me in 2008 when I was a member of another jurisdiction has nothing to do with Holy Redeemer Catholic Community or with the Reformed Catholic Communion.  We have been 100% independent since 2009.)
 
Third, Bishop Rhoades, like many, misunderstands the word "Catholic" to be synonymous with "Roman Catholic", despite the fact that there are 17 Churches in full union with Rome who are also Catholic, but quite proud to be non-Roman.  He also misapprehends the official position of the Roman Catholic Church in regard to what constitutes these other Catholic churches.  In a 2000 document ("Dominus Iesus"), officially promulgated by Pope John Paul II, (written by then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI) clearly recognizes other non-Roman churches as "Catholic":
 
"Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him.  The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the (Roman)Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches.  Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the (Roman) Catholic Church...
Therefore, these separated Churches and communities as such...have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation.  For the spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church."  (IV Unicity and Unity of the Church, Paragraph 17)
 
Fourth, and last, neither the parish of Holy Redeemer Catholic Community nor myself have any desire to confuse Roman Catholics who wish to remain Roman.  We have no interest in plundering parishioners from other churches.  Our sole vocation is to reach out to those who either feel rejected by their churches or who feel their understanding of their faith has evolved beyond the parameters of their institutional church:  the divorced and remarried, the gays and lesbians, the ones who use artificial birth control, the ones who cannot accept every doctrine,  those who do not wish to perjure themselves in order to obtain an annulment, or the ones who feel victimized by the myriad of manmade regulations.  We are Catholic because we profess the same faith, we celebrate the same seven sacraments, we accept every doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and because I, as a validly ordained Catholic priest with legitimate apostolic succession, provide this community with the sacraments, sound teaching and spiritual guidance."

At the present time, we share space with Grace St. John's United Church of Christ, but our goal is to have our own building sometime in the near future.  If you feel called to support this goal of having a Catholic parish that is truly "catholic" (i.e., universal) in its welcoming all the children of God, I invite you to make a donation to the building fund.  Thank you to all the inquiries, emails, phone calls and donations we have received since the newspapers articles first appeared.

May God's abundant grace surround you always and may you continue to reveal the Christ who is present within you.  If I can be of any assistance to you, please contact us.


Fr. Michel Holland