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(1888 - 1961)
Saint Charles of Brazil (Bishop Carlos
Duarte-Costa) was ordained a Roman Catholic
Priest on April 1, 1911. He was consecrated
to be the Roman Catholic Diocesan Bishop of
Botucatu, Brazil, on December 8, 1924, and
served in that office until certain views he
expressed about treatment of Brazil's poor,
by both the civil government and the Roman
Catholic Church in Brazil, caused his
removal from the Diocese of Botucatu. Bishop
Duarte-Costa was subsequently named Titular
Bishop of Maura by the late Bishop of Rome,
Pius PP XII.
Bishop Duarte-Costa’s criticisms of the
fascist regime and oligarchy of Brazil in
the 1930’s and 40’s earned him repeated
troubles and prison. In 1944 he was
imprisoned by the dictator and remained
there until pressure from President Franklin
Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston
Churchill and others caused his release. Of
interest is the apparent lack of active
protest against this unjust imprisonment by
either the Vatican or the other bishops of
Brazil.
Bishop Duarte-Costa's criticisms of the
Vatican, particularly about Vatican foreign
policy during and following World War II
toward Nazi Germany, were not well received
at the Vatican, and he was eventually
separated from the Roman Church by Pius PP
XII. This action was taken only after his
public denunciations that the Vatican
Secretariat of State was issuing Vatican
Passports to some high ranking former Nazi
officials, who were then fleeing to South
America, from the Allies.
Bishop Duarte-Costa was a strong advocate in
the 1930's for reform of the Roman Church;
espousing many of the key positions that the
Second Vatican Council would, thirty-five
years later, enact. His positions included a
more pastoral approach to divorce,
challenged mandatory celibacy for the
clergy, and rejected abuses of papal power,
including the concept of Papal
Infallibility, which the Bishop considered a
misguided and false dogma.
Bishop Duarte-Costa was involuntarily
separated from the jurisdiction of the Roman
Catholic Church on July 6, 1945. This schism
was, it should be noted, an act by the Roman
Pontiff and was not initiated by Bishop
Duarte-Costa.
Duarte-Costa immediately established the
independent Igreja Catolica Apostolica
Brasileira (ICAB) on that same date which he
led until his death in 1961.
After its founding, ICAB attracted inquiries
from other Catholic communities who, while
wishing to retain the Catholic faith, felt
that the governance of the Roman Catholic
Church had failed to address the modern
world and was not meeting their needs.
Bishop Duarte-Costa worked to establish
groups in various countries. According to
the ancient practice of the early Church,
and still in practice today by Eastern
Orthodox communions, such Catholic Apostolic
Churches exist in their countries as
autonomous and independent Particular
Churches. In addition to ICAB in Brazil,
there are sister apostolic branches in
several other countries in the Western
Hemisphere, Europe, the Pacific and in Asia.
While bound by common origin from Bishop
Duarte-Costa's apostolic line, each National
Catholic Apostolic Church is completely
independent and self governing. Each
revealing a unique national identity or
charism.
The Catholic Apostolic Church in North
America (CACINA) has been, since its
founding, and remains today, such an
independent National Catholic Apostolic
Church in the United States and Canada.
CACINA is honored to share this heritage
with this family of Christians. They are our
brothers and sisters in Christ whom we love
and honor as children of a common Father in
heaven and father on earth: St. Charles of
Brazil.
From such a history one could reasonably
believe that there was/is great animosity
toward the Roman Catholic Church felt by
both Bishop Duarte-Costa and his spiritual
children. Nothing could be further from the
truth. The events recorded here are history.
They happened and they caused much
suffering. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic
Church, ancient of days, is one of the
foundation stones of the Christian Faith. To
hold animosity toward her, her leaders, or
her people would be to hold such feelings
for Christ, for we are all one in Him.
The Bishop of Rome (i.e., the Pope) occupies
a unique position in the Christian world. He
can be a voice for peace among peoples, a
teacher, a defender of the right and
promoter of justice, and a leader. It is to
this role that Christ called St. Peter. He
did not call Peter to be a monarch, or a
head of state, but, like Jesus Himself, to
be a servant. That
the Church of Rome contributed to the
persecution of St. Charles, and later ICAB,
is reprehensible and, yet cannot be forever
a source of discord.
As with all our Christian brothers and
sisters, CACINA, holds the Bishop of Rome,
currently Benedict XVI, and all the
People of God of the Roman Catholic Church
in deep fraternal affection and respect. In
this we obey our Master who taught us, "By
this shall all people know you are my
disciples, when you love one another as I
have loved you..."
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