THE NORTH AMERICAN
OLD ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
- The Primatial See of Nova-Terra -
"A Traditional Church for Today's Catholics."
Founded at Jerusalem in 33 A.D.; Organized at Utrecht in 696 A.D.; Established in Great Britain in 1908 A.D.; Established in America in 1914 A.D.
News and Events Around the Church
2017 GENERAL SYNOD
"Go Forth Into All The World"
In this our Centennial Year, the North American Old Roman Catholic Church will convene in General Synod on June 22, 2017 at St Mary in the Mountains Old Roman Catholic Church located in the town of Max Meadows, Virginia. The theme of this year's Synod is: "Go Forth Into All The World". This year General Synod will move to fulfill in part that Divine and Great Commission given to us in the twenty-eighth chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew, by receiving churches together with their clergy and laity from Burundi, Kenya, Cameroon, Zambia, Nigeria, Gabon, South Africa, The Congo, India, Pakistan, and Haiti into full union with the North American Old Roman Catholic Church.
​
This action has come about due in great part as a result of this website which, since June of 2015 when it moved to its present ISP provider, has received more than 1450 visits and has drawn interest in our Church from 33 countries. Many who did not previously know of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church have now learned of its history and its on-going mission to make the saving message of Christ known to all the world, and to preserve the traditional Catholic Faith, Sacraments and liturgical practice in a contemporary world. Many have been led to ask for union with the Church, and many men are now in the process of beginning their seminary studies via our St Francis of Assisi Theological Seminary, preparing for a future life of service to Christ in the Sacred Priesthood. Those seminarians come from the countries which are being received into union with the North American Old Roman Catholic Church in June, as well as from the United States, Canada, and from as far away as Russia and the Philippines.
​
We pray that our Lord will prosper the work of our hands and will continue to bless us with faithful and dedicated clergy and laity. And we pray that in due time His flock will increase, the fields in which we labor will expand, and that the seeds which we sow today will bear good fruit and increase a hundred-fold.
​
​
Blessed Sacrament Church
Sanford, Maine
Blessed Sacrament Church in Sanford, Maine shares a worship space with Prince of Peace Charismatic Episcopal Church. With the enthusiastic support of the clergy and parishioners of Prince of Peace Church, Blessed Sacrament Church has been able to permanently intall its beautiful high altar complete with reredos in the sanctuary of the combined worship area. The altar has been specially built so as to enable it to be used by both parishes. The reredos with the tabernacle and gradines has been permanently mounted on the east wall and the altar itself is moveable having hidden casters in the base, and the predella on which it stands containing two small tracks along which it slides, thus enabling Prince of Peace Church to worship on Sunday with the altar slid forward allowing for Mass to be celebrated facing the people, and with the altar placed back into its normal place against the east wall and the gradines so that Blessed Sacrament Church can worship in the traditional manner for the Tridentine Mass.
Saint Mary's Church
Max Meadows, Virginia
Saint Mary's Church is located in the foothills of Virginia between the lower Appalachian Mountain range and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the New River Valley and the town of Max Meadows. Located in a predominantly non-Catholic rural community, Saint Mary's has been a visible presence and voice of the Catholic Faith within the vicinity. The parish meets in a large and very beautiful chapel that has been set aside and dedicated to our Blessed Mother, located in Bishop Plant's home on the property of a sprawling thirty seven acres, where he also runs the Joy-Us-Star Farm, raising Epiphany Morgan horses and providing lessons and opportunities for many local citizens and children of the community to take horseback riding lessons and to experience the love and graciousness of God's grace surrounded by the beauty of nature and in the silence and dignity of traditional Catholic worship in the Mass and the Daily Offices. The parish has a small but growing number of dedicated, zealous and warm hearted parishioners.
New Clergy Received
January 3-4, 2015
On the weekend of January 3-4, 2015 two new priests were received into the ministry of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church at Saint Mary's Church in Max Meadows, Virginia by the Archbishop-Primate, The Most Reverend Edward J. Ford, T.O.R. and assisted by The Bishop of the Diocese of the Southeast, Bishop I. Nicholas Plant.
Father Richard Kalbfleisch of Frankfort, Kentucky was assigned as the pastor of the newly established Holy Cross Old Roman Catholic Mission in Frankfort, and Father John Finney of Pulaski, Virgina will serve as the curate at Saint Mary's Church in Max Meadows, Virginia.
Mr. Sean T. Jackson of New Jersey met with the two bishops to discuss his plans to enter Saint Francis of Assisi Theological Seminary where he will begin his proper theological studies, leading by God's help, to an eventual ordination to the Sacred Priesthood upon completion of all of the required studies and spiritual preparation necessary for service as an Old Roman Catholic priest. Mr. Jackson served at the altar assisting the Archbishop during the High Mass and liturgical services on Sunday.
New Priest Received
August 14, 2015
On Friday, August 14, 2015, being the Vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Archbishop-Primate, The Most Reverend Edward J. Ford, T.O.R. received Father Sean Britt of Georgia into the ministry of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church. Father Britt served for several years in the ministry of the African Orthodox Church, a jurisdiction which for over 50 years had maintained a cordial relationship of intercommunion with the North American Old Roman Catholic Church. Due to a number of serious internal issues which currently plague the African Orthodox Church, Father Britt sought to come under the jurisdiction of our Church which has had such a close bond and understanding of his former jurisdiction that he felt at home asking to be received by us.
Again, considering the turbulent situation currently within the African Orthodox Church and the uncertainty of many of the actions of recent years, Father Britt requested that his ordination be regularized by means of Ordination sub conditione. Upon careful review of all things by our own College of Bishops, it was decided that such was the proper canonical path to follow. And thus, on August 14th, the Vigil of the Assumption of Mary, Archbishop Ford, assisted by Bishop Plant received Father Britt via Ordination sub conditione, into the ministry of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church. Assisting the Bishops at the Mass was Father John Finney, curate at St Mary in the Mountains Parish of Max Meadows, Virginia, and also the Reverend Mister John Doughty of Norfolk, Virginia, a Deacon of the Diocese of the Southeast.
Father Britt will remain in Alabama for the immediate future, and is potentially looking to establish a parochial mission of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church there, if his employment and financial situation make that a long term plan. Currently however, he will be continuing his studies at our own St Francis Seminary, and expects to be moving within the next year, further north to the State of Delaware where he will establish the work of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church in that state.