The questions (FAQ)
We answer some questions we're often asked.
Which Church do you belong to?
We formally belong to the Old Catholic Church, but we are "in the process" of becoming a religious institute within the Eastern Church. The community lives in unwavering fidelity to the Magisterium of the Holy Eastern Church.
The Church of the East was born in India with the Apostle Thomas. You can find plenty of information online.
Why, if you are faithful to the Church of the East, do you not belong to that Church?
Because the Church of the East formally no longer exists. It survived the schism of the 16th century, but after another schism in 2019, it lost its Patriarch. We are waiting for a new Patriarch to refound the Church of the East.
Are you recognized?
The notion of recognition is a false idea, undoubtedly circulated in the 1980s. There are no "recognized" Churches. In Italy, the Constitution grants the freedom to profess without having to ask anyone's permission. There are, however, some Churches, such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Jehovah's Witnesses, that have made pacts with the State, but they are chosen outside of our vision of freedom and profession as provided by the Gospel.
Are you Orthodox?
Even though some of us come from an Orthodox Church, we are not Orthodox. We are not tied in any way to Orthodoxy, but to the Eastern tradition.
Do you have any grants?
Regarding the above explanation, we also do not receive any grants or subsidies.
Are your priests, deacons, and monks genuine?
Of course. All our consecrated and ordained men and women are in Apostolic Succession.
Apostolic succession is the Christian theological doctrine according to which the apostles transmit their authority to their successors, the bishops, by laying their hands on their heads, in the context of the sacrament of Holy Orders. Acceptance of this doctrine is the foundation of the episcopal structure of the major Eastern and Western Churches.
Through apostolic succession, which unites bishops of every time and place with the primitive Christian community of Jerusalem and its founder, Jesus, the depositum fidei is transmitted.