One of you responded to the Archbishop Milingo situation by asking
how George Stallings, a dismissed priest of the Archdiocese could be called "Archbishop"? First, I would suggest that if you are interested in the reality of the Old Catholic Church, you google the name and begin to read a large body of information. It is somewhat complicated because it is so foreign to the mindset of the Roman Catholic, especially in our country where we tend to be very legalistic. Second, what is important to realize is that the issue of "Apostolic Succession" is a major factor in understanding how the dismissed Father Stallings could become Archbishop Stallings and that his ordination is valid but surely illicit (here you are jumping into Canon Law ... good luck). Let me give you a few quotes from the reading I did that would save you some time and might whet you appetite to study the phenomenon more carefully.surprised to learn that Catholic denominations exist apart from Rome.
16 June 2000, Pope John Paul II ratified and ordered the publication of Dominus Iesus. This Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was signed and published by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) in August of the same year.
In this Declaration, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes the validity of Orders and Sacraments of Old Catholic denominations:
"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, 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, 17.Obviously for some of you this is confusing and probably upsetting. Nonetheless it is a reality of the world of religion, our religion and our history. In www.catholic.com I found this quote from St. Augustine.
"[T]here are many other things which most properly can keep me in [the Catholic Church’s] bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep [John 21:15–17], up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called ‘Catholic,’ when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house" (Against the Letter of Mani Called "The Foundation" 4:5 [A.D. 397]).
This issue of Apostolic Succession is a major concern for the Holy See today in light of the ordination of women ... because if a validly ordained bishop ... one therefore sharing in apostolic succession ... conducts such a ceremony, the ordination would again, be valid but illicit.
