As March 6, 2024 The Members of The College of Bishops of The Anglocatholic Church are: Patriarch Dr. HEIGO RITSBEK, Patriarch Coadjutor Dr. RAPHAEL MARIE VILLIERE, Primate EARL L. FRAZIER, Primate Dr. JAMES CHRISTIAN MACAIRE MIAFOUANANDI, Metropolitan Archbishop Dr. AUGUSTINE URUMBAYEV, Archbishop Emeritus Dr. DAVID SMITH, Bishop Emeritus PAUL JACOB BOARDMAN, Bishop Dr. RAIVO KODANIK and Bishop FLORENT MOUSSOLO. They are current 9 Members of the College of Bishops of The Anglocatholic Church.
Once upon a time, in the quiet corners of ancient cathedrals and humble chapels, there existed a community that danced on the delicate edge between tradition and innovation. This community was none other than the Anglocatholic Church.
The Origins
The Anglocatholic Church traced its lineage back to the early days of the Anglican Communion. It emerged as a passionate response to the winds of change that swept through the ecclesiastical landscape. The faithful within its ranks clung to the timeless rituals, the incense-laden air, and the whispered Latin prayers. They believed that the sacred mysteries were not mere symbols but tangible encounters with the divine.
The Liturgy
In the heart of an Anglocatholic parish, the liturgy unfolded like a carefully choreographed ballet. The priest, vested in rich brocade, moved gracefully through the sanctuary. Candles flickered, casting shadows on ancient stone walls. The choir sang hymns that echoed through centuries, their voices blending with the ethereal strains of the organ. The congregation knelt, stood, and crossed themselves in a rhythmic dance of devotion.
The Sacraments
The Anglocatholics held the sacraments close to their hearts. Baptism was not a mere rite of passage but a rebirth into the mystical body of Christ. The Eucharist—the breaking of bread and the sharing of wine—was a moment when heaven touched earth. Confession was whispered in hushed tones, absolution offered with compassion. Marriage, anointing of the sick, and ordination—all were sacred acts that bridged the temporal and the eternal.
The Controversies
Yet, the Anglocatholic Church was not without its controversies. Some accused them of being too rigid, too enamored with the past. Others questioned their insistence on apostolic succession and the veneration of saints. But the Anglocatholics stood firm, their faith anchored in the ancient creeds and the whispered prayers of countless generations.
And so, the Anglocatholic Church continued its timeless journey—a vessel navigating the tides of history. Its priests wore chasubles that bore the weight of centuries. Its faithful knelt on cold stone floors, their whispered prayers mingling with the echoes of saints long gone. They sought the mystery—the thin veil that separated the earthly from the heavenly.
Perhaps, in the quiet moments of the Eucharistic feast, they glimpsed eternity. Perhaps, as the incense rose in spirals toward the vaulted ceiling, they touched the hem of the divine garment. And perhaps, just perhaps, they understood that the Anglocatholic Church was not merely a relic of the past but a living flame—a beacon that illuminated the path to the eternal city.
And so, the story of the Anglocatholic Church continues, written in the ink of faith and sung in the ancient melodies of hope.
His Beatitude, Most Reverend Lord Dr. HEIGO RITSBEK, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD, Patriarch of the Anglocatholic Church, will celebrate on March 9, 2024, his ordination as a Deacon in Christ’s One, Holy, Apostolic, and Catholic Church – 45 years ago – on March 9, 1979 by Bishop – The Most Reverend Dr. Ole E. Borgen. Axios! Axios! Axios!
On Saturday, February 10, 2024, His Eminence, Primate The Most Reverend Dr. Raphael Marie Villiere, consecrated in Liberville, Gabon, West Africa, The Reverend Fr. Camille Boumal as A Bishop of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Assisted His Excellency, The Most Reverend Emmanuel Segue and His Excellency, The Most Reverend Rodrigue Bazolo, from the Anglocatholic Church from Cameroon and Republic of Congo. Now the Anglocatholic Church has wordwide 31 Bishops.
Metropolitan Archbishop Most Reverend Dr. Mauricio Isaías Largaespada Umaña, Phil.D., Ed.D.,Th.D., Metropolitan Archdiocese of Jesus Christ the Redeemer in Costa Rica has had a car accident and is at the hospital. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIS RECOVERY!
Patriarch Heigo Ritsbek (Estonia) Patriarch Coadjutor Raphael Marie Villiere (France) Primate James Christian Macaire Miafouanandi (Republic of Congo) Primate Earl L. Frazier (U.S.A.) Primate Ian C. Adrian (Australia) Metropolitan Archbishop Oleg Urumbayev (Russia) Bishop Raivo Kodanik (Estonia) Bishop Adriano Amato (Switzerland) Bishop Richard Dickerson (U.S.A.) Archbishop Emeritus David A. Smith (Canada) Bishop Emeritus Paul J. Boardman (U.S.A.)
On Sunday, December 31, 2023, His Excellency Bishop Dr. Raivo Kodanik celebrated Holy Mass at the Chapel of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity of the Anglocatholic Church in Tallinn, Republic of Estonia.
Patriarch’s Chair next to altar at the Chapel in Tallinn
Altar at the Chapel of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Tallinn, Estonia
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE to the ANGLOCATHOLIC CHURCH 2023
In this was manifest the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. 1 John 4.9
In the ancient liturgy of the Western Church, the antiphon for the Introit for the Sunday after Christmas sets the tone for the day’s celebration. Words from the Book of Wisdom 18. 14, 15 were chosen carefully to create a theological balance between meditating upon the Lucan and Matthean pastoral tableaux set in an outbuilding in Bethlehem, a place beyond the reality of everyday life where the story of Christ’s birth unfolds in all its beauty accompanied by shepherds, eastern sages and the songs of the heavenly angelic chorus, between that I suggest and pondering in our hearts with Mary the eternal significance of this heavenly Child’s birth. The deeply resonant text of the antiphon is a kind of reinterpretation of the story of the first Passover celebration presented in the Book of Exodus set in the midst of ‘ a land that is doomed. ‘ It reads :
In the midst of a silence that held all things, as night in its swift course was half spent, your almighty Word, O Lord, leapt down from the heavenly throne and came among us.
The text places the divine birth in a pivotal role as the midpoint of history, as a decisive heavenly intervention in the course of the unfolding narrative of a fallen world in which, to borrow T. S. Elliot’s magnificent description in Choruses from the Rock, ‘ where there were men, in their various ways, ‘ who ‘ struggled in torment towards GOD. ‘ In the Exodus narrative, the leaping stern warrior is the destroying angel who in the depths of night passes over the blood stained doorposts of the Hebrews while working justice and destruction on their Egyptian oppressors. In the birth of this Child upon whose shoulders rests the Father’s authority, we recognize the new Angel Who comes in deepest night, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God and Prince of Peace, the One who makes the Father known, visible through a work of revelation. The text from Wisdom is saturated with imagery that contrasts light and darkness, life and death. The focus rests on the ‘ Word ‘ that leaps down bringing light and life, dispelling darkness and sin, Who, as suggests Elliot in the Four Quartets,/ Burnt Norton, is ‘ the still point of the turning world. ‘
Dear friends, we may simply elect to celebrate this birth as a historical memory, as a charming scene. We may choose to ponder its eternal significance and salvific import. These both are desirable. However, I suggest that more is needed from us. This birth in time of the timeless Son of God demands of us a complimentary birth, a second birth. As He assumes our human nature, we must be reborn in Him, we through grace must receive as gift a appropriate measure of His divinity and cherish it as our most prized possession. Yet there must be more, for Paul in Romans 8 . 17 teaches of a third birth, a birth this time as adoption by God when we are led by the Spirit of God and conformed to the image of the Son. We then cry joyfully as children of God “ Abba, Father. “ We are made heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ not by our own merits but by Him who died and rose again, He who is our Saviour. All this preparatory work takes place in the mansion of the human heart, a heart that needs to be cleansed and made ready for these two births, ready for so great a heavenly guest. The text of Psalm 77 suggests an appropriate methodology. Note that this approach is tied again to the Exodus story, a master narrative for the history of God’s saving love for fallen humankind.
In my heart I meditate in the night, I exercise myself and sweep out my spirit. …… Thou didst mightily deliver thy people, even the sons of Jacob and Joseph. … Thou leddest thy people like sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Prepare your hearts then, sweep them clean, exercise your spirits that such a mighty Guest may come and dwell with you, may share with you that peace that passes understanding. Offer your heart to the newborn Son of God, for
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1 . 14
Patriarch His Beatitude Lord Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD Tallinn Patriarchate of the Anglocatholic Church
Tallinn Anglocatholic Cathedral worships at the former sacristy of Saint Catherine’s Church (from 1247 !) of the Dominican Monastery. The church remained ruins at the Reformation time. Here is the reconstruction of Saint Catherine’s church of Dominican Monastery before the Reformation.
