The Anglocatholic Church

From July 15, 2019, His Beatitude, The Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD, Patriarch of The Anglocatholic Church, will be on sabbatical for one year. During this time all rights, obligations and tasks will be upon Active Patriarch, His Eminence, The Most Reverend Dr. David Smith, BMus, MMus, DD, Patriarch Coadjutor of The Anglocatholic Church.

By the decree of His Beatitude, The Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD, Patriarch of The Anglocatholic Church, from July 3, 2019 the Membership of The Holy Synod of The Anglocatholic Church consists of 4 members: Patriarch Dr. Heigo Ritsbek (Estonia); Patriarch Coadjutor Dr. David Smith (Canada) ; Primate Dr. Raphael Marie Villiere (France) and Primate Dr. Ian Charles Adrian (Australia).

Homily The Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 29 June, 2019

• In Nomine.
  Today, celebrating the teachings, witness and heavenly birthday of the
  foundational apostles Peter and Paul, the church calls her children, urging
  them t o ‘ s tand firm ‘ on the one rock that is Jesus her Lord, to be led into all
  truth by the guiding Spirit and with Peter to know with surety that we as an
  Easter people are delivered from the bonds that hold us back and are placed
  on the firm ground of the catholic upbuilding within the one body of Christ
  erected on the platform of the apostles. It is truly fortuitous that our liturgical
  celebrations during this Holy Synod reach tomorrow a meaningful climax as
  we remember the saving blood of our Lord that makes us a people of peace
  Colossians 1 . 20 and today as we contemplate the firm foundational rock of the
  Petrine ministry. In the church, we are blessed with a dual witness – the
  apostolic ministry with the traditions flowing out from it and with the Spirit
  guiding us into all truth. Yet, in her tattered history, the Church has, as it
  were, slept imprisoned, bound by the chains of world weariness, guarded by
  the zeitgeist favouring the tinsel charms of nominal worldly success. How
  different is her authentic call! It is always a counter-cultural manifesto that
  must witness to the suffering of God that alone saves his people, that
  demands that we share in this salvific suffering, that points us toward the
  road less travelled, toward the burgeoning light of the glory yet to be
  revealed, towards the unfolding yet unrecognized kingdom of the Father.
  Holy Church is called to nourish, to build up, to exercise oversight in ways
  that know no constraint but per contra enable the grace-driven upbuilding of
  the body of her Lord in love, in hope, in joy, in peace. She knows not
  lordship for she serves the one and only Lord and Master. As an example to
  her flock and in union with them she awaits in hope the appearing of her
  chief Shepherd. She does this by coming face to face with her Lord, by being
  transported as it were to Caesarea Philippi there to answer his probing
  question ‘ Who do you say that I am? ‘ This is no mere academic inquiry
  requiring chapter and verse proof! It is rather a demand to immerse our
  ministry, proclamation and work in the vineyard within the depths of the
  waters of divine revelation, to authentically realize this in lives of loving selfoblation,
  in a willingness to be built-up by Christ the master builder. Only
  when we can begin to do this will the gifts of the keys, the right to bind and
  to loose, make any pastoral sense as loving acts of tending and feeding the 2
  Master’s lambs, of becoming true followers who like their Lord and Master
  have nowhere to lay their heads. Luke 9 . 58 Thus, we who have answered the
  royal call must weigh the cost of discipleship and be prepared to make an
  accounting of our stewardship before him. Do you love me? Feed my sheep!
  We stand today with Peter and Paul before the Lord allowing our work
  in his vineyard to be the answer to the probing divine question. We stand in
  union with Moses’ encounter with the LORD as he led his flock beyond the
  wilderness to Horeb to the mount of God. Exodus 3 We stand before the
  Burning Bush of the Lord’s call that is allied to his promise of worship-driven
  covenant relationship, a promise leading to blessing. We stand barefoot at a
  certain distance upon holy ground. We stand with one significant difference –
  for God does not identify Himself, rather we must in faith identify Him
  proclaiming that good news of salvation to all that we meet for our God is
  with us, He has brought us to worship at his holy mountain. This Exodus
  motif is surely one of the great master motifs of holy writ! Yet it is not an end
  in itself : rather it remains a mid-point of the salvific journey that is never a
  ‘ quick-fix ‘ solution to our problems. What did Abram hear but this
  ‘ Go from your country and your kindred and your Father’s house
  to the land that I will show you.
• 
  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you,
  and make your name great, so that you may be a blessing. ‘ Genesis 12
  Brothers in Christ, we have left the Haran of our former religious affiliations,
  we have travelled in search of that land chosen by the Lord, in search of his
  blessing that we might in turn become a blessing for others. We know all too
  well that the process of conquering and settling our promised land is itself a
  great challenge. We now experience this faith journey as a face to face
  encounter with the living God, an immersion in the depths of the divine plan
  that reveals God as koinonia, as fellowship, as community. Here in the depths
  of the being of God expressing unity in trinity we find the model upon which
  we place our lesser hopes embodied in holy Church, ours especially in the
  specific mission of those called to Holy Orders as a sub-set of the greater
  mission expressed as the priesthood of all believers. What is this task but to
  continue the works that He did – the moving of the hearts and minds of
  believers, and of those coming to belief, towards the spiritual realities behind
  the ancient works of God and the great deeds of our Lord Jesus, towards the
  the saving sovereignty of God who wills not the death of a sinner but rather 3
  that he turn from his ways and live. Ezekiel 18 . 23 These wonders wrought
  from the deep and never-ending well that is God’s love for his creation were
  in time actualized in the person of our Lord Jesus, and now continue in the
  Spirit’s ministry. They are that unconditional love which should be for us a
  certainty, for as Paul wrote so magnificently to the Romans 8 .38, 39
  ‘ I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
  nor rulers nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
  nor height, nor depth,nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
  separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ‘
• 
  This is the love that sustains us even ‘ to the end ‘ until ‘ all is accomplished. ‘
  cf. John 13. 1 and 19 .30 This Christ the Son of the living God came to display in
  our flesh that we might therein find a fullness of life that reveals eternity in
  the knowledge of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
  John 17 . 3 This Peter confessed, this Paul taught, this we uphold presenting it
  to a world as a dynamic relationship with the Source of all life. This good
  news is our raison d’etre, our charter as a new body of believers within the
  catholica.
• 
  This act of confession stimulated by divine revelation that gave Peter
  and Paul their unique status and enduring place in holy Church led in them
  and must so lead in us to obedience to the truth and a purification of our souls
  that the author of 1 Peter describes as ‘ girding up the loins of the mind ‘1 . 13
  and a ‘ setting of hope on the grace which is being conveyed at the revelation
  of Jesus Christ. ‘ The result of this act of being born afresh in the waters of
  baptism points to the truth – God’s self revelation in the gospel, which we
  must reveal to the world as ‘ sincere love of our brothers, ‘ love for the
  brethren expressed ‘ strenuously from the heart. ‘ 1 . 22ff Will we in our
  ministry through faith be able to effect and maintain our witness as ‘ a people
  of God’s possession … a chosen race, a royal possession ‘ firmly established
  on Christ the cornerstone or will we become ‘ a stone to trip men up, a rock
  to stumble over ‘? 1 Peter 2 . 7 – 10 We Christians have indeed a surpassingly
  glorious vocation as our inheritance, a vocation that we must use for
  upbuilding, for growth unto salvation far more than a tool to work for
  institutional security, as important as this is and must be for us! This vocation
  the author of 1st Peter 2 . 2 describes as a ‘ craving ‘ for the milk of the word,
  thus a passion for souls nourished, for feeding of the Master’s flock. As
  leaders upon whom the Spirit rests, we are responsible to Christ, an awe- 4
  some responsibility for the up-building of this close-knit house, this spiritual
  temple fit for God the true Shepherd, served by us, his lesser shepherds, those
  who feed his people, strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the
  wounded, bring back those who stray and become lost. Ezekiel 34 We must be
  true shepherds responsible to the great Shepherd whose pasture the holy
  church is, of whose covenant of love and blessing we serve as those who
  have been pleased to empty themselves, to take the lowly form of a servant
  and to espouse obedience that we and those whom we serve may ‘ press on
  toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
  Philippians 3 . 14 All this must be nourished and sustained by an active prayer
  life, both liturgical and personal, a life that is open to the subtle motions of
  God deep within our being.
• 
  To know Jesus and to be known of Him dear brothers is to have
  confronted the world by turning from it towards the new Jerusalem
  descending from heaven, recognizing that we must witness to this weary
  world as at Caesarea Philippi – the kingdom of the rulers who oppose the
  reign of God and his Christ. This ancient city was sacred to the ancient
  Canaanites who there worshiped Baal. There the Romans located Philip’s
  capital, the cultic center of the god Pan, and the Gate of Hades deep within
  the Cave of Pan. Nearby was the highest mountain in Israel Hermon, adjacent
  was Tabor, both associated with the Transfiguration of Christ. There, in
  Peter’s revelation we find foreshadowed the great conflict between worldly
  power and the surpassing power and majesty present in Jesus’ incarnation, in
  his saving life that is the very Gate of Life for fallen humanity, as the visible
  presence of the God who created all, who redeemed all and will welcome all
  as their final end. In each of our lives, we must come here becoming open to
  revelation and the ministry of that revelation so that others through it may
  have life abundantly. Let us, like Peter, have confidence in the inner presence
  of God informing our lives and our ministries, setting them on fire with good
  news from God, filling them with missionary zeal for souls and enabling us
  to not count the cost of the evangelical life. However, as we work within this
  concept of Christ sharing within the Church his gifts of teaching authority,
  governance especially in the necessary process of making decisions, and in
  the ministry of forgiving sins in addition to providing moral instruction of
  which we must be living examples,we must always be conscious that these
  onerous gifts extend to the whole of his Church, the whole Church that 5
  Jesus will build on the rock of Peter. This is his Church, and we may only
  consider it to be our Church by delegation not by right. We are here to give
  stability, to work for unity, to be ministers of a love that transcends our
  meager abilities. Yet, all this flows out in the Church to the world only when
  we ‘ remain ‘ in him as a branch that needs the vine in order to bear fruit,
  when He abides in us for ‘ apart from Him we can do nothing. ‘ John 15 . 4, 5
  We minister only because He first ministered to us and has appointed us to
  this ministry, only because He enables us to share with the world his
  overwhelming compassionate love that exceeds all we can ask or imagine.
  We minister on his behalf only through the strengthening verifying Spirit
  unleashed in us. To remain in Him suggests the author of Ecclestiasticus 14.
  22 is to cultivate wisdom or perhaps to dwell in wisdom’s tent, that is, to seek
  that God may be continually born in us as the very ground of our existence,
  grunt Eckhart to enable his Image bilde to be formed in us in such a way that we
  are formed, informed and transformed from within that we may share this
  blessing without. May God in his mercy accomplish this us and keep us on
  the narrow path that leads to eternal life.
• In Nomine.
  Based on : Acts 12 . 1 – 11
  1 Peter 5 . 1 – 4
  Matthew 16 . 13 – 19

On July 1st, 2019, by the decree of His Beatitude, The Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD, Patriarch of The Anglocatholic Church, The Revised Code of the Canon Law of The Anglocatholic Church (2019) is officially and legally now the Canon Law of The Anglocatholic Church.
The text of The Revised Canon Law will be soon on our webpage.

On Sunday, June 30, 2019, there was the final day of the Convocation of The Holy Synod of The Anglocatholic Church in Toronto, Canada. The business of the Holy Synod was finished and the Final Solemn Mass was celebrated. The Celebrant was His Eminence, The Most Reverend Dr. David Smith, DD, The Patriarch Coadjutor of The Anglocatholic Church and the Preacher was His Beatitude, The Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, DD, The Patriarch of The Anglocatholic Church. Next Convocation of The Holy Synod of The Anglocatholic Church and The Second Conclave of the College of Bishops of The Anglocatholic Church is planned to September 2021.

From left: Primate Dr. Raphael Marie Villiere (France); Patriarch Dr. Heigo Ritsbek (Estonia); Patriarch Coadjutor Dr. David Smith; Primate Dr. Ian Charles Adrian (Australia).

On Saturday, June 29, 2019, after break fast we celebrated The Solemn Mass of the Feast of Saint Peter and Paul. The celebrant and the preacher was His Eminence, The Most Reverend Dr. David Smith, DD, Patriarch Coadjutor of The Anglocatholic Church. After the Mass all three Primates in a special Ceremony received their Palliums from the Patriarch. Then we had our regular business sessions. Here some photos of the Mass here and of our fellowship.

Two participants: His Eminence Primate Dr. Raphael Marie Villiere (France)
and His Eminence Primate Dr. Ian Charles Adrian (Australia) at the Coffee
Break of the Convocation.

Then there was Solemn Mass, celebrated by His Eminence, The Most Reverend Dr. David Smith, DD, Patriarch Coadjutor of The Anglocatholic Church and sermon was given by His Eminence, The Most Reverend Dr. Ian Charles Adrian, Primate of
Australia and All Oceania of The Anglocatholic Church.

They day ended with very excellent study of the REVISED CODE OF CANONICAL LAW OF THE ANGLOCATHOLIC CHURCH. After hours of hard work, in the evening the Revised Canon Law was ready. Soon it will appear on the website of the Anglocatholic Church. Also other issues were discussed: theological education, intercommunion with other churches, joint liturgy as template for our churches, at the same time giving every diocese to choose their own rite etc.

From left to right: Patriarch Coadjutor Dr. David Smith, Patriarch Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, Primate Dr. Raphael Marie Villiere, Primate Ian Charles Adrian.

After several hours of business sessions at the first day, the day ended with a concert – great singer Denise Williams with super concertmaster Dr. David Smith!

On June 27, 2019, The Convocation of The Holy Synod of The Anglocatholic Church began in Toronto. It began in a very Christian way – by eating. We had the breakfast at the cloister.

After breakfast we had our First Solemn Mass celebrated by His Eminence, The Most Reverend Dr. David Smith, DD, Patriarch Coadjutor of The Anglocatholic Church. Holimily was given by His Beatitude, The Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMind, LittD, DD, Patriarch of The Anglocatholic Church. The Mass was videotaped by EWR.