Weird vagante groups

[TheReturnofLive]

So, as we all know, there exists what are known as "wandering bishops," which claim to be connected to the Apostolic Catholic Church through some claim to Apostolic Succession, and they are not really associated with any organization. They are usually Anglican, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Oriental Orthodox bishops who decide to go into schism for some reason or another, and I thought I would start a thread for some of the really weird ones.

Not only will it give a catalogue of very clearly heretical beliefs, but also, it will prevent people from going to dangerous ideological groups.

Share the ones that you know, that you would like to avoid.

[TheReturnofLive]

http://www.universalorthodox.org/

"The Universal Orthodox Church"

Due to Rastafarianism, which held that the last Ethiopian Orthodox Emperor was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, many people have begun to associate Ethiopian Orthodoxy with weed-smoking spirituality. In this case, a wandering bishop has smuggled and sold weed and combined marijuana with prayer; furthermore, they believe that Marijuana was a Holy Plant that was used throughout the Old Testament; that the Chrism Moses used was hash oil, that the Tree of Life in Eden was a Marijuana Plant, etc.

http://www.universalorthodox.org/PDFs/Marijuana-in-the-Bible.pdf

Also, based on his posts on OrthodoxChristianity.net, they also apparently reject Nicaea.

http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php/topic,61054.0.html

[TheReturnofLive]

https://ocoy.org/light-of-the-spirit-monastery/

"Light of the Spirit Monastery"

This is a very well funded and dangerous monastery that has fused Hinduism with Catholicism. They claim that Christ spent half of his life in India, spending time living in the Himalayas with the Apostle Thomas; they believe that True Christianity is nothing more than a form of Hinduism, and they believe that Traditional Catholic liturgical praxis is a form which ought to be used to achieve the goals of liberation from Samsara.

Originally, the current "Patriarch," Abbot Bishop Burke, started off as a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, and then founded a Hindu community. Later, he was anointed as a Bishop by an Old Catholic Bishop, claiming that it was unnecessary, because he was a Bishop in his previous life.

After outgrowing Traditional Roman liturgical praxis, they became Byzantine in their liturgy. They then became Coptic in their liturgy, and reverted back to Traditional Roman liturgical praxis.

According to several former members of this diabolical sect, they worshipped Hindu idols, took part in Occult rituals, and used Tarot Cards. The prayers they used were a blasphemous blend of Hindu invocation with Orthodox and Catholic prayers.

All individuals who want to join the ranks of their monastery are required to take a pilgrimage to India, to meet with a Hindu "holy woman."


What makes them very dangerous is that they are the manufacturers of "Monastery Icons," which many Christians have bought from not suspecting their nefarious origins.


https://www.monasteryicons.com/

http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/monasteryicons.aspx

[dellery]

https://ocoy.org/light-of-the-spirit-monastery/

"Light of the Spirit Monastery"

This is a very well funded and dangerous monastery that has fused Hinduism with Catholicism. They claim that Christ spent half of his life in India, spending time living in the Himalayas with the Apostle Thomas, they believe that True Christianity is nothing more than a form of Hinduism, and they believe that Traditional Catholic liturgical praxis is a form which ought to be used to achieve the goals of liberation from Samsara.

Originally, the current "Patriarch," Abbot Bishop Burke, started off as a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, and then founded a Hindu community. Later, he was anointed as a Bishop by an Old Catholic Bishop, claiming that it was unnecessary, because he was a Bishop in his previous life.

After outgrowing Traditional Roman liturgical praxis, they became Byzantine in their liturgy. They then became Coptic in their liturgy, and reverted back to Traditional Roman liturgical praxis.

According to several former members of this diabolical sect, they worshipped Hindu idols, took part in Occult rituals, and used Tarot Cards. The prayers they used were a blasphemous blend of Hindu invocation with Orthodox and Catholic prayers.

All individuals who want to join the ranks of their monastery are required to take a pilgrimage to India, to meet with a Hindu "holy woman."


What makes them very dangerous is that they are the manufacturers of "Monastery Icons," which many Christians have bought from not suspecting their nefarious origins.


https://www.monasteryicons.com/

http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/monasteryicons.aspx

Whoa. I've been buying incense from these guys for years. Thank you, for posting this!

[Gardener]

TIL dellery has been buying possessed incense. 

[dellery]

TIL dellery has been buying possessed incense. 

Don't worry, I'm gonna burn this heretical pagancense with fire!

On a serious note, I wont be supporting this "monastery" with my business any more.

[TheReturnofLive]

The Palmarian Catholic Church.

This is a group which claims that Pope Paul VI was a martyr of the Catholic Church, and that the Bishop of Rome has had his authority removed by God and has had the Petrine authority transferred to the See of Palmar de Troya, in Spain. They claim to have about 1000 - 1500 members.

The origin of this group began with an alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary to four Spanish schoolgirls in 1968. The visions were dismissed by the local bishop, but one "Clemente Dominguez y Gomez," an office clerk from Seville, claimed to receive visions of the Virgin Mary, claiming that God has chosen him to rid the Catholic Church of heresy and progressivism.

Based on these visions, he founded the "Order of the Carmelites of the Holy Face of Jesus" called to be faithful to Pope Paul VI.

Earlier, however, he believed that the Virgin called him to raise several priests and laypeople to the rank of Bishops, which he did without authorization from the Holy See, receiving a latae sententiae excommunication from Pope Paul VI.

He received visions that Pope Paul VI was martyred by evil, conspiring Cardinals, and that Jesus Christ crowned him as the new Pope.

He took the name "Gregory XVII," and appointed his own cardinals.

On his own authority, he proclaimed that the Bishop of Rome was a false church, and declared Pope John Paul II excommunicated.

After his death in 2005, the next Pontiff was Peter II, who proclaimed the end times are nigh and that the Antichrist had been born in the year 2000. After that Pope kicked the bucket, Gregory XVIII succeeded the throne, and today, the current Pope is Peter III.

They have "developed" dogma and praxis significantly from the Catholic Church. They have declared that the Virgin Mary is present in the Eucharist and that Saint Joseph was assumed into Heaven without death.

Although they at first used the Tridentine Mass, they have altered the Mass since 1983 to almost exclusively use the Eucharist words of consecration. They have a revised Bible based on "prophetic revelation," and have canonized Christopher Columbus and Francisco Franco as Saints.

Their members are typically not allowed contact with those outside their group, and for those who have managed to leave, they claim there is rampant sexual abuse.

https://www.palmarianchurch.org/

[Michael Wilson]

those Palmarians certainly know how to put on an Eucharistic procession.

[Gardener]

those Palmarians certainly know how to put on an Eucharistic procession.

Thurible swinging not in sync; SSPX Resistance declares procession invalid and suspect of heresy.

[Heinrich]

Does he count?
http://brothernathanaelfoundation.org/

[Gardener]

I don't think so. While a schismatic in a broader sense, he is, at least last I knew, under the authority of a bishop and hasn't set himself up as his own thing in the same sense as the other groups.

[TheReturnofLive]

"Orthodox Church of France"

This was a group that has origins from the Russian Orthodox Saint John Maximovitch, a very popular Saint who served as the Bishop in Shanghai, France, and San-Francisco, and who has oil blessed at his relics.

The Orthodox Church in France wanted to resurrect the older forms of Gallic liturgy,

Based on older manuscripts and writings from the time period of Saint Germain / Germanus, this liturgy was reconstructed based on the rubrics available, with the missing gaps filled with the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.


After St. John Maximovitch's death, the Russian Church began to clamp down on their liturgy, and they went into schism to protect their liturgical tradition.

Their liturgy is still practiced from time to time in canonical Orthodox jurisdictions; under the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, this liturgy is practiced in Des Moine, Iowa, in the mission parish of "Saint John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church," by some Serbian Orthodox parishes in France. Moreover, several schisms happened within the Orthodox Church of France, which led to other groups breaking with this group, and within those other groups, another undertaking occurred with an attempt to restore the Celtic Rite using a similar methodology.

http://eglise-orthodoxe-de-france.fr/index.html

[TheReturnofLive]

British Orthodox Church

This was a group which claimed to have Apostolic Succession from the Miaphysite Churches, and wanted to set up a Church for Great Britain that would be a new identity of Faith for Britain to follow with the Alexandrian liturgical tradition.

The video IS NOT the British Orthodox Church, but it is a video in English of what the Coptic Rite is like for those who don't know about it.



In 1994, a decision was made following negotiations with the Coptic Pope of Alexandria, Pope Shenouda III, to enter into Communion with the Coptic Pope, and the British Orthodox Church began to function as the official arm of the Coptic Church in Britain. Even though they were titled "British Orthodox Church," they still were functionally the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain and stuck to the Coptic Rite in their liturgy.

Something happened which caused the British Orthodox Church to schism in 2015. The Churches that were under the British Orthodox Church essentially chose to either to re-enter into communion with Alexandria, or remain under the BOC's leadership, but the Coptic Pope, kind of charitably, allowed the BOC to keep their own Churches.

What exactly happened based on people who were part of this debacle is unclear, and people don't really talk about it; but from what I've heard, it was bad, with some people calling it outright "demonic" and that "the Coptic Church should've done more about it," or that "the BOC represents anti-Christian, leftist ideology."

I've heard rumors (so this is hearsay, not evidence) from other forums that the institution had connections to the "Gnostic Catholic Church," which I will go into detail later, but was basically an institution with historical origins from Aleister Crowley who set up a version of the Tridentine Mass that conforms with Aleister Crowley's belief system and magic. Moreover, there exists a website claiming to be the "Neo-Luciferian Church" which claims that the current Patriarch Seraphim has a shared lineage with their own Bishops, and the book "Wicca and the Christian Heritage" also claims there is a shared lineage to the "Gnostic churches."

https://sites.google.com/site/gnostickos/bbishopsnewmannorton
https://books.google.com/books?id=aBiCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53&dq=hugo+newman+norton&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbsLzilZflAhVjk-AKHbKICikQ6AEwAnoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=hugo%20newman%20norton&f=false

I've also heard things thrown around regarding sexual abuse, corruption, and preaching of ideology that is repulsive to fundamental Christian tenants.

However, what exactly happened with the schism is not clear other than these rumors that people have hinted at and don't want to discuss, and after the schism, the group has become an extraordinarily small faction. They still continue to use the Coptic Liturgy.

http://britishorthodox.org/


Some relevant threads:

http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php/topic,75682.0.html
http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=71508.0

[TheReturnofLive]

Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica

This institution decended from Gnostic-Revival churches in France in the 19th century, but was founded formally in 1907 under the name "Gnostic Catholic Church." In 1913, magician, occultist, and paganist Aleister Crowley wrote what was called the "Gnostic Mass." This "Mass" is modeled visually off of the Tridentine Mass, but claims to have elements from the Byzantine Liturgy as well; the "Mass" is a pretty blasphemous and intentionally paganized parody of the Mass.

After writing the "Gnostic Mass," the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica adopted it as it's official Rite.

The Gnostic Creed is as follows:

"I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in the Company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name CHAOS, the sole vicegerent of the Sun upon the Earth; and in one Air the nourisher of all that breathes.
And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON.
And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET.
And I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA.
And I believe in the communion of Saints.
And, forasmuch as meat and drink are transmuted in us daily into spiritual substance, I believe in the Miracle of the Mass.
And I confess one Baptism of Wisdom whereby we accomplish the Miracle of Incarnation.
And I confess my life one, individual, and eternal that was, and is, and is to come.
AUMGN. AUMGN. AUMGN."


TL;DR : Aleister Crowley's ideology blended with a parody of traditional Catholic rituals.






Lord have mercy on us for these blasphemous sacreliges.

[TheReturnofLive]

"Western Orthodox Christian Church"

An independent Church run by two bishops. They've been around (the communion), apparently, for a long while. Although not too much information is known about them, they claim Apostolic Succession through the Old Catholic line of succession, and were originally a part of that movement in opposition to Vatican I. They profess to hold to Eastern Orthodox theological belief, while holding to Western praxis and liturgy. They apparently were temporarily in communion with the Antiochian Orthodox Church in 1911, but communion only lasted for a few months; they claim communion was never spiritually broken.

It seems that a massive reason why they became independent was because of the liberalism of the Old Catholic communion.

https://www.wocc-us.org



Regardless, for just two bishops, their liturgy seems pretty dope, and it's cool to see their old pictures.