Editing Independent Catholicism (section)

==Importance of apostolic succession in Independent Catholicism==

The notion of [[apostolic succession]] (i.e., the ability of a [[bishop]] to trace spiritual ancestry through a purportedly unbroken line of bishops back to the original faith established by [[Jesus of Nazareth]] and his [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]]) has played an important role in the history of the [[Western Church]] since the [[Donatist controversy]] in the fourth and fifth centuries AD. The traditional Catholic position holds that a validly consecrated bishop shares apostolic succession with the bishops he consecrates and the priests and deacons he ordains regardless of any [[heresy]] or [[schism]] he may have committed.{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=25}} Some theologians argue that this view is mechanical and reductionist, and that [[episcopal consecration]] is for service within a specific Christian community; in this view, consecration or ordination of an individual with no reference to a community is without effect. Independent Catholic clergy reject this view, arguing that bishops are consecrated and priests and deacons ordained for the service of others, whether of a defined community or jurisdiction, or of a more broadly defined group. Independent Catholics tend to share the view that, "whatever else we may disagree about, we all believe earnestly in apostolic succession!".{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=14}}

While making no explicit statement about the validity or invalidity of consecrations and ordinations carried out in the Independent Catholic movement, the Catholic Church suspended Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục, who had purportedly excommunicated himself by his ''[[latae sententiae]]'' act of consecrating other bishops and ordaining priests whom the Catholic Church will not recognize.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis|issn=0001-5199|language=la|volume=68|issue=10|publication-date=1976-10-31|page=623|author=Sacra Congregatio pro doctrina Fidei|title=Decretum circa quasdam illegitimas ordinationes presbyterales et episcopales|date=1976-09-17|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-68-1976-ocr.pdf}} English translation: [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19760917_illegitimas-ordinationes_en.html Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Decree concerning certain unlawful priestly and episcopal ordinations", 17 September 1976]. The statement was repeated in a [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19830312_poenae-canonicae_en.html Notification of 12 March 1983].</ref>

===Conditional consecrations and ordinations===

[[Conditional sacrament|Conditional consecrations and ordinations]] complicate conversations on the historical origins of the Independent Catholic movement and its communities. Plummer writes: "Many independent bishops have been consecrated multiple times, in an effort to ensure sacramental validity and consolidate claims to the historic [[episcopate]]. Such consecrations, in which literally dozens of 'lineages' can be transmitted from one bishop to another, only increase the difficulty of accurately describing the ancestry of any given group."{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=14}} He says that this "crossbreeding of ecclesiastical lineage" has reached such a point that most Independent Catholic clergy share most or all of their heritage in common, even if this shared heritage has not contributed in any way toward jurisdictional unity.{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=127}}