Editing Independent Catholicism (section)

==Formation of clergy==

Apart from those members of the clergy who were formed within the [[seminary]] system of the Catholic Church or of a similar mainstream church, very few Independent Catholic clergy have received a formal theological education.{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=69}} Independent Catholic clergy "are not usually specialized professionals, but volunteers who hopefully know at least enough to celebrate the [[sacraments]] for themselves and those around them. [...] Such radically different models of Christian [[priesthood]] raise questions of what sort of clergy training is needed, and offered within these communities."{{sfn|Plummer|2004|pp=104–105}} Plummer shares interviewee feedback suggesting that "the challenge of clergy training [...] was cited as the most important challenge facing the movement."{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=105}}

Resources for the formation and education of Independent Catholic clergy and seminarians are sparse, many Independent Catholic seminarians lack the financial and personal resources to be full-time seminarians,{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=105}} and many are not "willing to go to such lengths, and incur such debt [for a graduate degree], with no prospect of paid ministry."{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=122}} Instead, many Independent Catholic seminarians work full-time at secular jobs and do not have the leisure to pursue full-time studies. Independent Catholic clergy have established a number of seminaries, most featuring distance learning or mentoring programs that vary considerably in quality,{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=105}} but very few of which grant legitimate degrees possess meaningful accreditation or could lead to a paycheck or a reasonably well-assured career path.{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=120}} More common is the mentoring and training of candidates by bishops and priests who have few if any clear guidelines or expectations for ordinands and instead adjust training requirements to meet the needs of the ordinand's vocation. Plummer concludes: "Mentoring will likely continue to be the primary means of clergy training in the Independent Sacramental Movement, due in part to the extremely flexible, anarchic nature of the movement, which works against the creation of formalized seminary programs."{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=125}}

The grace of God in the sacrament of [[Holy Orders]] is often freely shared within Independent Catholicism, thus leading to such characterizations as that of the young and ministerially-unprepared teenager whom poet [[Robert Kelly (poet)|Robert Kelly]] (b. 1935) says he once was: "A [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian]] I came into the world in [[Pride's Crossing, Massachusetts]], and a Unitarian I shall leave it, notwithstanding my daily practice of certain [[Vedic]] sacrifices, my twenty-year long pursuit of [[ritual magic]], the fact that I am technically a [[Muslim]], and the more resplendent fact that I awoke from a teenage binge one day to find myself consecrated bishop of the Primitive Restored Old Catholic Church of North America."<ref>http://www.lumen.org/intros/intro37.html, as cited in {{harvnb|Plummer|2004|p=106}}.</ref> Plummer concludes: "It is very difficult to know what to do about such untrained clergy. Some provide themselves the training they did not receive from their bishop, and serve admirably well, perhaps better than some of their formally educated peers. Others are walking disasters, spiraling into psychological distortions that injure themselves and others, or ignoring their ordained status altogether."{{sfn|Plummer|2004|p=106}}