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TRINITARIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
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[Trinitarian Catholic Church]
2005-2008

   This Site Was Last Updated on : 8/21//08

 
About Us. . . .

You may be wondering how we got started, how many members we have and where our churches can be found?

 We are frequently asked these questions, so let’s begin with some factual history.

The Trinitarian Catholic Church is actually one of the many “independent,” Catholic Churches whose origins and Apostolic lineage can be traced back to the late Roman Catholic, Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa of Brazil.  Archbishop Duarte Costa, who was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on April 1, 1911, founded the National Catholic Apostolic Churches (Igreja Catolica Apostolica Nationales). The resulting branches of his Church spread to other places around the world through subsequent ordinations and consecrations. In the United States and elsewhere, many Independent Catholic churches and Episcopal Jurisdictions can trace their Apostolic lines back to Archbishop Duarte Costa.

The Episcopal lineage of our Presiding Bishop can be traced back to the lines of Apostolic Succession proceeding from Archbishop Duarte Costa and to preceding Apostolic lines dating back to Pope Leo XIII of the Latin Rite and also Bishop Dionisio's Jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church, the See of Saint Mark (Alexandria/ Greek Orthodox Rite). These latter lines of succession are the result of his Episcopal consecration by +The Most Reverend Ronald Michael Steinhardt and +The Most Reverend Raphael Byron Solano DeFord, bishops respectively of The Free Christian Catholic Church and La Iglesia Orthodoxa Apostolica Costarricence, both of which are in Costa Rica. 

Archbishop Duarte Costa was originally consecrated as the Roman Catholic Diocesan Bishop of Botucatu, Brazil, on December 8, 1924, until certain views he expressed about treatment of Brazil's poor, by both the civil government and the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil, caused his removal from the Diocese of Botucatu. Archbishop Duarte Costa was subsequently named Titular Bishop of Maura by the late Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, formerly Vatican Secretary of State until 1939, under Pope Pius XI). Archbishop Duarte Costa had been a strong advocate in the 1930's for reform of the Roman Church; he challenged many of the key issues that the Second Vatican Council would thirty-five years later take action upon.

His criticisms of the Holy See, particularly about Vatican foreign policy during World War II toward Nazi Germany, were not well received at the Vatican, and he was eventually separated from the Roman Church by Pope Pius XII. This action was taken only after Duarte Costa's strong and repeated public denunciations over the fact that the Vatican Secretariat of State was engaged in the issuance of Vatican Passports to some very high ranking German ex-Nazis, a practice referred to as the "Ratline."

These former Nazi officials were among some of the most notorious of war criminals, such as, the Auschwitz  Concentration Camp Commandant Adolf Eichmann and the infamous, Dr. Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death," both of whom traveled after the War on officially issued Vatican Passports. Such criminals were in flight from trial to South America in 1945.

The Brazilian Government came under the criticism of Archbishop Duarte Costa for collaboration with the Roman Church over these passports. Duarte Costa espoused liberal church positions on divorce, challenged mandatory celibacy for the clergy, and publicly stated his contempt regarding abuses of papal power, including the concept of Papal Infallibility, which the Archbishop considered a misguided and false dogma. Archbishop Duarte Costa left the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church on July 6, 1945. He immediately founded the independent Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB) on that same date and remained Primate until his death in 1961.

Archbishop Luis Castillo Mendez of Brazil, Patriarch of the National Catholic Apostolic Churches (Igreja Catolica Apostolica Nationales) was consecrated by and succeeded the late Archbishop Duarte Costa as Primate in 1961. Archbishop Luis Castillo Mendez is still leading the worldwide spiritual confederation of the National Catholic Apostolic Churches founded by the late Archbishop Duarte Costa. These national churches are now estimated to have a combined worldwide membership which exceeds 12 million members. According to the ancient practice of the early Church and among many Orthodox Christian bishops, such Catholic apostolic churches exist in their countries, functioning both as autonomous and independent Particular Churches. The Trinitarian Catholic Church, for one, functions in such a manner.

In addition to ICAB in Brazil, there are sister apostolic branches in thirteen other countries in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Pacific and in Asia, including: Argentina (ICAA), Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. While bound by a common origin from Archbishop Duarte Costa's apostolic line, each bishop or bishops are autonomous, being completely independent and self governing, while adhering to doctrinal precepts of Orthodox Christianity.

Bishop Salomao Ferraz who was a former Roman Catholic Priest, was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa for the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB) in 1945, and was eventually reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church in 1958 during the late pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Bishop Ferraz was named by the Holy See to be Titular Bishop of Eleuterna on May 12, 1963. Although still married, Bishop Ferraz was later appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro by Pope John XXIII. Bishop Ferraz was later called by Pope Paul VI to serve on a working commission of the Second Vatican Council and addressed the Council Fathers in session.

It is notable that Bishop Ferraz was never re-consecrated by the Roman Catholic Church, even conditionally (sub conditione), and later was buried with the full honors accorded Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church by accepting Bishop Ferraz in this manner, without any re-consecration, affirm de jure and de facto the sacramental validity of the Duarte Costa Apostolic Succession lines of what is commonly known as the "Rebiba Apostolic Succession."

In simple terms this means that the Roman Catholic Church acknowledges that the unbroken line of ordinations and consecrations that proceeded from Archbishop Duarte Costa are in Apostolic Succession and have sacramental validity. While some in the Roman Church may assert that these ordinations and consecrations are irregular, since they did not come about as the result of papal approval, they are nonetheless as valid as any ordination or consecration in the Roman Catholic Church. Through our Bishop and those whom he has ordained, The Trinitarian Catholic Church has sacramental validity and a priesthood in valid Apostolic Succession. As an independent Catholic Church, we do not need, nor must we obtain the permission of the Holy See in order to exist as an independent Jurisdiction outside of the authority of Rome. In as much as we are all Catholics, we respect the Roman Catholic Church and the Bishop of Rome even though we do not always agree with their policies and positions on many important issues. On local levels, our Church is always willing to work with Catholics and people of faith from all traditions in the important task of repairing God’s House.

The Trinitarian Catholic Church was officially founded following the consecration of +The Most Reverend Russell F. Coates, Jr., FDP, M.Div. in 2004, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut  USA. +Bishop Coates founded The Franciscans of Divine Providence in 1995 when he was a religious Brother. The growth and work of the Order eventually lead him to become ordained in 1997 as an independent Catholic priest. Subsequently, +Bishop Steinhardt and +Bishop DeFord elected him to the Episcopacy in 2003. Upon their visit to the United States in 2004, they consecrated him as a Catholic Bishop in Apostolic Succession, assuring his valid lineage through both the Latin and the Orthodox Rites of the Church.

The Franciscans of Divine Providence, which began as an independent Order, is now a canonical religious Order of the Trinitarian Catholic Church. His Eminence, +Bishop Coates is the first Metropolitan and Presiding Bishop of our Church. His Jurisdiction is the Metropolitan Diocese of Rocky Hill.

TRINITARIAN CATHOLIC CHURH
Metropolitan Diocese of Rocky Hill
967 Elms Common Drive, #212
Rocky Hill, Connecticut  06067-1816  USA

Bishop_TCC@hotmail.com

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Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead