Response By The Independent Catholic Church Of Liberia To the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference Of Liberia

18.01. At the beginning of October 2019, there was a rumor that some Roman Catholics went to a community to find out who had any case against the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, and that the Catholics were encouraging people to go to court and the National Catholic Secretariat would pay the legal fees of the volunteers. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia immediately dismissed the rumor. But where there is smoke there is fire.

18.02. On Friday, October 18, 2019, the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia issued a statement portraying that the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia was purporting, impersonating or pretending to be a Roman Catholic Church in Liberia.

18.03. Because the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia has never purported, impersonated or pretended to be a Roman Catholic Church, or made any statement anywhere, in and out of Liberia, in the name of the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is making this humble response to the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia and to the People of Liberia.

18.04. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is Catholic, but not Roman Catholic. For too long, we Catholics in Africa have allowed Eurocentric institutions to define us, to tell us who we are, and to regulate the lives of African people. We, the members of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, are not Romans, so we are not Roman Catholics. We do not allow people in Europe to identify us or tell us who we are. We know who we are. We know that we are Catholics. The word catholic means universal, implying inclusiveness. The doors of our church are open to all.

18.05. This is the difference between the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia and the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. While the Roman Catholic Church attempts to exclude us, we respect the Roman Catholic Church, and we do not consider Roman Catholics our enemies. We the ICCL do not consider Roman Catholics our rivals. If the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia considers the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia a rival church it would be too unfortunate, for we Independent Catholics and Roman Catholics belong to the Kingdom of Christ.

18.06. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is an independent, autonomous, African-centered, Catholic expression of the Christian faith. Notwithstanding, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia wishes to advise the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia that it is time to leave the dump site. The dump sites in Liberia are very messy. Whether an old Roman Catholic bishop in Liberia wanted to use a young, poor, well-educated but defenseless Roman Catholic priest as scapegoat, and the old Roman Catholic bishop got trapped, and so the young poor, well-educated but defenseless Roman Catholic priest was made the victim of circumstances, that kind of statement should have no place in present day documents of the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia.

18.07. Moreover, all active Roman Catholic bishops in Liberia of our day were very young major seminarians when the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia was an active Roman Catholic priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas, Liberia. This can be seen from the dates, “1991” and “1996,” in the October 18, 2019 Statement of the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia on the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. The truth, according to the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, is no priestly ordination took place in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas in 1991; and by the year 1996, the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia had been out of the Roman Catholic rectory for three (3) years.

18.08. On the question of suspension or excommunication, the Independent Catholic Church is mindful that these so-called ecclesiastical medicinal penalties can lead to greater regrets when the storm of misunderstanding passes. When the storm is over, and there is calm, it is usually said, “It would have been better if these so-called ecclesiastical medicinal penalties of suspension and excommunication had not been inflicted. Bishops in Independent Catholic Churches do not arm themselves with the these weapons. Sympathy and patiently interacting with the person who the Church is not understanding are very essential than trying to lord it over a man or woman who is baptized and in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.

18.09. Most Bishops of Independent Catholic Churches, worldwide, are former Roman Catholic priests or bishops. We know that in the Roman Catholic Church, the power to suspend or excommunicate is vested in the bishop. This power has been used arbitrarily and wrongly. There is no power within a Roman Catholic diocese to check the bishop’s power to suspend or excommunicate.

18.10. In the Roman Catholic Church, if the power to suspend or excommunicate were also vested in the priests, common sense espouses the view that all active Roman Catholic Bishops in Liberia would be suspended or excommunicated by this time.

18.11. Furthermore, the suspension of a priest does not necessarily mean that the priest suspended is morally bad. This is why, in the Independent Catholic Church, when it is said that someone has been suspended or excommunicated, the first thing that comes to our minds is that there was a misunderstanding. And we believe that with prayerful discernment over a period of time, the misunderstanding will be replaced by understand. Because we believe that the devil is aware that with understanding, the Church will succeed in destroying the kingdom of Satan, so the devil drops a bomb of misunderstanding in a church. This is why suspension or excommunication is not practiced in the Independent Catholic Church and the Independent Catholic Church opens her doors to everyone.

18.12. Ecclesiastical history tells us that Rev. Fr. Thomas of Aquinos was a victim of arbitrary and reckless use of the power to suspend or to excommunicate. After suspending Rev. Fr. Thomas of Aquinos for acts incompatible to the clerical state, finally, in the year 1277 a.d., Archbishop Etienne Tempier of Paris, excommunicated the great priest.

18.13. But truth buried to any depth will one day rise. About 600 years later, the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, meeting in the Vatican in 1870 a.d., the meeting which is officially called the First Vatican Council, regretted the decisions of Archbishop Etienne Tempier of Paris against Rev. Fr. Thomas of Aquinos.

18.14. Vatican-One redeemed the reputation of Rev. Fr. Thomas of Aquinos and canonized the priest and called the once condemned, suspended and excommunicated priest, St. Thomas Aquinas.

18.15. A second reason for caution that we Independent Catholics observe is the case of Rev. Fr. Martin Luther (born November 19, 1483, ordained priest in 1507, and went to meet the Lord in heaven on February 18, 1546) was suspended and later excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521. Today, Roman Catholic bishops and Lutheran bishops meet around the table, and they are not rivals.

18.16. This is why contemporary Ecclesiastes, who are holy and fear God, do not take rescue in the use of the power of suspension or excommunication. Only reckless bishops suspend or excommunicate and suffer the fate of Archbishop Etienne Tempier of Paris. And since suspension or excommunication is the fruit of misunderstanding, holy and pious bishops listen and pray with those they do not understand. Over a period, the Holy Spirit brings the mutual understanding that helps a bishop fulfill the divine and apostolic mandate entrusted to him or her through the laying on of hands.

18.17. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia therefore wishes to request the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia to take seriously the divine mandate given by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the Apostles and their successors, who bear the title, bishops:

18.18. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
(Matthew 28:19 & 20)

18.19. Meditating on this great mandate and prayerfully asking the Lord
God to equip us bishops with workable methodologies to implement this divine task should be the primary concern of bishops of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia and the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia.

a. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia wishes to urge the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia to regard the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia as a partner in the Lord’s vineyard. The Evangelist St. Mark records an incident, in his gospel 9:38-40 which should guide the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia and the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia.

b. Teacher, said John, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us. (Mark 9:38)

c. Do not stop him, Jesus said. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, (Mark 9:39)

d. for whoever is not against us is for us. (Mark 9:40)

18.20. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is convinced that the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia lives peaceably with the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church, etc. as a result of their understanding of Mark 9:38-40. So, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia expects the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia to take seriously our catholicity and accord us similar respect, if not greater respect. There is a lot that we, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia and the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia, have in common.

18.21. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is Catholic in doctrine and faith.

a. She believes in the Triune God, One God Three Persons : Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-eternal and co-equal.

b. She professes the Niceo-Constantinopolitan Creed.

c. And she has the seven sacraments : Baptism, Penance, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders and Extreme Auction (or Anointing of the Sick). etc.

18.22. Because we, Independent Catholics and Roman Catholics in Liberia, are all Christians, even if there is some misunderstanding somewhere about our catholicness, let us remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel of Matthew 12:25 : “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined; and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” Knowing our similarities in doctrine and faith, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia wishes to ask the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia to advise those members of the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia who work in public offices to stop blocking documents of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. The refusal of some Roman Catholics in public offices in Liberia to sign documents meant for the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is a violation of the constitutional rights of the members of the Holy Independent Catholic Church of Liberia. Violating people’s constitutional rights is totally uncatholic.

18.23. Article 14 of the Constitution of Liberia unequivocally says :
a. No religious denomination or sect shall have any exclusive privilege or preference over any other, but all shall be treated alike,

b. and no religious tests shall be for any civil or military office
or for the exercise of any civil right.

c. Consistent with the principle of separation of religion and state, the Republic shall establish no state religion.

18.24. The Independent Catholic Church of Liberia is therefore urging the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia to instruct Roman Catholics in public offices in Liberia to stop blocking the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia from obtaining documents from public offices in Liberia.

18.25. While the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia does not know the motives for the statement released by the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia on the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia wishes to remind the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia to look seriously at the present socio-economic realities of Liberians. There is too much suffering in Liberia today. Reports of parents and children going to bed without food are almost everywhere in Liberia.

18.26. The Roman Catholic Church is equipped to intervene by bringing in food through the Catholic Relief Services as she did during the Liberian Civil War. Even though there are no bullets flying as it was during the Liberian Civil War, the socio-economic realities of Liberia are almost the same. If the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia were equipped to do what the Roman Catholic Church is equipped to do, the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia would have done it.

18.27. In our Catholic doctrine, feeding the poor hungry people is a corporal work of mercy. As Vatican Two says, in # 69 of Gaudium et Spes (The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, signed December 7, 1965), remembering the words of the great monk, Gratiam, “Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you do not feed him, you are killing him.”

18.28. We bishops, riding our air-conditioned cars and living in our walled compounds and enjoying all of the luxuries of our time, should remember the poor hungry people of our communities. We are not feeding them. These poor hungry people we pass by when we bishops are in our luxurious cars, and who live around our luxurious compounds, remind us of the incident in Luke 16:19-24, where the poor Lazarus ended up in Heaven and the rich man ended up in Hell. Let us bishops be mindful that we have food to eat every day, and there are thousands, if not millions, of hungry people around us. It is better for us to ask God to help us, bishops, do something about the hungry people around us. This is more important than to worry about a name of a church.

God bless all of you.

• Rt. Rev. Nimely Jarbokly Donyen, DD
  Bishop, Independent Catholic Church of Liberia