Beliefs
Old Catholic theology views the Eucharist as at the core of the Church. From that point the Church is a community of believers. All are in communion with one another around the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as the highest expression of the love of God. Therefore, the celebration of the Eucharist is the experience of the Lord's triumph over sin. The defeat of sin consists in bringing together that which is divided.
Through communion, differences between people are reconciled and that which was scattered is brought together. In Old Catholic theology, “Church” means reconciliation. “Church” means the restoration of broken relations between God and men and men with each other.
The Old Catholic Church believes in unity in diversity. As a result, more diversity of belief and practice is to be found among its churches than is characteristic of the Roman Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox churches. Old Catholics often refer to the Church Father St. Vincent of Lerins and his saying: "We must hold fast to that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all the Faithful."
Read more about this topic: Old Catholic Church
Famous quotes containing the word beliefs:
“It’s an indulgence to sit in a room and discuss your beliefs as if they were a juicy piece of gossip.”
—Lillian Hellman (1907–1984)
“Children demand that their heroes should be fleckless, and easily believe them so: perhaps a first discovery to the contrary is less revolutionary shock to a passionate child than the threatened downfall of habitual beliefs which makes the world seem to totter for us in maturer life.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“The essence of belief is the establishment of a habit; and different beliefs are distinguished by the different modes of action to which they give rise.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)