The Athanasian Creed rightly and solemnly says :
Alia est enim persona Patris alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti: Sed Patris, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti una est divinitas, aequalis gloria, coaeterna maiestas. Qualis Pater, talis Filius, talis Spiritus Sanctus.
For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit.But the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is.
To: All Parish Priest and Principals of All Diocesan and Congregational Schools in the Diocese of Novaliches
Our office has received several queries about the Apostolic Catholic Church. Parish Priests have complained that their priests go around our parishes soliciting funds sowing confusion to our Catholic Faithful, with their claim that the Apostolic Catholic Church is the same as the Roman Catholic Church.
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I think and believe this is an eye opener to most of us, sealed servants, that we must stand courageously, yet humble and patient, for our faith in Mahal na INGKONG, and His Church, the Apostolic Catholic Church, which is founded on the same foundation as do all Catholic and Orthodox Churches,one and united with the true profession of faith of the Apostles, the Fathers, and the Ecumenical Councils.
It is true that our Church is the same as the Roman Catholic Church in many ways as much as it has similarities with the Eastern Orthodox practices. It is what our Mahal na INGKONG desires to fulfill within our Church - to preserve, safeguard, and unite, the true and genuine apostolic catholic doctrines and practices of both the Eastern and the Western Christendom. This is evident in our Church Logo where you can see the Eastern and the Western Crosses and in the middle is the dove, signifying Mahal na INGKONG.
Our church stands in the middle. We try and persevere to foster unity of all true and genuine Catholic and Orthodox churches, large or small- this is an endless journey of faith and action with the Holy Spirit. We are opening the eyes of the many people that the Roman Catholic is NOT the only Catholic Church in the world. The Holy Faith and tradition come from the teachings of the [Jewish] Apostles and their successors. Sts Peter and Paul are not romans, they are Jewish by birth.
Let us re-echo the messages of Mahal na INGKONG thru the Holy covenant, St.Maria Virginia - CATHOLICS ARE NOT ONLY THE ROMANS, AND THE CHURCH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS NOT ONLY THE ROMAN CHURCH. There are other TRUE APOSTOLIC SEES that up to now still exist in the world - the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the small, yet valid orthodox and catholic churches.
Our Patriarch, aside from the fact that he was commissioned by Mahal na INGKONG, is of the same status and rank as all the other Patriarchs of the Christendom. Having a small community of believers or church does not change the dignity, rank and authority of a certain Patriarch or Bishop.
The tongue of fire received by St.Andrew is no lesser from what St.Thomas received in Pentecost.
And our community, the sealed servants and the faithful, is not a small community. We are present not only in the Philippines, but in the United States as well, in Canada, in London,in Hong Kong,Latin America, and in other countries due to the presence and missionary activities of the sealed servants OFW there.
Our church is full of men and women dedicated to the service of the Gospel and the Messages of Mahal na INGKONG. When they were ordained as priests they are no less in dignity with the Roman priests. When they are elevated to the episcopate they are no less in dignity, honor and rank with the Roman Bishops. Our clergies are higher than them for they are not only missionaries of the second person of the Trinity, but of the Third Person as well, Mahal na INGKONG.
It is time that we must cease to think and feel that we are like Romans- we are not Romans- we are INGKONG's. We are not servants and children of the Romans; we are children of our Beloved INGKONG and of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
If they, indeed, are children of the true church and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, they would have received and embraced us long time ago. And as Mahal na INGKONG said, "AYAW MAN KAYONG TANGGAPIN, TAO LANG ANG HINDI TUMATANGGAP SA INYO, ANG BAHAY NG DIYOS AY MALUWANG PARA PASUKIN NG LAHAT, PAGANO, O INDIO MAN, NA GUSTONG PASAKOP." [ The House of God is wide for everyone to enter, if they {Roman Priests of the Philippines} do not accept you, it was them alone who do not accept you!]
The Father's church, or religion whom later accused and crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, was Judaism - the Pharasees and the Scribes. If they accepted and recognized our Lord as the Son of the Father, and the Christ, I think He would not have established His 'own' church through the Apostles. In the Last Supper, our Lord Jesus Christ told the apostles about the Third Person, who will come in His name from the Father- the Paraclete whom the world cannot accept, for He cannot be seen. We thank Him for we can see, recognize and hear Mahal na INGKONG through St. Maria Virginia or through the Holy Patriarch, by the eyes of faith graced to the elect, i.e. sealed servant.
The Son's church which He founded is the ONE HOLY CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH. There is only one church, it is holy, it is universal or catholic and it is apostolic. These are the four marks of the true church- pertaining not to the edifice , nor about color, language, or geographical habitation.
The one church which was divided, not by God nor by the Holy Spirit, but by the pride and ambition of man.
The Church of Christ, in her first hundreds of years exists in harmony and if heresy arise the Bishops-successors of the apostles, collectively settles the issues and problems thru the so called Ecumenical Council.
There were five great Christian Catholic and Orthodox churches before, the Church of Rome, Constantinople,Alexandria, Antioch,and Jerusalem; each of which is presided by its own Patriarch or Supreme Bishop, it was called PENTARCHY.
The Patriarchs respect and work in communion harmoniously with each other. They are one spiritually having God the Father, the only and One Father of all. The four Patriarchs namely Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem accorded due honor to the Patriarch of Rome - for being sitted on the Capital of the Empire and possesses great political power and material wealth. They gave him the honorary title of being the Elder brother, NOT AS THEIR SUPREME BISHOP OR FATHER.
Each Patriarch is the supreme bishop of his own church or community where he has bishops and priests under him.This arrangement works for centuries and the Church journeys peacefully and the true Christian Charity, Unity, Faith govern the lives of the faithful.
There is no discrimination, there is no alienation. Bishops and Priests welcome with open arms, in the spirit of being the father of the faithful, the people who come to attend in the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. If I am baptised in the Church of Antioch, I can go and attend the Liturgy without being singled out in the Church of Constantinople and to any other churches of the Undivided Christendom. Each church respect the unique expression, local to the faithful, of the same Catholic and Apostolic Faith. All churches profess the NICENE CREED without the FILIOQUE.
Even Pope Leo III (792A.D.) engraved this formula, without Filioque, on plates of gold and silver, in Greek and Latin, affixed it to the left and right of St.Peter's tomb [in Rome].
The once undivided Christendom was divided by the ambition of man to rise above the others, and by the evilness of his heart- it cannot be the work of the Holy Spirit to divide the Church of Christ.
The Church was divided on the issue of the Holy Spirit and the 'filioque'. Now the Holy Spirit manifested Himself, as do the Son, to unite the faithful into love and respect of all the other Christian Churches, especially those with the valid mandate and apostolic line of succession -as they are indeed our true brethren, the descendants of the faith and teachings of the apostles. But this Filioque issue was only one of the issues - most of which, as I said, were not actions of the Holy Spirit - but due to the ambition and evil heart of men, of those wolves clothed of lamb's skin.
We, if you ever heard our priests when they read the dipthycs [the prayer portion in the liturgy dedicated for asking God to bless each of the Patriarchs of the Apostolic Sees.], pray for the Patriarch of Rome, Constantinople,Antioch,Alexandria,Jerusalem, Greece, and our own Patriarch John Florentine, including the Patriarchs of small churches with valid apostolic line of succession. Here is the prayer:
"We also fervently pray for the blessing and guidance of Your Major Patriarchs throughout the world, including the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Bartholomew I), the Patriarch of Rome (Benedict XVI), the Patriarchs of Jerusalem (Theophilos III), Antioch (Ignatius IV), Alexandria (Theodoros II), Greece (Ireneos I), Moscow (Alexei II) and the Philippines (John Florentine), as well as the legitimate Minor Patriarchs of the various traditions."
Do the Roman priests and bishops still pray for the other Patriarchs of the Christendom? I did not hear them even once!This is how we long for the unity of all the Catholic Churches, the same longing implanted in our soul by our Mahal na INGKONG. True ecumenism accepts, each other, that we are one and of the same root and tree - our differences may lie on the way we express our faith, as each country has its own culture and language so thus we express one and the same apostolic and catholic faith in the unique way akin to our Christian life.
The Holy Spirit,as it is written in the Sacred Scripture that He, will come and reveal His New Name to the elect - the sealed servant, the overcomer; that name is INGKONG.[Apocalypse 3:12].
"QUALIS PATER, TALIS FILIUS, TALIS SPIRITUS SANCTUS"
As the Father has Judaism, the Pharisees and the Scribes, the Son has One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, so thus the Holy Spirit being one with the Father and the Son, does have His Church, one with the faith of that of the Father [monotheistic] and the Son [One Holy Catholic, Orthodox, Apostolic, Church], the Apostolic Catholic Church. As the Father reveals about the Son, the Son about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in turns reveals the true teachings of the Father and the Son.
Mahal na INGKONG, thru His Church, gathers into His fold all true Catholic and Orthodox Christians, to sanctify, teach, and remind them of the true meaning of Christian love, unity and true faith.
More often than not their priests call themselves as Bishops or Monsignors or simply Fathers after a little training.
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From where and what school did the apostles of the Son study? Do they have master's degree or doctorate degrees from the great universities of their time? NO! They were fishermen by profession, and sinners as well! This was to confound the mighty and the learned. The church's list of saints is full of holy men and women who became doctors of faith without having gone into academies, yet we owed them the great wisdom and holy practices. Little training does not necessarily mean little wisdom! The flesh is weak but the SPIRIT is willing, strong and able.
What our clergies deliver is the true nourishment of the soul, the Holy Sacraments; seven in number. Will the Holy Spirit's action be impeded by the unlearned, and unschooled brain of the minister? So much to say, our clergies learned from the direct teaching of Mahal na INGKONG - the highest teacher a clergy can ever have while still living in garment of flesh.
Yes, most of the Roman priests are, maybe, more eloquent and knowledgeable from their universities or seminaries, maybe we are not the same as they are but it does not diminish the knowledge, wisdom, and dignity that [we] our clergies learned directly from the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, who is the Spirit of God Himself. Our clergies were taught by the Great Teacher Himself.
It is written, "the Holy Spirit will speak through you!" However, Mahal na INGKONG encourages and mandated the clergies, sealed servants and the faithful to study and live the word of God, as it is in the Holy Scripture, and of the History and tradition of the Catholic Church.Holiness and knowledge of one's faith empower him to defend and stand unmoved in his faith.
What we, the sealed servants and our clergies can pride of, is our affinity to the Covenant of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, as much as the Father made His covenant with Abraham, Isaac,Jacob and to His seed; the Son made His new covenant with the Apostles i.e. the church; so thus the Holy Spirit made His covenant with Patriarch John Florentine and his mother that from him and his seed will spring the people of the New Jerusalem. This covenant which is about to be written, though for several years now is already written within the hearts and souls of the sealed servants - written by the last drop of blood of our Lord Jesus in calvary availed by our Beloved Patriarch John.
We are not the only ones who call our clergies, 'Priests', 'Monsignors','Bishops', and 'Archbishops' MAHAL NA INGKONG CALLS THEM HIS PRIEST, HIS MONSIGNOR, HIS BISHOPS AND HIS ARCHBISHOPS. Their hands were blessed, sanctified and consecrated by the Holy Spirit Himself which no priest of the Romans can equal. AND IT DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT MAHAL NA INGKONG, with the same power, divinity, majesty, as that of the Son and the Father, chose, ordained and consecrated our clergies to the sacred order through our Patriarch.
Usually, they appear well groomed in spotless white and thus seem more priestly than some of our Catholic priests. They also have sisters in long white robes.
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Purihin ang Mahal na INGKONG, our obedience to the attire of the Blessed Virgin Mary is recognized- one of our little ways of evangelizing and attracting people to come back to the true and proper way of Christian deportment. Our way of honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, and of averting the punishment of God as foretold by the Blessed Mother 'Famines are abundant on earth, because women no longer honor my attire!'
Deuteronomy 22:5 says "A woman shall not be clothed with man's apparel, neither shall a man use woman's apparel: for he that doeth these things is abominable before God." It was forbidden by God because with this practice, men and women honors Venus,Mars or Priapus.
Priests must be identified; they should not hide their identity to the faithful by dressing like one of them.Let their visibility reminds the people that, more than ever in today's troubled times, there are priests whom they can approach and seek the grace of God through the Holy Sacraments. Let through the simple observance of priestly attire [subtly] evangelizes the people that Christ still walks on earth in these last days. Clergies are set aside and chosen by God to live a holy life, obedience, and was set as an example to many. Obedience is not alone in the mind and heart, it should manifest concretely and materially. The gospel of St. John says "...and the Word was made flesh and dwelth among us." Our Lord Jesus Christ, eternal Word of the Father, clothed Himself with immaculate flesh of the Virgin Mary.
The Word does not come bare and naked without the right and proper garment proper to its state and glory. He clothed Himself then went preaching about the Kingdom of God. A priest, as representative of Christ and the Church, must wear attire akin to his dignity and ministry. Let them not play hide and seek with the faithful wherever they go. Let them announce and be known that they are priests and there are still good and truly obedient priests.
A fundamental principle in the work of ecumenism is to point out not only what is the same among the churches but also to accept honestly, even if sadly, that each is different from the other.
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It is so sad that we build barriers and fences rather than bridges and roads to reach out for each other. Our Church, almost a decade now, is active in promoting dialogues to build the common ground where all Christians can unite as one and the same family under the Christ of God. Yes, there are differences and that caused our separation. If we really intend to unite, let's go deeper into our common source of faith and belief as the spokes of the wheel to its center.
What makes all the Catholic and Orthodox Churches one and united to each other is the common root of our Faith, the apostolic tradition, the apostolic succession, the ecumenical councils, the profession of faith , the common history; on these things we must capitalize to foster unity.
Our Patriarch John is tirelessly involving himself with many ecumenical activities in the Philippines and abroad, and he also mingles with the bishops of the Roman Church, the CBCP. The late Jaime Cardinal Sin knew him, as well as Bishop Iniguez. He attends and participates in international religious events, I am just wondering how come our Church is being labeled Cult. We are not a secret society, INGKONG is teaching in the open, our church door is open, the holy land is open for visitation.
As your Bishop, I want to inform all Catholics that the Apostolic Catholic Church is a cult founded by the mother of its present Patriarch, John Florentine L. Teruel.
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The cult deceivingly resembles the Roman Catholic Church because they have some vestiges of the true faith, like worship of the Triune God: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and devotion to our blessed Mother Mary under the title Ina ng Poong Bato.
They recite the Rosary and make novenas.
Also in a very particular way, they call God the Holy Spirit Ingkong.
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The Ganapan of Mahal na INGKONG is broadcasted online on www.justintv.com, records of His messages in mp3 formats can be freely downloaded in the ACC Official website and from this blog as well. We are doing our annual Marian Procession in Manila; before it was at Quezon Memorial Circle and for the past few years at Luneta Grandstand.
WE DO NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION, WE ARE NOT SECRET SOCIETY NOR IS OUR FAITH IS RESERVED AMONG THE FEW...THE DOOR OF OUR CHURCH AND THE GANAPAN ARE OPEN FOR EVERYONE TO COME.
There is one big difference I know we can be proud of with other Christian churches including the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines - they are worshiping the Holy Spirit whom they do not know the Name. For us, WE WORSHIP THE HOLY SPIRIT WHOSE NAME WE KNOW, AND THAT NAME IS INGKONG. Familiar words? Yes, St. Paul also preached to the gentiles about the god the gentiles worships whose name they do not know, but St Paul said to them 'We worship the God we know who'. So we, sealed servants, do not call on an unknown Holy Spirit. We call Him by His name, as much as we call the Father's and the Son's name, Yahweh and Jesus Christ.
However, since the Apostolic Catholic Church does not accept the supremacy of the Pope of Rome but recognizes only Patriarch Teruel, the Apostolic Catholic Church thus is Schismatic Church.
We are NOT in communion with the Patriarch of Rome, in a sense of submitting ourselves to His or in its Government. Our Church is auto-cephalic, self-governing church; you may want to call it schismatic from Rome or separated from Rome - but it does not make our Church a cult and a false one. The Church of Antioch, Jerusalem,Constantinople, Greece,Alexandria and all other independent orthodox and Old Roman Catholic Churches with their Patriarchs or Bishops were not under the government of Rome, yet they are not cults- they are true Orthodox and Catholic, and true Churches. St.Peter and Paul were not only the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
Even the Apostles and the growing Christians in the early years of the Church of the Son were called by the Jews, primarily by the high priest of the Father's religion, cultic, fanatic, and ignorant followers of the crucified Jesus. The high priest does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the promised Messiah. The priests of the Father and their adherents stoned many early Christians to death. And what could be the situation of Beloved INGKONG, the world cannot see Him, the Roman priests could not see Him, and they cannot even recognize true Catholicity in us. This caused our persecution, they are persecuting their own brothers and sisters. They hate us without cause. They call non-catholics their brothers and sisters while treating us otherwise. I particularly pray that our spirit-seals encourage us to stand strong and stable in our holy faith, faith to Beloved INGKONG, His Church and the hierarchy - Apostolic Catholic Church, to the Patriarch John Florentine Teruel, to Beloved St.Maria Virginia, and to all that is right, good, and noble.
The new faith, is in fact, the continuation, the restoration of the purity, and the unfolding of the true teaching of the Father through the Son. Now, in the time of the Holy Spirit, as Beloved INGKONG brings down and enthrones among the sealed servants the holy spirits [dwelling in] from heavenly Jerusalem, the enemy is also sowing and enthroning among people, either ignorant or hard-hearted, the counter-spirit to hinder and destroy the fulfillment of God’s Plan. But as Beloved INGKONG said, "HINDI NILA KAILANMAN MAI-GIGIBA ANG TIBAY AT TATAG NG ESPIRITU SANTO."[They cannot destroy the strength and fortification of the Holy Spirit.]
Its members therefore have ceased to be Roman Catholics.
We ceased to be Roman Catholic when the priest of that particular parish do not accept us and do not give us Holy Communion. We ceased to be Romans when those who are supposed to be learned in the Church and father of the faithful unreasonably singled us out as satanic, evil and with infectious diseases.
It happened in many parishes that when the Roman priest saw a female APO, he could not stand the sight of her,in white decent attire and with long veil on her head, silently listening in the holy mass; following his own judgment, during the communion, he denied her the holy Eucharist,as if she was a great sinner unworthy to receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.If he would allow her to speak he might recognize her voice that among his parishioners she's the only one who has gone into confession lately. This necessitates the Holy Spirit, Beloved INGKONG to have His own church so as not to deprive the sealed servant the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and other Holy Sacraments of the Catholic Church. We do not scatter the faithful, we lead the way how a true Catholic and Orthodox should be. We attract people to follow the life of prayer, sacrifice, and the observance of the Sacraments of the Church.
It is those who are not Catholics who scatter the flock - and we are not one of them. The Manalista, the J. Witnesses pluck the faithful from believing in the Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sacraments, the Church, the priest and all the Catholic believe. But, we in the APOSTOLIC CATHOLIC CHURCH DO NOT. Instead, we gather people to the Mystical Body of Christ as all true and genuine priests and laymen of the Church.
It does not mean that when i am not attending the mass and befriended the parish priest of another town ,Sta.Ines Parish and attending services elsewhere in the Diocese, I am not Catholic! The Roman Catholic is not the only Catholic in the World. It so happened that here in the Philippines, Roman Catholics are more popular than the Orthodox Churches, considering the 300years of Spanish Reginme and of the Prayle. [Though prior to that, Orthodox Missionaries have already landed on our shores and Christianized the Maharlika island along with China and Japan]
The Apostolic Catholic Church is thus, not the same as but is very different from the Roman Catholic Church we were all baptized into.
I was baptized and confirmed in the National Shrine of Saint Anne, a Roman Catholic Church in Bulacan, and I was not required to be baptized and confirmed again in the Apostolic Catholic Church when I decided to follow Beloved INGKONG - the teaching of the Church: The Holy Sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation cannot be repeated without great sin of sacrilege. We followed it more than the Roman priests believe and know.
This circular is to be read in all Sunday, including Anticipated Masses of April and May 2008.
Purihin ang Mahal na INGKONG, people become aware of the existence of Apostolic Catholic Church, the more they will get interested in knowing her. I personally thank the good Bishop for the free advertisement; Beloved INGKONG will make the light shine out of these temporal dark clouds that the good and well intentioned Bishop created. It could happen that wrong or incomplete information was received by His office, who knows!
Other Source: Pocket Church History
NOTE: All that this blog contains are of my own opinion and words.
