About Us
NAORCC, US, AoC: A Particular Apostolic Church “Sui Iuris”
North American Old Roman Catholic Church, Utrecht Succession, Archdiocese of California™ is a “Sui Iuris” (Particular Church) Old Roman Catholic Church that descends from the Roman Catholic Diocese (See) of Utrecht, Netherland which was granted autonomy by the Holy See in 1145 by Pope Blessed Eugene III. Furthermore, the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, Utrecht Succession, Archdiocese of California™ observes the Leonine Privilege that Pope Leo X gave in his Decree in 1517, Debitum Pastoralis, granting to the See of Utrecht the right of adjudication of its own affairs that the Tribunals of Rome cannot interfere.
The North American Old Roman Catholic Church, like the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches, is recognized as a “True Particular Church” (DOMINUS IESUS, Chapter IV, Number 17, 2000). We remain united to the Catholic Church by means of the closest bonds of Apostolic Succession and Valid Eucharist as true Particular Church (Sui Iuris) in reference to Dominus Iesus in August 2000, Declaration of the Holy See by then-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone under the then-Pontificate of His Holiness Pope St. John Paul II.
The North American Old Roman Catholic Church, Utrecht Succession, Archdiocese of California™ was formally registered in the State of California by The Most Reverend Edgar Ramon Verostek in 1940 thru the mandate of The Most Reverend Archbishop Carmel Henry Carfora, Primate of the NAORCC.
The North American Old Roman Catholic Church, Utrecht Succession, Archdiocese of California is the original, historical and Canonical Old Roman Catholic jurisdiction in the Western hemisphere. The chain of Succession of Leadership of the Canonical Old Roman Catholic jurisdiction in the Western hemisphere, from Prince-Bishop Rudolph de Landas Berges down to Archbishop Joseph Vellone and now to Archbishop Ivan Alberto Castaneda, the current Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of NAORCC US AoC, despite some challenges, remains intact and unbroken.
The North American Old Roman Catholic Church, Utrecht Succession, Archdiocese of California™ accepts the dogma of Immaculate Conception (1854), Papal Infallibility (1870), and Assumption of Mary (1950). We respond to the great commissioning of our Lord Jesus Christ when He said, “Go to all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (MK 16:15). The missionary activities of NAORCC, US, Archdiocese of California went beyond the State of California and preached in the States of New York, New Jersey and Florida of USA as well as in the Provinces of Alberta and Ontario in Canada. We have active mission stations in Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Kenya, Philippines, Mexico, Nicaragua, and very soon to open in Nigeria and Vietnam.
