The Episcopalian Catholic Church

The Episcopalian Catholic Church A Tract Book Essay By Anthony J. Fejfar, B.A., J.D., Esq., Coif © Copyright 2007 by Anthony J. Fejfar After much reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I am an Episcopalian Catholic. Now, most people are familiar with the Episcopalian Protestant Church, so the idea of an Episcopalian Catholic Church may seem a little bit odd. I, however, take the position that the Episcopalian Catholic Church has been around for quite some time, we just didn’t realize it. You see, in the East, it is still well known that the Byzantine Catholic Church exists. Many people that we consider to be Eastern Orthodox Christians, are really Byzantine Catholic.

I argue that when the Byzantine Catholic Church comes West, that

it takes on the name of the Episcopalian Catholic Church.

I think that this first

happened in the Kingdom of Bohemia, what is now part of the Czech Republic. You see, I don’t think that Bohemia was ever really part of the Roman Empire, instead it was right on the edge.

Bohemia was Byzantine Catholic up until the time of King Henry the

Eight of England, who had for a time as his Queen, Anne of Bohemia, also known as Anne Boleyn. When Henry married Anne, Bohemia became part of Great Britain. When Henry broke from Rome and started the Anglican Church, Catholics in Bohemia started calling themselves Episcopalian Catholic, not wanting to be either Roman Catholic or Anglican (The Church of England).

I argue that when Anne came to England to marry

Henry she brought with her tens of thousands of Bohemians from her Kingdom. These Bohemians were left stranded in the British Isles after Henry divorced Anne Boleyn and started the Church of England. I argue that the House of Stuart had ties to the Bohemian aristocracy and was not Anglican, nor Roman Catholic, but rather Episcopalian Catholic. When Episcopalian Catholics came to the American Colonies, prior to the revolutionary war, they found Anglican Churches and Roman Catholic Churches, but few Episcopalian Catholic Churches. When the revolutionary war came, the Colonists left the Anglican Church, that is the Church of England which supported the monarchy of King George, and joined the Episcopalian Church. These Episcopalians, however, considered themselves Protestant with their roots in the Anglican Church not the Byzantine Catholic Church. More immigrants came from Bohemia and Great Britain over time to America who were Episcopalian Catholic, and now were faced with an even more interesting dilemma. They were not Anglican, they were not Roman Catholic, and they were not Episcopalian Protestant, and because they did not have sufficient numbers or political power they had to try to fit into the established categories. Thus, even today, I argue that many of us are Episcopalian Catholic, even though we may be formally affiliated with the Anglican Church, the Episcopalian Protestant Church, or the Roman Catholic Church. It is time for the Episcopalian Catholic Church to develop its own identity.