Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church - UK
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Not to be confused in any way with the Roman Catholic Church, the 'Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church in Great Britain, Ireland and Scotland', formerly called the Catholic Apostolic National Church (founded 2005), is a small Independent Catholic church (founded August 2006) using an English language version of the Catholic Tridentine Rite and ostentating Apostolic Succession from the Roman Catholic Church through the former Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa. James Atkinson-Wake (born 1971) was consecrated bishop in May 2006 by Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez of the Brazilian Catholic Church Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira. The foundation of the group in the United Kingdom appears to trace back to the colourful career of John Christopher Simmons (1945-2003), who ordained and/or consecrated some of the membership.
The church is headed by Archbishop James Atkinson-Wake, based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, his brother Bishop David Atkinson-Wake (born 1976), and Archbishop Albert de Ruijter (born 1926) based in Scotland. The church was briefly in communion with the Igrejas Catolicas Apostolicas Nacionais of Brazil, apparently until language problems and misunderstandings led to the attempted ordination of two women - both close relatives of the Archbishop - at Newcastle-under-Lyme. The Brazilian Church does not permit the ordination of women.
The Church is not Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Anglican, and is not in communion with any other churches. Weekly Sunday services are held in the chapel of the Unitarian Meeting House in Newcastle-under-Lyme, though attendance does not seem to exceed six or seven souls, usually consisting of the Bishops' close family. This near insignificant membership is very much in keeping with the trend of the Independent Catholic movement, along with frequent name changes, much use of ceremony, titles, and regalia, lack of ecumenical relations, and scarcity of information offered up by the group itself.
