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The
vignettes on the life and times of Archbishop Joseph René Vilatte,
the first person to bring independent Catholicism to North America, which appear below, were written by Bishop Donald Pierce Weeks,
of the Holy Angels Christian Community in PART 1 "Likewise
Bishops, being principal pastors, are either at large or else with restraint;
at large, when the subject of their regiment is indefinite and not tied to a
certain place. Bishops with restraint are they whose regiment over the Church
is contained within some definite local compass, beyond which compass their
jurisdiction reacheth not" Joseph René Vilatte Joseph
Rene Vilatte was a lapsed Catholic of the Latin
Rite. He was the progenitor of more then twenty churches. His adventures in
the ecclesiastical world of his time are worth reviewing, again and
again. Vilatte was born in During
the latter part of the Franco-Prussian War he enlisted in the Garde National. After the siege of Upon
returning to In
PART 2 By
the time Vilatte arrived at After
about a year trying to convert the Belgians on the peninsula north of the
city of Bishop
Brown, who was a broad-minded High Churchman, replied that he had already
heard of Vilatte's mission work, and that he would
be glad to help the movement. He explained that it would help promote good
relations between the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Old Catholic
Churches, which in Loyson had already written to Vilatte,
asking him to come to Vilatte replied to Loyson that he did
not want to abandon his flock - he also did not have the money to travel to Bishop
Brown informed Vilatte that he was willing to
support the missions, but that, he must be examined
by two professors at Nashotah House (Seminary) on his theological knowledge.
The test being satisfactory, Bishop Brown wrote that he would consult with
some of his fellow bishops regarding Loyson's
advice that Vilatte should be ordained by Bishop
Herzog. (Herzon, by law was not allowed by the
Swiss Government to perform episcopal acts outside Word
came on may 27, 1885, that the bishops (consulted by
Bishop Brown) had decided that ordination of Vilatte
by the Old Catholic Church was the wisest course to follow. It was also
suggested at the time, that Vilatte accept
ordination of the Protestant Episcopal Church and that there orders were just
as valid as the Old Catholics in Europe. Vilatte
did not accept this proposal, as his followers did not want to be part of any
church that may have question of orders. However, Vilatte
did ask Bishop Brown for a testimonial letter and the following was written: My dear Brother, Permit me to introduce to your
confidence and esteem bearer of this letter, Mr. Rene Vilatte,
a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Fond du
Lac. Mr. Vilatte is placed in peculiar
circumstances. Educated for the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church, he
found himself unable to receive the recent Vatican Decrees, and for a short
time associated himself with the Presbyterian communion, but at last, by the
mercy of God, was led into contact with this branch of the One Holy Catholic
and Truly a loving brother and servant, in the JH Hobert Brown, Bishop of Armed
with this letter, Vilatte arranged to return to He
was ordained deacon and priest by Bishop Herzog on June 6 and 7, 1885.
According to his own statement, he did not take the oath of canonical
obedience to a diocesan bishop. This was to be the cause of much trouble in
the near future. PART 3 On
his return to For
the first three years all went well for the Old catholic Missions. In
September 1887 the In
1961 there were thirteen Roman catholic parishes in the City of Green Bay,
and where Vilatte's chapel stood there is now a
Franciscan friary, the original Old catholic Church (Blessed Sacrament) is
listed in the Episcopal Church Annual among Episcopal Churches without
qualification. About
this time, Vilatte felt that he needed an
assistant. A Mr. Gauthier, a Catholic schoolmaster was sent by Bishop Brown
to PART 4 Bishop
Brown died May 2, 1888, and was on November 13, succeeded as Bishop of Fond du Lac by Charles C. Grafton, who had been one of the
first members of the Crowley Fathers, founded at Twenty-one
months after his appointment as Bishop, Grafton realized that the Old
Catholic missions of In
1889, Vilatte published a pamphlet entitled 'A
Sketch of the Belief of Old Catholics' In it, Vilatte
was still quite convinced that he had a vocation to be an Old Catholic
mission priest in the United States. He also promoted the idea of a
Democratic catholic church in In
Dykesville, Vilatte
established the first Old Catholic religious order and monastery. The Society
of The Precious Blood ("SPB") he and two other members made up the
first members. When
Archbishop Heykamp, Old Catholic Archbishop of
Utrecht, heard of the goings on in Wisconsin between Vilatte
and Bishop Grafton, he wrote to Vilatte on
September 19, 1889, to break off relations with the Protestant Episcopal
Church (at that time the Old Catholics did not recognize the PEC orders as
valid). On October 8, 1889, Bishop Dipendaal,
Bishop of The
following April, Vilatte told Bishop Grafton about
the correspondence with the What
took place next, it what I have mentioned so many times in my letters on his
network. When the Old Catholic Missions of Northeastern Wisconsin were used
as a pawn between the Protestant Episcopal Church and The Old Catholic Church
of the Vilatte and Grafton were determined to rid themselves of each
other. At one point, Vilatte had sent letters to
the Russian Orthodox Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Meanwhile,
the Old Catholic Bishops in Grafton
insisted on addressing the congregation, stating that he was their true
Bishop and he reminded them of his financial support (this was at Duval). The
next day the same scenes took place at Little Sturgeon. Shortly thereafter,
Bishop Grafton wrote to Vilatte and suggested that
he give-up his work and turn everything over to the Diocese of Fond du Lac. (This included churches, houses, furniture,
religious items and vestments). On September 19, 1890, Vilatte
sent a letter to Bishop Grafton; he informed him that he was severing
connections with the Episcopal Church. PART 5 As
proof that he no longer accepted the jurisdiction of the Bishop of After
the Old Catholic Congress held in Realizing
that he had been rejected by both the Episcopalians and the Old Catholics, Vilatte appealed to Bishop Vladimir for the second time.
In his ( Matters
dragged on until February 20, 1891, when Bishop Grafton informed Vilatte that he had been "removed from the mission
station of St. Mary's, Dyckesville". The
Russian Bishop urged Vilatte to fight against the
impostors who challenged the authority of the Oecumenical
Councils. On March 11, 1891, the Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and TO THE PIOUS OLD CATHOLIC
PARISHIONERS AND TRUSTEES OF THE CHURCH AT DYCKESVILLE: in which he states that it was a
great joy for them to be a branch of the great body of Jesus Christ and
members of the Church of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople,
where are the seats and cathedrals of Patriarchs of the Oecumenical
Orthodox Church. He asked that God help them to defend Christian truth
against the errors of the papist and Protestant sectarians, who do not belong
to the true Catholic Church of Christ. He asked them to defend their priest
against the Bishop of Fond du Lac, other
Protestants and those who could not be regarded as true brothers on Christ,
because of their heresies and lack of apostolic succession. Bishop
Grafton was furious when he read the letter of Bishop Vladimir. He wrote a
letter to Vilatte and stated that if he were an
honest man he would do one of three things. 1) Return to a loving and loyal
obedience to him 2) Take a letter of transfer to
the Archbishop of Utrecht, or to Bishop Valdimir 3) Leave the Country On
April 13, 1891 Bishop Grafton suspended Vilatte for
six months from all priestly ministrations of all kinds whatsoever. Vilatte merely replied that he did not recognize
Grafton's authority and he refused to leave the mission. On May 9, Bishop
Vladimir issued an official document which stated: By the Grace of God, and the
Authority bestowed ion me by the Apostolic Succession, I, Valdimir,
Bishop of the Orthodox Catholic Church announce to all clergyman of different
Christian denominations and to all Old Catholics, that The Reverend Joseph
Rene Vilatte, Superior of the Old Catholic Parish
of Dyckesville, Wisconsin, is now a true Old
catholic Orthodox Christian, under the patronage of our Church, and no Bishop
or Priest of any denomination has the right to interdict him or suspend his
religious duties, except the Holy Synod of the Russian Church, and myself.
Any action contrary to this action is null and void on the basis of liberty
of conscience and laws of this country. PART 6 This is one of the
tough parts in the history of Archbishop Vilatte.
Here he has crossed over from Old Catholicism to the Eastern or Orthodox
Church. In studying the theology, doctrine, tradition of both
"Catholic" bodies, it is not so easy to switch from one to another. At this point, in the
life of Vilatte, he was hated by Bishop Grafton,
who called him a con-man and published letters and warnings describing him as
a swindler who kept bad company, and whose associates, some of whom he
mentioned by name, were his equal in crime and debauchery. It was one of
these friends referred to by Bishop Grafton, a clergyman named Harding,
formally a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and a missionary in (Taken from page 105,
Bishops At Large - Anson) In about 1888 about 5,000
Catholics of the Latin Rite of Ceylon and South India had formed a schismatic
body known as the Independent Catholic Church of Ceylon, Goa
and On January 2, 1887, Pope Leo
XIII set up a new Latin hierarchy for Thus came into being what was
called the 'Patrando Association'. Its leaders
petitioned King Luis I of Vilatte, realizing that there was no
further hope of being raised to the episcopate by any of the Old Catholic
bishops of Europe, and doubtful of an association with the Patriarchate of
Moscow, Vilatte decided to write to Alvarez - who
called himself 'Mar Julius I' Metropolitan of the Independent Catholic Church
of Ceylon, Goa and India --- asking if he would be
willing to consecrate him. The answer came as following: (Again from Anson) We from the Bottom of our hearts
thank God that He has mercifully shown you the way out of the slavery of
Rome; and we rejoice to see a large number of Christians making heroic
efforts in the same direction as ourselves in the New World. Alvarez was willing to come to PART 7 No
time was wasted. Vilatte placed his Old Catholic
missions under the care of Brother Augustine (Harding) and explained to his
flock the reasons for his making the long voyage to the 1) Because the Old Catholics in 2) The fear that in case of his death, the people would
be left without pastoral care, in which case he would be responsible should
they have to submit to Roman Catholic bishops; 3) The long silence of the Holy Synod of Moscow, and the
apparent indifference of the Orthodox Church towards the Old Catholic
Movement in 4) The expressed Orthodoxy of the Independent Catholic
Church of Ceylon, together with the urgent invitation to go there and receive
the Apostolic Succession. THE CONSECRATION OF
VILATTE Before
leaving Green Bay, Vilatte held a Synod at which he
was elected bishop and begged to obtain an indisputable episcopal
consecration as soon as possible. He was given $225.00 for the trip and
traveled economy or third class on a steamer. He sailed from After
almost a year, Vilatte was consecrated in the former
In the Bull of His Holiness Peter III, signed
and sealed from the Patriarchal Palace at the Monastery of Sapran and Mardin on the
borders of Syria and Kurdistan on December 29, 1891, the consecration of
Joseph Rene Vilatte was granted for the
archiepiscopal dignity, Archbishop Metropolitan, in the name of Mar Timotheos, for the Church of the Mother of God in Dyckesville, Wisconsin, United States and the Churches of
the Archdiocese of America, viz. The Churches adhering to the Orthodox Faith. On
May 30, 1892, an agreement was drawn up between Alvarez and Vilatte, in which the latter acknowledged the Confession
of Faith, the canons and Rules of the On
returning to (From the archives of
the Bishop of Fond Du Lac) In virtue of the authority left
by Our Lord Jesus Christ to his Church of binding and loosing and of putting
away every brother that walketh disorderly, we do
hereby deprive the said Joseph Rene Vilatte of all
privileges and powers of the ministry of the Church and Depose him from his
office as Priest. And we call upon the faithful to keep themselves from any
ministrations at his hands, and we do erase and blot out his name from the
register of clergy of this Church, in token that if he repent
not and amend, God will blot out his name from the Book of Life. The
Old Catholic Archbishop of North America also found awaiting his return to It appears that the bishops from
whom M Vilatte claims to have received consecration
belong to a body which is separated from the Catholic Christendom because of nonacceptance of dogmatic decrees of the Council of Chalcedon as to our Blessed Lord's Person: These bishops had no jurisdiction or right to ordain a
bishop for any part of the diocese under the charge of the Bishop of Fond du Lac: M. Vilatte was never
elected by any duly accredited Synod It appears that M. Vilaltte,
in seeking the Episcopate, made statements not warranted by the facts of the
case, and seemed willing to join with any body, Old Catholic, Greek, Roman,
Syrian, which would confer it upon him. More than two months before the time
of his so-called consecration, he was deposed from the sacred ministry. In
view of these facts, we propose the following resolutions. 'Resolved. That in the opinion of this House, the whole
proceedings in connection with the so-called consecration of J. Rene Vilatte were null and void, and that this Church does not
recognize that any Episcopal character was thereby conferred.' 'Resolved. That a statement of the above-recited facts
be sent to the Archbishop of Utrecht, to the Old Catholics in Germany and
Switzerland, and to the Metropolitans and Primates of the Anglican
Communion'. To help save the French speaking Catholics from
Archbishop Vilatte, the Roman Catholic Bishop of PART
8 Before starting lesson # 8, I want to say something
about Peter Anson and his book, 'Bishops at Large'. I first read this book at
Seminary, in the 1960's. It was then, considered the "gossip" or
"tell on the trash" about the Old Catholics in How I found most of the information I have shared here
is: I became personal friends with Archbishops Wallace D. Maxey, Richard A. Marchena and Robert Burnes. I
held a long correspondence with prelates of Now, in this modern age of computer data and web pages,
some of the Old Catholic Churches have beautiful and pictorial information
about their particular branch of Old Catholicism. Here I am trying to bring
out the facts. I believe that Vilatte was sincere in
his quest to build an American Catholic Church. In my many talks with Archbishop Maxey (ordained to the
priesthood by Vilatte) he often spoke of Vilatte's desire to unite the small independent Catholic
churches. There are so many situations and circumstances that must be taken
into consideration in Vilatte's quest. The two main
obstacles were the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Episcopal Churches. They
had the resources and money to attack every effort made by Vilatte. Then too, the Old Catholics of Holland and There were times when Vilatte
considered taking his flock back to the Roman Catholic Church, this
documented correspondence can be found in the archives of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Green Bay and was made available by Monsignor Joseph A. Marx,
former Vicar General of the Diocese. Msgr. Marx spent a good deal of his life
researching Vilatte's career in At no time did Vilatte ever
have a large following in Often Vilatte had a difficult time making ends meet. He and his
monks went hungry. Bishop Grafton had managed to get hold of the property and
though he said that "it was being held in trust for the Old
Catholics'" when they needed the revenue, the bishop did not make the
sources available. Sometimes he had to flee to avoid creditors. He did have a
booth at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, but was not officially
invited to participate in any of the events. Finding himself at the end of his rope less then two
years after being consecrated, Vilatte decided that
the best thing he could do for himself and his followers was to be reconciled
with the Roman Catholic Church (he believed Bishop Grafton and the PEC to be
Protestant). He approached Archbishop Satolli,
the Apostolic Delegate (March 26, 1894) and the archbishop informed Bishop Messmer of Matters dragged on for almost four years. In February
1898 the Apostolic Delegate wrote to the Bishop of Green Bay that Vilatte was now quite ready to recant his errors and
submit to While all of this was going on, Vilatte
had published an Old Catholic catechism and announced the formation of a sort
of religious order - The Knights of the Crown of Thorn's - which would have a
monastery in Green Bay, when money was found to build it. In spite of the offer of a journey to This is the end of the Old Catholic Missions in PART
9 Here is a time to draw a fine line. When Vilatte left The Archbishop of Having failed to show to many Belgians the way out of
slavery of Rome, and apparently indifferent to his obligations to the Syro-Jacobite Patriarchate, Vilatte
turned his attention to a much larger body of people, optimistic of gaining
support from them. These were the widely spread Polish Catholics. There had
been a steady immigration of Poles to the After 1873 there began a series of conflicts between
Polish priests and American bishops. So fused were religion and nationalism
with the Poles that most of them were determined not to be integrated with
other Catholics. They wanted a church of their own. Towards the end of the
century, independent Polish Catholic Churches existed in The first meeting between Vilatte
and the Poles was in 1894, when Father Kolaszewski
invited him to dedicate a church in There is rumor and gossip that Vilatte
was paid $5,000 for this consecration and that the invitation stated that
both Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore and Archbishop Martinelli,
the Apostolic Delegate would assist in the ceremony. With characteristic bravado, Vilatte
arrived in On October 24, 1976; Archbishop Wallace David de Ortega
Maxey related the following to me, in After the consecration in Vilatte became acquainted with Ignatius
when he visited the In his book, 'Bishops at Large', Anson makes Vilatte out to be a charlatan and accuses him of going to
Vilatte arrived in the "After the Old Catholic Archbishop's arrival at Llanthony there went up to God a ceaseless stream of
prayer from 5 AM to 5 PM, besides the midnight services, daily, that God's
will might be done. The archbishop offered services daily. Our superior
presented three objections to the Archbishop. 1) He could not follow the Old
Catholics in their excessive rancor against the Church of Rome. 2) He could never be anything
but a faithful son to the 3) Was not the Syrian Patriarch
and his Church, Monophysite? There is a long story about Vilatte
and these monks, eventually Ignatius and others received ordination from the
hands of Vilatte, using the Latin Rite. It was
further stated that 'the Archbishop had great humility and gentle courtesy' The last three days of his visit to Llanthony,
Vilatte confirmed a young boy, blessed and
consecrated holy oils, consecrated veils for nuns, gave his solemn
benediction. There was a former monk, Bertie Cannell,
whom the archbishop took long smoking walks with, was also convinced that he
was called to the priesthood as was Baron Rudolph de Bertouch,
then 16 years old. Before leaving Llanthony, Vilatte blessed Ignatius as abbot. Bishop Grafton started
rumor that Vilatte was given a large sum of money
from Ignatius, but a member of the community Calder-Marshall states that:
"A small sum of money was pressed in the hands of the archbishop"
In the same letter Bishop Grafton accuses Vilatte
of being a drunkard. In a letter to the Church Times, he writes: 1) I was obliged in the year
1892 to degrade Joseph Rene Vilatte from the
priesthood and excommunicate him from the Church. 2) I have discovered that he is
morally rotten; a swindling adventurer. He was reported to me for drunkenness,
swindling, obtaining money under false pretenses and other crimes, he is a
notorious liar. 3) The man has somewhat
exceptional gifts as an impostor. He can preach and pray with great fervor 4) He has been surrounded by and
uses for his tools, a small group of ex-Roman Catholic priests who are equal
in his crime and debauchery. His late secretary is now in State prison, a
Brother William is now in an insane asylum and he is accused of criminal
conduct with boys." Again, I to point out that Vilatte
continued to have problems with Bishop Grafton, this Episcopal Bishop
followed the career of Vilatte and often wrote
against him, but on several occasions, he offered him a position in the
Diocese of Fond du Lac if he would just submit to
him. I personally believe that "submit" is the word and that
because Vilatte refused Episcopal orders and Bishop
Grafton believed the Episcopal orders to be the only authentic catholic
orders in the PART 10 Before he left South Wales, Vilatte
stated that his next official stop would be However there is documented proof that the archbishop
was in Then came reports that Vilatte had not made his final abjuration with By 1900, Vilatte was in {here I must point out, was a
very low time for the archbishop. While he enjoyed the company of the monks
of the abbey, he had no income. He waited for the slow process of the
Congregation of the Holy Office to decide on the validity of his orders and
yet he wanted to proceed in the building of the Church} On April 17, 1900, Cardinal Richard of After two years in Europe, Vilatte
decided to once again seek refuge in In the summer of 1903, Vilatte
was back in While Vilatte was in The previous December the government passed a bill
stating that they did not recognize any form of religion. Vilatte
was on friendly terms with Aristide Briand, one of
the leaders of this movement and the Minister of Education. There were talks
of opening up a Soon after his arrival in {Once again, Anson has dug up stories and dirt against Vilatte. He had a difficult time paying bills and on
March 2, 1907, the police in On June 21, 1907 Vilatte
consecrated a former Trappist monk, Francois Giraud. Shortly after this consecration Cardinal Richard
issued a warning to the people about apostate priests who were celebrating
mass under cover of a pseudo American Bishop. Vilatte
was then excommunicated a second time by the Archbishop of Paris. Soon
thereafter Vilatte returned to the PART 11 In 1909 he traveled to It was in 1910, that Vilatte
raised to the priesthood, Dom Francis Brothers, prior of Saint Dunstan's Abbey, In 1915, Vilatte founded
"The American Catholic Church". It was at this time that he
received Rev. Frederick Ebenezer Lloyd into the Church and on December 19,
1915 was consecrated at Saint David's Chapel on It needs to prophet to fortell for you and the American Catholic Church a great
future in the The second wife of Bishop Lloyd, Philena
Peabody was an ancestor of George Peabody, the American industrialist and
merchant who made his fortune in Bu 1914, the dynamic energy of Vilatte
was diminishing and in a Synod held in Chicago on April 10, 1920, he offered
to retire and named Lloyd as his successor as Primate and Metropolitan of the
American Catholic Church. The clergy attending granted Vilatte
the honorary title of Exarch. He lived in
retirement at 4427 North Mulligan Avenue, Chicago and the did not perform any
more episcopal functions until September 22, 1921
when he helped launch the African Orthodox Church. It was also at this time,
that he ordained to the priesthood, Wallace David de Ortega Maxey. This is the end of the American ministry of Archbishop Vilatte. I received a letter yesterday asking that I say
something good about Vilatte. There is very limited
information about the life of Vilattte. Most
printed material comes from men like Bishop Grafton or Anson - men who were
out to write bad about the Old Catholic movement and anyone that had anything
to do with launching the Church in Vilatte was a poor man but because of
friends and financial help from here and there managed to survive. He had all
the beautiful vestments and appointments of a bishop, many originating from In Article One, of this series I tell of Vilatte being born into the Petite Eglise,
he was a a small non-papal
Catholic Church from birth. He wanted to continue to provide Do you know a missionary who has not given his life,
money, cloths and other material values for the 'Love of God'.
The bishop writing to me asked that I say something kind about Vilatte. He was dedicated, he was kind and loving to his people,
he traveled in the Someone suggested to me Sunday last, "Vilatte should be a Saint" - Yes he should. Bishop
James Rankin pointed out that almost all of the Old Catholic and Independent
prelates (including myself) of the United States have apostolic succession
from Joseph Rene Vilatte. He is truly our Father in
the American Catholic Church. In Article 12, I will discuss the last days of
Archbishop Vilatte. PART 12 On June 1, 1925, Vilatte made
his formal declaration before Bishop Ceretti,
Apostolic Nuncio at On June 23, 1925, the Bayerischer
Kurieg published at statement, at the orders of the
Swiss Christian Catholic Church, to the effect that Vilatte
had never been a priest of this body nor any other genuine Old Catholic
Church. Bishop Ceretti replied to the newspaper as
follows: Archbishop Vilatte
received Minor Orders and the Order of Subdeacon on
June 5, 1885, The Order of Deacon of June 6 of the same year, and on the
following day, June 7, 1885, the Ordination to the Priesthood. All these
orders were conferred upon him by Bishop Herzog (Old Catholic Bishop) in the
Old Catholic Church in Concerning his Episcopal
Consecration, it took place on May 29, 1892. Archbishop Vilatte
was consecrated by three Jacobite Bishops in the
Cathedral of Archbishop Alvarez in This letter was published in the same newspaper and Vilatte was very pleased that Bishop Ceretti
believed and accepted his priesthood and consecration, even though they were
irregular. For the next three and a half years, Vilatte
led a quiet and secluded life in a cottage within the Abbey grounds. He was
addressed as Archbishop, but wore a soutane, he was
offered to be re-ordained by Pope Pius XI, but he declined. He attended daily
Mass, receiving communion on Sundays. His end came suddenly. Archbishop Joseph Rene Vilatte died of heart failure on July 8, 1929, he was buried in simple form in the cemetery in ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO YOU - ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH RENE
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