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By MARK GUYDISH markg@leader.net
Friday, March 14, 2003 Page: 3A
WHITE HAVEN – There’s a new Catholic bishop in the area. His sect doesn’t
answer to the pope, doesn’t oppose birth control and doesn’t insist on
celibate priests. He’s openly gay. And he’d appreciate a little land for a
cathedral.
Bruce J. Simpson is archbishop of the Order of St. John the Beloved, part
of the “Old Catholic Church.” He doesn’t fall under Roman Catholic control,
and doesn’t answer to the pope or to Diocese of Scranton Bishop James Timlin.
“Some call us the Catholic purists in that we follow the first 1,000 years
of the church,” said Simpson, who recently moved from Long Island to a house
near White Haven.
Old Catholics celebrate the same basic Mass – usually in English here in
America – and administer the same sacraments as Roman Catholics. But they view
the pope as the bishop of Rome, not as the head of all Catholicism.
The split occurred in 1870 when the first Vatican Council said the pope is
“infallible” in certain religious matters. “A pope woke up and declared
himself infallible, and some bishops decided no, we’re not going along with
that,” Simpson said.
Simpson said most Old Catholics would be classified as liberal because they
reject many restrictions made by popes in later centuries.
Priests were not originally celibate, and don’t have to be in Simpson’s
order. Birth control is also generally acceptable if a couple is married. And
there is no specific stand on homosexuality.
Simpson himself has been openly gay for years, advocating gay rights.
He said that has no bearing on his order, which has about 18 clergy –
brothers, deacons and priests, in three main locations: Grand Rapids, Mich.,
Richmond, Va., and Long Island, N.Y.
“We are not a gay church,” Simpson said. “We are more or less free to
follow our conscience as long as we don’t violate theology. Nowhere in the
theology of the church does it talk about gay priests.”
While tolerant of many things Roman Catholics frown upon, Simpson said he
has no patience with pedophiles or sexual predators – or the bishops who moved
them around to avoid scandal.
“My people know if they do something like that they better hope the cops
get them first,” said Simpson, who added that he was a police officer in
Maryland before becoming a priest.
He said he usually sets up a parish by request – interested residents
contacted him in Michigan, Virginia and New York. But he wants to set up the
order’s headquarters in the Poconos because he loves the area, the scenery,
and the comparatively low cost of living.
The order is not wealthy, he said, which is why he needs someone to donate
land – “preferably an acre” – where he could build a small monastery and an
adjacent church. The church would technically be his cathedral, regardless of
size.
The order would study and pray at the monastery, and spend time in public
service ministries.
Anyone interested in helping can contact Simpson at 443-7379, or visit
their Web site at www.OSJTB.com
Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7161.