Visiting Cleric Manners

One of the challenges of Autocephalous Catholicism is that some of us believe that our indelible mark of ordination means that we should be extended liturgical favors wherever we go. This can be problematic where there are representatives from multiple jurisdictions in one area. If the parish of, say, Saint Drogo exists in Anytown and an ISM cleric shows up, many times the cleric will expect to concelebrate or participate in the liturgy. No cleric should just expect this to happen, regardless of if they belong to a mainstream tradition or the ISM. Because of sometimes loose ordination standards in the Autocephalous Catholic world, one must be especially careful to prevent anyone from participating liturgically without a degree of vetting and care.

This is particularly thorny when someone is a bishop. They may show up with all the tat and the glamor and expect to preside at the Eucharist. Again, this is a break of protocol. It is the role of the pastor (or the Board depending on how the parish is run) to invite a cleric to preside or participate. A community sets itself up for problems if they allow just anyone to celebrate, and the bishop should not automatically expect it. Assume, if you are a bishop, that you are celebrating as a priest and leave the episcopal grandeur at home unless specifically asked. It is highly advisable for bishops to call themselves father so as not to cause confusion in the parish if they are not that parish's bishop or even with that jurisdiction.

My proposal for parishes is below. Feel free to take this advice or leave it, but hopefully it can provide some degree of protection for your community.

1. For visiting clerics, do not expect to participate in the liturgy. Assume you will be sitting in the pews with the congregation. 

2. Clergy may invite visiting clerics to liturgically participate after a period of getting to know the cleric, understanding their training and background, and defining expectations up front about frequency, etc.

3. A criminal and child abuse check should be done on visiting clerics or a letter should be provided by the cleric from their jurisdiction stating the result of their last background/abuse check and when the check occurred.

4. If the visiting cleric continues to participate to a meaningful degree in the life of the parish, it is advisable that they meet with the clergy (and/or any administering Board) to set expectations about how often they will participate, when background checks will be refreshed, clarity on identification as visiting clergy, etc. 

The above, of course, assumes that there is no issue with the community's jurisdiction regarding inviting visiting clerics outside the group or with the visiting cleric's jurisdiction about celebrating in non-jurisdictional communities. 

Not only does this protect everyone involved, but it also protects friendships and relationships between everyone involved. If someone just expects to participate, it can lead to hurt feelings and frustrations. The key, as with every human relationship, is open and honest communication.

“If according to times and needs you should be obliged to make fresh rules and change current things, do it with prudence and good advice.” - St. Angela Merici