A Letter from the Pastor

I am so happy that you have come to this page on our website.  I would like to tell you a little about our church, The Cathedral Parish of St. Jude.  Our church is part of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas.  First of all, I would like to explain that we are a Catholic Church. We are not part of the Roman Catholic Church.  We do accept the Pope as the Bishop of Rome and we honor his great task and his goodness, however, we do not claim him as the head of our church.  Our Mass is the Roman Mass and is very much the same as the Roman Mass.  When you come to our Mass you will find that you really cannot see a lot of differences in the way we worship. Our church is different in some of our social expressions. We ordain women; our clergy can be partnered and/or married. We do not judge. While we believe in the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, we understand that we are frail and we accept divorce as a way to allow both involved parties to move forward in love, rather than to stay married in hatred and/or anger. We view the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Our Blessed Lord and a true gift from our Loving Savior, Jesus Christ. As a gift, it is open to all people who accept Jesus as Lord.   

We believe in and administer the 7 sacraments and encourage all to embrace and live them. However, while we encourage private confession in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we believe that every person has the right to a personal, loving relationship with our creator and, therefore, if their faith makes them ready to seek reconciliation directly with God, we certainly encourage them to do so.

All in all, we welcome everyone to this church, as you are, without reservation. If you feel disenfranchised, unwelcome or uncomfortable where you currently worship, please feel free to stop by on Saturday evenings at 5:30 and see if this church is the church for you.  You can always call me at my home or email me any time. I will make every attempt to get back to you as soon as possible. Please understand that our clergy all hold full –time jobs as we are responsible for our own expenses and very often to assist the church financially when donations are simply not enough.

Regardless of what faith you follow, be assured of my prayers.  I pray that as you walk your journey of faith in this life, it will always bring you closer to your eternal home in heaven. 

Prayers and Blessings,
+++Archbishop Julius L. Licata, D.D., Ph.D.
Patriarch and Pastor