{"id":2813,"date":"2026-08-18T06:49:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/?page_id=2203"},"modified":"2026-09-13T19:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T02:06:13","slug":"where-we-stand","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/canon\/where-we-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Where We Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-threshold bf-img-1\" id=\"section_1665345677\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-2129842322\">\n\t<div id=\"col-126678586\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner text-center\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-680350657\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<!-- BLOOM_IMAGE_NEEDED: two stone arches side by side, one lit and one in shadow, no figures -->\n<span class=\"bf-eyebrow\">INDEPENDENCE AND NON-COMMUNION<\/span>\n<h1 class=\"bf-h1\">Where we stand.<span class=\"bf-turn\">And what we do not claim.<\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"bf-rule\" style=\"margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"bf-lede\">This is the integrity document of the Church of Bloom. It states plainly that this church is not in communion with Rome, sets out every point of departure with its grounds, and lists what this body declines to claim about itself. If any other page here leaves you with a different impression, this page governs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-actions\" style=\"margin-top:40px\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/canon\/what-we-believe\/\" class=\"bf-btn bf-btn-primary\">The Declaration of Faith <span class=\"bf-arrow\">\u2192<\/span><\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/canon\/clergy\/\" class=\"bf-btn bf-btn-ghost\">Clergy and orders<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1665345677 {\n  padding-top: 90px;\n  padding-bottom: 90px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_1665345677 {\n    padding-top: 150px;\n    padding-bottom: 150px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-columnsec\" id=\"section_1162101238\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-223398934\">\n\t<div id=\"col-662345800\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-1408201708\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<span class=\"bf-eyebrow bf-eyebrow-left\">THE PLAIN STATEMENT<\/span>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">Not in communion with Rome, <em>said first and said clearly.<\/em><\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-rule\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">The Church of Bloom is an independent catholic church of the Roman Rite in the books of 1962. It is not in communion with Rome. It holds no Roman faculties, exercises no Roman jurisdiction, and has no Roman recognition of its orders, its clergy, or its acts. No sacrament administered here should be presented to any Roman parish, tribunal, or chancery as a Roman act, because it is not one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">This matters practically, not just formally. A Roman marriage tribunal will not treat a marriage solemnised here as it treats one solemnised in a Roman parish. A Roman bishop will not accept a candidate formed here as a Roman candidate. Anyone whose situation depends on Roman recognition needs to know that before they walk through this door, not after.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">The Roman Catholic Church has not condemned this body, corresponded with it, or taken any notice of it whatsoever, and nothing here should be read as implying that it has. Silence is not approval. Independent catholic bodies that hint otherwise are trading on a confusion they created, and this church will not do that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">Independence was not chosen as a preference. It was the only honest place to stand for a body that intends to ordain people Rome will not ordain and to receive people Rome instructs its pastors to receive differently. Rather than seek a permission that would never come and act as though it had, this church declared the separation and published it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1162101238 {\n  padding-top: 80px;\n  padding-bottom: 80px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_1162101238 {\n    padding-top: 130px;\n    padding-bottom: 130px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-splitsec bf-light\" id=\"section_807449697\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-897759768\">\n\t<div id=\"col-682361024\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-3927937405\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<div class=\"bf-split bf-split-wide\">\n<div class=\"bf-split-media bf-img-2\"><span class=\"bf-ph\">A closed door<br>photographed squarely<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span class=\"bf-eyebrow bf-eyebrow-left\">ROME&#8217;S POSITION, IN ITS OWN TERMS<\/span>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">Stated fully <em>before ours is stated at all.<\/em><\/h2><div class=\"bf-rule\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">The Roman Catholic Church holds that only a baptized male validly receives sacred ordination. In the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code this is canon 968 \u00a71; in the 1983 Code it is canon 1024. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith set out the reasoning at length in <em>Inter Insigniores<\/em> in 1976: the constant practice of the Church, the choice of the Twelve, the sacramental sign in which the priest acts <em>in persona Christi<\/em>, and the conviction that the Church has no authority to alter what it received.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">In 1994 <em>Ordinatio Sacerdotalis<\/em> declared that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgement is to be definitively held by all the faithful. Rome does not present this as policy subject to revision. It presents it as a limit on its own power, which is a serious claim seriously made, and it deserves to be reported that way rather than caricatured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-p\">Rome further holds that gender is fixed at conception and reads liturgical and canonical requirements for orders accordingly. That position is coherent within its own premises. This church does not accept those premises, and it does not pretend Rome is confused about what it teaches.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_807449697 {\n  padding-top: 80px;\n  padding-bottom: 80px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_807449697 {\n    padding-top: 130px;\n    padding-bottom: 130px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-declsec\" id=\"section_87216740\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-429214094\">\n\t<div id=\"col-1193964047\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-2426518034\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<div class=\"bf-decl\"><p class=\"bf-decl-art\">Departure I \u2014 Admission to holy orders<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-decl-t\">Holy orders in this church are open to every baptized person found fit, without regard to sex, gender identity, or gender history. <em>Grounds: Galatians 3:28; Phoebe named as deacon of the church at Cenchreae in Romans 16:1; the documented development of the Church&#8217;s own discipline over nineteen centuries; and conscience formed in the tradition. Rome holds otherwise, as set out above.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-decl\"><p class=\"bf-decl-art\">Departure II \u2014 Celibacy<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-decl-t\">Clerical celibacy is not a condition of orders in this church. <em>Grounds: it is discipline rather than doctrine, it was imposed on the Latin Church late and unevenly, and Rome itself dispenses it for whole categories of clergy.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-decl\"><p class=\"bf-decl-art\">Departure III \u2014 The reading of scripture against people<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-decl-t\">This church rejects the use of scripture to establish that trans, intersex, or disabled people are disordered. <em>Grounds: Article V of the Declaration of Faith, the plain sense of Genesis 1:27 read as generosity rather than as a boundary, and the reception of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 without an antecedent condition.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-decl\"><p class=\"bf-decl-art\">Departure IV \u2014 Access to the sacraments<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-decl-t\">No sacrament in this church is withheld on grounds of gender identity, gender history, sexual orientation, disability, or poverty. <em>Grounds: the sacraments are Christ&#8217;s and are administered in the unaltered Roman books of 1962; the exclusions are the additions, not the rite.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_87216740 {\n  padding-top: 80px;\n  padding-bottom: 80px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_87216740 {\n    padding-top: 130px;\n    padding-bottom: 130px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-faqsec bf-light\" id=\"section_1138715758\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-985698381\">\n\t<div id=\"col-1410949800\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-2706030805\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<span class=\"bf-eyebrow bf-eyebrow-left\">PUT TO US DIRECTLY<\/span>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">The uncomfortable questions, <em>answered on the record.<\/em><\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-rule\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion bf-faq\">\n\t<div id=\"accordion-915424920\" class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t<a id=\"accordion-915424920-label\" class=\"accordion-title plain\" href=\"#accordion-item-are-your-sacraments-valid?\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-915424920-content\">\n\t\t\t<button class=\"toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle\"><i class=\"icon-angle-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t<span>Are your sacraments valid?<\/span>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-915424920-content\" class=\"accordion-inner\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-915424920-label\">\n\t\t\tThis church administers the seven sacraments in the unaltered Roman books of 1962 with the intention of doing what the Church does. Rome, which is not in communion with Rome&#8217;s own standard here by definition, would not recognise them, and this church does not claim that it would. Validity in the theological sense is a question this body answers for its own people in its own tradition and does not litigate on Rome&#8217;s behalf.\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div id=\"accordion-3884467016\" class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t<a id=\"accordion-3884467016-label\" class=\"accordion-title plain\" href=\"#accordion-item-do-you-claim-apostolic-succession?\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-3884467016-content\">\n\t\t\t<button class=\"toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle\"><i class=\"icon-angle-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t<span>Do you claim apostolic succession?<\/span>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-3884467016-content\" class=\"accordion-inner\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-3884467016-label\">\n\t\t\tOnly what can be documented, and nothing beyond it. No lineage is asserted here that this church cannot produce paper for on request. Independent catholic bodies routinely inflate succession claims; that practice is a form of lying and it is not used here.\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div id=\"accordion-3540005715\" class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t<a id=\"accordion-3540005715-label\" class=\"accordion-title plain\" href=\"#accordion-item-will-rome-recognise-a-marriage,-baptism,-or-confirmation-from-here?\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-3540005715-content\">\n\t\t\t<button class=\"toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle\"><i class=\"icon-angle-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t<span>Will Rome recognise a marriage, baptism, or confirmation from here?<\/span>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-3540005715-content\" class=\"accordion-inner\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-3540005715-label\">\n\t\t\tAssume it will not. If your circumstances depend on Roman recognition, raise that with the Ordinary before you begin, and you will be told plainly what this church can and cannot do for you.\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div id=\"accordion-2606725731\" class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t<a id=\"accordion-2606725731-label\" class=\"accordion-title plain\" href=\"#accordion-item-is-this-a-protest-against-the-catholic-church?\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-2606725731-content\">\n\t\t\t<button class=\"toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle\"><i class=\"icon-angle-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t<span>Is this a protest against the Catholic Church?<\/span>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-2606725731-content\" class=\"accordion-inner\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-2606725731-label\">\n\t\t\tNo. This is a church, not a campaign. The departures above are stated with grounds because they are held as true, not because they are aimed at anyone. Rome&#8217;s position is reproduced here at greater length than our own for exactly that reason.\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div id=\"accordion-353374191\" class=\"accordion-item\">\n\t\t<a id=\"accordion-353374191-label\" class=\"accordion-title plain\" href=\"#accordion-item-what-authority-does-this-church-claim-over-me?\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-353374191-content\">\n\t\t\t<button class=\"toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle\"><i class=\"icon-angle-down\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/button>\n\t\t\t<span>What authority does this church claim over me?<\/span>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-353374191-content\" class=\"accordion-inner\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-353374191-label\">\n\t\t\tNone, unless you ask for it. Jurisdiction here runs over those who have placed themselves under it by their own act. No one is bound by a discipline they never accepted, and no one is pursued for leaving.\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1138715758 {\n  padding-top: 80px;\n  padding-bottom: 80px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_1138715758 {\n    padding-top: 130px;\n    padding-bottom: 130px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-registersec\" id=\"section_1976239729\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-1329496989\">\n\t<div id=\"col-638366085\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-2007484121\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<span class=\"bf-eyebrow bf-eyebrow-left\">WHAT THIS CHURCH DOES NOT CLAIM<\/span>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">The negative register, <em>kept as carefully as the positive one.<\/em><\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-rule\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-register\">\n<div class=\"bf-reg-row\">\n<p class=\"bf-reg-name\">Roman communion<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-reg-what\">Not in communion with Rome, and no application, petition, or correspondence is pending.<\/p>\n<span class=\"bf-reg-state bf-reg-public\">Not claimed<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-reg-row\">\n<p class=\"bf-reg-name\">Roman faculties and jurisdiction<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-reg-what\">No faculties granted by any Roman ordinary; no jurisdiction over any Roman subject.<\/p>\n<span class=\"bf-reg-state bf-reg-public\">Not claimed<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-reg-row\">\n<p class=\"bf-reg-name\">Roman recognition of orders<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-reg-what\">No recognition of this church&#8217;s orders or acts by the Holy See, sought or received.<\/p>\n<span class=\"bf-reg-state bf-reg-public\">Not claimed<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-reg-row\">\n<p class=\"bf-reg-name\">Apostolic succession beyond documentation<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-reg-what\">Any lineage asserted is limited to what the Chancery can produce on request.<\/p>\n<span class=\"bf-reg-state bf-reg-held\">Held on file<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-reg-row\">\n<p class=\"bf-reg-name\">Authority over the unconsenting<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-reg-what\">No jurisdiction, discipline, or claim over anyone who has not asked for it.<\/p>\n<span class=\"bf-reg-state bf-reg-public\">Not claimed<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-reg-row\">\n<p class=\"bf-reg-name\">Ordinations performed<\/p>\n<p class=\"bf-reg-what\">None to date. The discipline is written and in force ahead of the first candidate.<\/p>\n<span class=\"bf-reg-state bf-reg-held\">Held on file<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1976239729 {\n  padding-top: 80px;\n  padding-bottom: 80px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_1976239729 {\n    padding-top: 130px;\n    padding-bottom: 130px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section bf-ctasec\" id=\"section_1487085695\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-1518214421\">\n\t<div id=\"col-288587278\" class=\"col medium-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner text-center\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<div id=\"text-86542796\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n<span class=\"bf-eyebrow\">ON THE RECORD<\/span>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">If something here is wrong,<br><em>we would rather know.<\/em><\/h2>\n<p class=\"bf-lede\" style=\"margin:0 auto 36px\">Canonists and journalists are answered directly, and corrections are entered in the register with their date.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-actions\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/canon\/chancery\/\" class=\"bf-btn bf-btn-primary\">Write to the Chancery <span class=\"bf-arrow\">\u2192<\/span><\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/canon\/chancery\/\" class=\"bf-btn bf-btn-ghost\">The document register<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1487085695 {\n  padding-top: 80px;\n  padding-bottom: 80px;\n}\n@media (min-width:550px) {\n  #section_1487085695 {\n    padding-top: 130px;\n    padding-bottom: 130px;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2201,"menu_order":120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2813","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90194,"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2813\/revisions\/90194"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}