Theos-Talk Archives (May 2005 Message tt00618)

Pedro's claim of the Liberal Catholic Church that "Its theology is indebted to 
Neo-Platonism and also to two prominent early Church fathers, Clement of 
Alexandria and Origen. Over the decades after 1929 the Church gained its own 
identity independent from the theosophical discourse" is, shall we say, 
misleading. The books officially endorsed by the General Episcopal Synod of 
the Church as representing its theology are the key works of Leadbeater, 
together with Besant's "Esoteric Christianity" and such like. Having read 
virtually everything ever published by the LCC, I've never seen anything that 
could be said to be related to Neo-Platonism, Clement or Origen (read, for 
example, Leadbeater's work, "The Christian Gnosis" - simple Adyar Theosophy).
A correspondent from Perth (Western Australia) advises me that Pedro is to be 
made a bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church later this year by the Church's 
Presiding Bishop, Ian Hooker. Hooker's MA dissertation in Religious Studies at 
the University of Sydney sought to prove, and succeeded in proving, that the 
LCC was essentially a derivative of Theosophy as understood by Adyar. Hooker 
argued against those in the LCC who had sought a less Leadbeaterian church. 
Since Leadbeater claimed that the LCC was directly inspired by the "Masters" 
one can understand why such an exalted purpose should be preserved! It is said 
that communications from the "Masters" continue to inform the church's leaders.
The Liberal Catholic Church International had it origins in a schism in the 
LCC in the USA over the dominance of the church by "theosophical discourse", 
and is quite different to the church of which Ian Hooker is Presiding Bishop. 
The LCC has recently undergone a further schism essentially over its refusal 
to ordain women, losing the majority of its clergy in some countries.

Dr Gregory Tillett