This brief history of the Church is dedicated as a humble tribute to Saint Charles of Brazil, who forsook all personal
ambition and suffered attacks and persecution from his detractors, and who dedicated his last days of mortal
existence to showing the whole world it is possible to live as a Catholic in a church with a human countenance. He
tried rigorously to reestablish a Catholic church that believes, teaches, and follows the entire doctrine of the Divine
Teacher without digressions or compromises; a Catholic church dedicated to the truth without adulterations and to
seek justice for all Christians without regard to differences in denomination or religion, class, race, or gender; a
National Catholic Church whose lemmas and interests are God, Country and Liberty.
The Church in Brazil
Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa was consecrated bishop in the Roman Catholic Church on December 8, 1924. On
February 1, 1929 the Roman Catholic Church signed a concordat with Mussolini’s fascist government and the
clergy, especially the hierarchy helped the fascist regime during World War II. Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa refused
to follow the Vatican policy and was deposed from his diocese in 1937. When Brazil moved to declare war with
Germany, Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa sent a telegram to President Getulio Vargas condemning the fascist, Nazi
Falangist clergy. When the war ended many Nazis obtained Vatican passports to escape to South America.
On July 6, 1944, Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa was arrested by the government at the request of the Nuncio and the
Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro and was accused of being a communist. The Associated Press of Brazil and the
governments of the United States, Great Britain, and Mexico pressured the Brazilian government and Bishop Carlos
Duarte Costa was freed after two months. Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa continued the attack the politics of the
Roman Catholic Church and was excommunicated by the Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro on July 6, 1945. That same
day Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa declared the founding of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB). On August
18, he published his National Manifesto explaining his beliefs and why he founded ICAB.
At the beginning, the Roman Catholic Church refused to accept the validity of orders transmitted by Bishop Carlos
Duarte Costa and incited the government to persecute ICAB. However, in 1960, Bishop Salomaô Ferraz, who was
consecrated by Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa , submitted to the Roman Catholic Church and was accepted as a
bishop by them, and he participated in the Second Vatican Council. Therefore the validity of orders and sacraments
transmitted by Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa were finally accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Church in Venezuela
In Venezuela Father Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez, who was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on August 10,
1944, led a group of Venezuelan priests to ask the bishops to improve the life of the national clergy. After threats of
suspension and other punishments, the priests cowered and submitted quietly. Father Luis Fernando Castillo
Méndez remained firm and founded the Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church. After a few months he learned of the
existence of ICAB through newspapers and Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa learned about him the same way. Bishop
Carlos Duarte Costa sent a telegram offering to consecrate him bishop and on May 3, 1948, Bishop Carlos Duarte
Costa consecrated him at the Union Church in Balboa, Panama. Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez returned to
Caracas and built his cathedral and a seminary. In 1950, Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez was arrested and
tortured, and his church and seminary were destroyed. In 1951 Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez was exiled to
Brazil, where Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa made him auxiliary bishop of ICAB for Rio de Janeiro. In 1960, Bishop Luis
Fernando Castillo Méndez was made diocesan bishop of Brasilia, and he built the first church for ICAB in that city.
The National Catholic Apostolic Churches
Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa died on March 26, 1961 and was canonized by ICAB on July 6, 1970. The ICAB Council
of Bishops, which meets every 3 years to elect its president, elected Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez to be its
president until 1994 and named him Patriarch of ICAB for life. Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez was
instrumental in the expansion of the church and the establishment of the National Catholic Apostolic Churches.
Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez consecrated Bishop Justo Roque González to become the Primate of the
Catholic Apostolic Church of the United States. Bishop Justo Roque González had studied 6 years in a seminary in
Cuba before entering the United States and in 1982 he was ordained a priest and founded the Church of the Holy
Spirit and of Our Lady of Charity. He was consecrated by Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez in 1989, thus
bringing his apostolic succession to New York. He opened the Church of Saint Lazarus in Union City, New Jersey in
1992. In 1989 Bishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez also consecrated Bishop José Villegas and When Bishop Justo
Roque González died in 2011, Bishop José Villegas became Primate of ACCOTUS.
What beliefs make ACCOTUS different?
Some people ask if we are Protestants because they have been indoctrinated into believing that if you are not
Roman Catholic you are Protestant, but that teaching is incorrect even if Protestants believe it as well.
The Catholic Faith is stated in the Nicene Creed, a belief in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The Creed also states a
belief in One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church; it does not say Roman because it is not a requisite. The majority
of Protestant groups do not have Apostolic Succession but we do; so we are part of the Catholic and Apostolic
Church. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes this as they accept our sacraments like Baptism and Confirmation
and even the consecration of Salomaô Ferraz. To discus who we are or are not, what we believe or don’t believe,
we have to agree on the meaning of the words we use. Nowadays it’s common for people to change the meaning of
many words and that causes confusion.
For example the word Christian is used by some to mean “members of my group because we are the only ones who
will be saved.” These are the people to ask: “Have you found Jesus?” meaning “Have you converted to my religion,
which is the only path to salvation?” But these people are very mistaken because all who profess that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, and second Person of the Trinity, are Christian. So those who call themselves Catholic, Orthodox or
Protestant are Christian. So when we use the word Christian in our church, it includes all those groups.
Another word that is used incorrectly is Catholic which means Universal. The Christian Church is Catholic because
anyone from anywhere in the world, no matter the language or race can be baptized and become a member of the
church. The word orthodox is also used incorrectly. The word orthodox means correct as in saying that believing in
the Holy Trinity is the correct – orthodox- faith. For a thousand years these words were used to describe the
Christian Church which was Catholic (universal) and whose faith was the Orthodox (correct) faith. But in the year
1054 A.D. the bishops of Rome and Constantinople excommunicated each other and their followers, and the people
of Western Europe began to refer to themselves as Roman Catholic and the people of Eastern Europe began to
refer to themselves as Orthodox Catholics. Eventually these terms were reduced to Catholic and Orthodox, but the
leaders of both groups consider themselves as Catholic and Orthodox, as in ancient times. We also apply these
terms to our church; we are Catholic and Orthodox. We are not Roman or Greek because we are not under the
jurisdiction of the bishops of Rome or Constantinople. Please note that the Nicene Creed which all Christians
profess states that we believe in church is One, Holy, Catholic, ad Apostolic – it does not say Roman. The body of
Christ, the church, is one with many different parts, it is universal and has apostolic succession.
Do we then believe in the Pope or not? This question is frequently posed as if believing in the Pope was like
believing in Jesus Christ. The simple answer is that we believe the Pope is the most important leader in Christendom
for historical and traditional reasons, and protocol and diplomacy dictate that we show the utmost respect. In
addition, our Apostolic Succession comes from the Roman Catholic Church. We also believe the Patriarch of
Constantinople is the second most important leader in the church. But believing that one must respect these leaders
does not mean we must submit to them. They are human beings and while some Popes have been holy fathers,
others have been criminals.
So what is a Protestant? This is an ambiguous word because it includes many Christian groups. That separated
from Rome in the 16th and 17th centuries and their descendants. There is a great variety of beliefs and rites among
these groups depending on when and how they separated and what the reason for their separation was. There are
liturgical Protestants that have a mass or service similar to a mass and there are Protestant fundamentalists who
mostly have preaching and hymns. But there are many groups in between. Some like Episcopalians have all the
Catholic rites and customs (the mass, the saints, the hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons) and at the other
extreme are self-proclaimed ministers who have an aversion to catholic tradition, especially saints. They say they
have the word of God and only the word can save. But often the word they refer to are passages from a translation
of the Bible which they may have memorized and which can be misinterpreted when taken out of context. The Word
that saves is Jesus Christ of whom the Gospel of Saint John says “IN the beginning was the Word.”- referring to the
Divinity of the Son.
In summary: we are part of the Catholic (Universal) Church, so we are Catholic; we believe and teach the
Orthodox (correct) faith of the Nicene Creed, and we have Apostolic Succession. We are neither Roman nor anti-
Roman, we simply do not let Rome impose certain norms that were not part of the Catholic Church of ancient times
which is why we allow divorce, married clergy, and communion without Saturday confession. These are topics to be
elaborated below.
The following topics are yet to be translated and added: FAQs, Celibacy, Divorce, Confession, Prayer.
Brief History of
Apostolic Catholic Church of the United States (ACCOTUS)
†José Villegas, Primate
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