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Holy Tradition testifies that when the Apostles departed from Jerusalem to preach to all the ends of the earth, then Mary Magdalene also went with them. A daring woman, whose heart was full of reminiscence of the Resurrection, she went beyond her native borders and went to preach in pagan Rome. Everywhere she proclaimed to people about Christ and His teaching. When many did not believe that Christ is risen, she repeated to them what she had said to the Apostles on the radiant morning of the Resurrection: “I have seen the Lord!” With this message she went all over Italy.

Tradition relates that in Italy Mary Magdalene visited Emperor Tiberias (14-37 A.D.) and proclaimed to him Christ’s Resurrection. According to Tradition, she brought him a red egg as a symbol of the Resurrection, a symbol of new life with the words: “Christ is Risen!” Then she told the emperor that in his Province of Judea the unjustly condemned Jesus the Galilean, a holy man, a miracle worker, powerful before God and all mankind, had been executed at the instigation of the Jewish High Priests, and the sentence confirmed by the procurator appointed by Tiberias, Pontius Pilate.

Mary repeated the words of the Apostles, that we are redeemed from the vanity of life not with perishable silver or gold, but rather by the precious Blood of Christ.

Thanks to Mary Magdalene the custom to give each other paschal eggs on the day of the Radiant Resurrection of Christ spread among Christians over all the world. In one ancient Greek manuscript, written on parchment, kept in the monastery library of St Athanasius near Thessaloniki, is a prayer read on the day of Holy Pascha for the blessing of eggs and cheese. In it is indicated that the igumen in passing out the blessed eggs says to the brethren: “Thus have we received from the holy Fathers, who preserved this custom from the very time of the holy Apostles, therefore the holy Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene first showed believers the example of this joyful offering.”

Mary Magdalene continued her preaching in Italy and in the city of Rome itself. Evidently, the Apostle Paul has her in mind in his Epistle to the Romans (16: 6), where together with other ascetics of evangelic preaching he mentions Mary (Mariam), who as he expresses “has bestowed much labor on us.” Evidently, she extensively served the Church in its means of subsistence and its difficulties, being exposed to dangers, and sharing with the Apostles the labors of preaching.

According to Church Tradition, she remained in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle Paul, and for two more years following his departure from Rome after the first court judgment upon him. From Rome, St Mary Magdalene, already bent with age, moved to Ephesus where the holy Apostle John unceasingly labored. There the saint finished her earthly life and was buried.

Her holy relics were transferred in the ninth century to Constantinople, and placed in the monastery Church of St Lazarus. In the era of the Crusader campaigns they were transferred to Italy and placed at Rome under the altar of the Lateran Cathedral. Part of the relics of Mary Magdalene are said to be in Provace, France near Marseilles, where over them at the foot of a steep mountain a splendid church is built in her honor.

It is taken from the Ephesians 1:10 and expresses our church's desire to strive for unity among all churches through prayer and active dialog. The bottom of the Coat of Arms shows the symbol of Christ, Christos (the two letters the from the Greek alphabet, Chi and Rho, meaning "Christ"). Christ, also the Alpha and Omega (beginning and end). The Son of God who brings salvation, is the one who calls upon all people on this earth (seen in upper site of coat of arms) to again come near to God, the creator of the Universe. The band of the Fleur de lis, (the flower of the lily), a heraldry sign of innocence is by which Christ works through us in the world as seen in the upper half of the coat of arms. On top of the coat of arms we see in the center the cross sign that we are saved through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross; on the left and right side we see the praying hands symbolizing the worship of all people coming together with Christ in our midst to praise him for our salvation. Above we see the Holy Spirit who gave birth to the church, and through the Holy Spirit the church has experienced reforms throughout the ages. The Sunrise is the sign of the "aggiornamento" (the dawning of a new day) that Pope John XXIII. proclaimed, enjoining us to read the signs of the times.

Spiegazione dello stemma Internazionale della ECCC Si è ricavato dalla lettera agli Efesini 1:10 ed esprime il desiderio della nostra chiesa a lottare per l'unità fra tutte le chiese con la preghiera e i dialogo aperto. Sul fondo dello stemma compare il simbolo di Cristo, Christos (le due lettere dal greco, Chi e Rho, che significa "Cristo"). Cristo, anche l'Alfa e l'Omega (inizio e fine). Il Figlio di Dio, che porta salvezza, è colui che invita tutte le persone su questa terra (si guardi la parte superiore dello stemma) a tornare a Dio, il creatore dell'Universo. La banda dei fleur de lis, ( fiore del giglio), un segno araldico di innocenza mediante il quale Cristo opera attraverso di noi in tutto il mondo come si vede nella metà superiore dello stemma. In cima allo stemma si vede al centro il segno della croce per indicare che siamo salvati attraverso il sacrificio di Gesù Cristo sulla croce; sul lato sinistro e destro vediamo le mani in preghiera che simboleggiano il culto di tutte le persone che insieme unite con Cristo al centro lo lodano per la nostra salvezza. Sopra vediamo lo Spirito Santo che ha dato alla luce la chiesa, e per mezzo dello Spirito Santo la Chiesa ha sperimentato le riforme nel corso dei secoli. L'Alba è il segno dell’ "aggiornamento" (l'alba di un nuovo giorno) che Papa Giovanni XXIII ha proclamato, ci incoraggia a leggere i segni dei tempi.

**Orthodox Old/Independent Catholicism

August 17th, 2016

From the Office of the Holy See of The Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ

Clarification about False statements of the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Detroit from August 11th, 2016.

It came to our attention that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit has circulated false statements about the Presiding bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ, Dr. Karl Rodig. It is sad to say the least that we still facing such attacks from the RC against other Churches who are not in alignment with the Roman Catholic Church. It is bewildering to see how false statements are being used to badmouth our Church that is Catholic, but not Roman Catholic (The reader may know that there are many different Catholic Rites in the World, the Roman Catholic Rite is the largest one among them, but not the only one.)  

We see in this just an other sign that the Spirit and the Joy of the Gospel are completely missing. Instead of working together in an ecumenical Spirit, we see church politics as usual.                                                              

Let us no longer live in the dark ages of the Church, no longer experience of a Church that has caused so much pain and suffering among the faithful throughout the ages. Church history should teach us the lessons not to repeat the past.

This is a response to the false statements of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese (AOD) of Detroit:

1. Bishop Dr. Rodig was not dismissed by the Congregation of the Precious Blood as stated by the AOD. Back in 1989, Fr. Karl Rodig asked his Provincial of the Congregation of the precious blood to grant him a year of leave of absence, it was extended for two more years. The Provincial wanted him back, but Fr. Karl Rodig decided to leave for good. Then the process for granting Fr. Rodig's request was set in motion through the canonical process by John Paul II., because his decision was based on his consciousness to get married (he did not wanted to live a double life as many of his priest colleagues do...He believes that celibacy should be optional!)
In 1995, under Pope John Paul II., the Vatican issued a statement for Fr. Rodig to seek an other Roman bishop in order to continue as a Roman priest. The Vatican has never excommunicated Dr. Rodig.  (It is sadly to say that the way excommunication is being used by some church leaders in our days reminds us more on the dark ages of the Church...It would be better to see that one is leaving the church for conscious reasons...)
In the meantime, Dr. Rodig became an independent catholic priest. He had many friends among the Roman priests in Miami in the 1990s. In 1999 he received a letter to his episcopal consecration of good wishes from Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus, ++McCarty, and he continued to have good friendships with high-ranking members of the Miami RC Archdiocese...Bishop Rodig works with Roman Catholic Reform Movements, and was invited to attend part of discussion session for the Synod in Rome in 2014.

2. Dr. Rodig was not consecrated by Archbishop McCormick as stated by the AOD statement (+McCormick was never present). Bishop Karl was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Dr. Hypolitus Orlando Lima and two co-consecrators of the Old Catholic Church. Our Apostolic lines are impeccable. A professor of the Catholic University of Washington DC, and a Catholic Bishop have confirmed them.

3. Dr. Rodig did not take on the title Archbishop as stated by the AOD, but received the title after the consecration from Archbishop Lima. He hardly uses it. Just Bishop Karl.

4. The statement by the AOD to see the Old Roman Catholic Church as schismatic is just again an other political way of dealing with other Christ-minded Catholic Christians who follow Christ Jesus with their heart and soul...

Worldwide we are The Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ, and we follow Christ, serving the poor, striving for social justice, and reaching out to all of God's people who seek a new spiritual home, healing, and to see a more active ecumenical dialog for unity among all Christian Churches...

We have many Roman Catholic priest friends, including bishops who appreciate our presence as we appreciate them as our sisters and brothers in Christ!