Portal:Christianity/Selected article/May 2008

  Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez, current patriarch of ICAN The Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB - Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira) is an independent Catholic church established in 1945 by Brazilian Bishop Dom Carlos Duarte Costa, a former Roman Catholic bishop of Botucatu.

The denomination has 48 dioceses and claims 500,000-700,000 members. Its current head is Patriarch Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez, with Dom Josivaldo Pereira de Oliveira serving as President of the National Council. It is the mother church of the Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic National Churches (ICAN -Igrejas Católicas Apostólicas Nacionais), a loose communion of churches in 14 countries.

The Church accepts the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian creeds, and observes seven sacraments (baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, penance, unction, ordination, and matrimony). ICAB practices open communion for all Christians who acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Church acknowledges divorce as a reality of life and permitted in Holy Scripture, and will marry divorced persons and baptize the children of divorced or single parents or someone else.

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