The Catholic Church as it might be* without the curse of Constantine's seduction.

In the Year of Our Lord 2005, Peter's Successor is elected President of the College of Bishops following the death of the previous Pope. The conference took place in a major Christian center, and concluded other necessary business of the Church.

The President of the College of Bishops bears the title of "Pope" among others. This has become a "full time" job, and for many generations now, the Pope has been given a home and receives modest support from The Catholic Foundation, Inc.

All clergy, from the newest seminar student through and including the Pope, are (or have been previously) self-supporting members of their local Catholic community. Many are working men and women living in and caring for their families; but as you might expect, some are, or have been, highly regarded professionals (physicians, business owners, political figures . . . etc.) Although they may have studied for their religious vocation for years, most do not enter the formal clergy until they retire from full-time work. However, a minority dedicated to service enter the ministry as youngsters. Those who retire from civilian occupations typically then dedicate most of their hours to the Church.

There are a few benefits associated with sacrificing much of one's time and attention to being a member of the clergy. Full-time clergy families are guaranteed housing, food, clothing, health care and education, and clergys' required expenses (for events such as attendance at meetings and education) are underwritten by The Catholic Foundation, Inc. This is a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors; Catholic lay persons and clergy, one third of whom are elected annually by the registered members of the Catholic Church worldwide.

This foundation is kept from accumulating excess worldly influence by a constitution that demands that when the value of the foundation's resources reaches a specified level, the surplus must be randomly distributed to non-governmental-non-profit organizations working toward health, education, environment or world peace, regardless of those groups' religious or ethnic basis.

Orders of professed religious monks, sisters and brothers exist only if they can earn their own support through crafts and the provision of services like Retreats or teaching, for which they may charge what they wish. If such a religious community fails, its members are free to join other similar groups, or return to the ranks of parish clergy under a local bishop -- to whom they owe the duty of obedience in matters of Faith and morals. Thousands of Catholic parish grade schools, high schools and universities are operated by these religious orders assisted by serving clergy not associated with an order..

Catholic parishes may be formed by any group with a common bond. Members are responsible for contributing (time, talent, and treasure) as their conscience demands. The organizational bylaws and constitution of all such groups must reflect the same limitations and responsibilities as that of The Catholic Foundation, Inc. All Catholic organizations that wish to be recognized as "official" (entitled to the support of the larger Church community) must be formed under this kind of structure. However, if the organization is self-supporting, and does not demand support, no such recognition is necessary. Catholics by and large favor "recognized" groups although there are numerous alternative worship communities with significant numbers of members and fully qualified bishops and priests.

The recourse the Catholic Church has against heretical groups is the power vested in the Council of Bishops to publicly disassociate rebellious organizations (or individuals) from the roster of official Church groups. A 2/3 majority (secret) vote by the world's bishops in council is needed to declare any group, organization or person "excommunicated." Excommunication denies a group or person the benefits of participation in Catholic "corporate" activities, and it forbids those who hold to orthodoxy from supporting or working within the excommunicated.

At this time Peter's Successor is a husband, father and a retired physician, now able to spend all of his time working for the benefit of all Catholics. Bishops and regular clergy tend to be of that personality type which makes up "dedicated volunteers" -- men and women who truly believe in some cause and will invest themselves in making it work.

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* My "vision" of one possible mode in which the Catholic Church might function, without power, property, or wealth, is based on my personal observations and experience as a member of (and officer in) the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary for some 12 years. I served as Flotilla Commander, Division Captain, and District Public Education Officer.

Understanding the USCG Aux. fully requires study, which I do not expect you to make, unless you care to confirm my personal opinions. If you want to make the effort, you should probably begin by accessing the organization's official Webpages at http://www.cgaux.org/

For the purposes of this treatise, the "Auxiliary" presents a successful scheme for building a purely volunteer force (of some 30,000 individuals) within a rigidily directed military organization. No Auxiliarist is required to take any order from a Coast Guard official or another Auxiliarist, yet the organization regularly completes difficult, and dangerous missions as an integral part of the parent military organization. Since the total number of active "Coasties" is only about 30,000, the Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard (a 4-star Admiral) knows that half of his workers are civilians who do not have to take his orders.

BUT IT WORKS!