South America
The Liberal Catholic Church in various South American countries is active and doing well. The Presiding Bishop visited the Provinces of Colombia, Argentina and Brazil In the first two countries he celebrated services in Spanish, including the consecration service of a new bishop in Mendoza, Argentina. In Brazil he celebrated Holy Eucharist in Portuguese, while other services such as Confirmation and the consecration of Holy Oils had to be done in Spanish, as no Portuguese text was as yet available. In 1961, a complete Spanish Liturgy was published in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, by the late Bishop Ballesteros, which has become the standard work for most of the Spanish-speaking churches.

Theosophical principles, which are at the basis of Liberal Catholic beliefs, are held highly, with great enthusiasm, in all centres where the Church is present. This interest is also shared in other Latin American countries. Bishop Batet, Regionary Bishop of the Province of Argentina, and Lilian Batet have been instrumental in running courses of the Spanish Liberal Catholic Institute of Studies, either by lectures or by correspondence. Through this, there are students in various countries, such as in Lima in Peru, and in Santiago, a city in Chili across the border from Mendoza in Argentina. In Mendoza the newly consecrated Bishop Arnoldo Salzmann has a thriving church and from here he visits Santiago from time to time to conduct services.

Due to the vast distances between Liberal Catholic centres in South, Central and North America and the restricted economies prevalent in most Latin American countries, there is little cohesion between these centres. During the visit this became all too clear. A welcome initiative has been set in motion to organise an All-Spanish Congress, tentatively to be held in Bogotá from July 2-11, 1999. The Secretary of the Organising Committee is the Rev Mario M. Herrera, a Cuban Priest at present living in the USA. His address is P O Box 351082, Miami, FL 33125-1032, U.S.A.

The U.S.A.
Here the Presiding Bishop and his wife were the guest of Bishop Lawrence Smith, the Regionary Bishop for the U.S.A., where they were given the opportunity to tour the Province encompassing eleven church centres in nine states. Two of these centres had Spanish-speaking congregations. Well-attended services were held which were often followed by intensive debates on the mission and future of the Church. Of particular interest was a centre in Fairfield. In this typical mid-Western town in Iowa, members of this large and particularly enthusiastic congregation live almost like a community. They enjoy set ideals of a holistic and spiritual life style, which includes vegetarianism and the abstaining from alcohol and drugs and the acceptance of an alternative health care in combination with existing disciplines.

This type of life style is typical of the New Age and is in line with the original Liberal Catholic way of thinking: Spiritual health and physical health should go hand in hand. In many homes one would find neither radio nor television, or the use thereof is carefully controlled to exclude the disturbing and violent scenes so often broadcast by these media. In this way the homely atmosphere is one of stimulating positive thinking conducive to developing a receptive attitude towards a spiritual life. The enthusiasm of the children who crowded the Sunday school was indicative of the success of this particular community.

Europe
The visits to the Netherlands and Denmark were marked by Church congresses where intense debates were combined with magnificent Church services and meditations. On the beautiful wooded estate of the International Centre of St. Michael and All Angels in Naarden (Netherlands), the congress explored the feminine aspect in all mankind and how it is linked to the ever-overseeing World Mother, our Holy Lady Mary, Queen of Angels.

In Denmark, the debates were centred on the true principles of The Liberal Catholic Church, which are based on the Ancient Wisdom as was expressed by the Lord Christ and as is found in gnostic and Neo-Platonic writings. Much attention was placed on the results of clairvoyant and occult investigations of our early Founding Bishops and other eminent researchers, notably Professor van der Stok.

A Peep into the Future
Our present Eucharistic form is still one for the Piscean Age. It is magnificent, it is beautiful, it calls forth strong devotion, but it is male-dominated. It is widely expected that the Lord Christ will appear again, as He did 2000 years ago, possibly within the next ten or twenty years. He will then give mankind a new form of worship, which will suit the spiritual and soul development of the Aquarian people better. The Latin cross will disappear. The crucifix, which places such emphasis on the suffering figure of Jesus, belongs to the Piscean Age. As The Liberal Catholic Church places the emphasis on the Living Christ, rather than on the suffering of Jesus, no crucifixes are used on their altars. This is already a step towards the future. Instead of the Latin cross, perhaps the Maltese cross as a symbol of their worship may guide the Aquarian people, who seek equality between the masculine and feminine. Here the masculine vertical and the feminine horizontal arms of the cross are in balance. In the same way, the form of the place of worship might become one having a large circular area and four aisles of equal length going North, East, South and West.

One of the visions is that in the East an altar will be standing, as it is in our churches today. The Priest will celebrate part of the service at that altar, facing East, i.e. not contra-populum, but symbolising that he leads the congregation in worship. In the West there will be an altar where a Priestess celebrates her part of the Eucharist, possibly alter-nating with the Priest in the East. She will also be facing East, i.e. facing the con-gregation. This is a beautiful feminine symbol of inclusivity, expressing caring and being all-embracing. The climax will be when the Priest and Priestess come together at the third altar, placed in the centre, from where the service is taken to its completion.

That today there is a hankering for a new form of worship is true indeed. Many have an innate desire to experiment with new types of Eucharistic service, feeling that the old form has had its time. At one of the congresses one such form was used. To the author it left behind a feeling of play-acting. There is a great danger of mankind wanting to play God and even command God, as is evident in some of the more charismatic types of church worship. It is not realised that within ourselves we have the divine spark, in Christianity known as the Christ-consciousness, which eventually will lead us to become spiritual people, being able to rise above all the propensities of life. We will then be gods, as was prophesied by the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden.