View source for Old Catholic Church

{{Short description|Major Christian denomination}}
{{distinguish|History of the Catholic Church}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| name                = Old Catholic Church
| imagewidth          = 200px
| polity              = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| division_type       = [[Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic)|Union of Utrecht]] 
| division            =
* [[Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands]]<ref name="UUpage139">{{cite web|title=Member Churches|website=utrechter-union.org|location=Utrecht, NL|publisher=Utrechter Union der Altkatholischen Kirchen|url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/139/member_churches|access-date=2016-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410090744/http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/139/member_churches|archive-date=2016-04-10|url-status=dead}}</ref>
** [[Old Catholic Church in Sweden and Denmark]]
* [[Polish-Catholic Church in the Republic of Poland]]<ref name="UUpage139" />{{efn|The organization ''Polish Catholic Church in Poland'', a member church of the {{abbr|UU|Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches}}, is not to be confused with the [[Catholic Church in Poland]] or confused with the [[Polish National Catholic Church]], a former member church of the {{abbr|UU|Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches}}.}}
* [[Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany]]<ref name="UUpage139" />
* [[Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland]]<ref name="UUpage139" />
** [[Old Catholic Mission in France]]
* [[Old Catholic Church of Austria]]<ref name="UUpage139" />
** [[Old Catholic Church of Croatia]]
* [[Old Catholic Church of the Czech Republic]]<ref name="UUpage139" />
| division_type1      = [[Union of Scranton]]
| division1           =
* [[Polish National Catholic Church]]<ref name="UnionScranton">{{cite web|title=The Union of Scranton: a union of churches in communion with the Polish National Catholic Church|website=unionofscranton.org|location=Scranton, PA|publisher=Union of Scranton|url=http://unionofscranton.org/|access-date=2016-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321085242/http://unionofscranton.org/|archive-date=2016-03-21|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* [[Nordic Catholic Church]]<ref name="UnionScranton"/>
** [[Orthodox Church in Italy|Old Catholic Church in Italy (NCC-COI)]]
| associations        = [[World Council of Churches]] (Union of Utrecht only)
| full_communion      = [[Anglican Communion]] (Union of Utrecht only)<br />[[Church of Sweden]] (Union of Utrecht only)<ref name="utrechter-union0">{{cite web |title=Agreement |publisher=Union of Utrecht |date=23 November 2016 |url=https://www.utrechter-union.org/fman/851.pdf |access-date=27 March 2021}}</ref><br />[[Philippine Independent Church]] (Union of Utrecht only)
| separated_from      = [[Catholic Church]]
| footnotes           = ''Also known as Old Catholics or Old-Catholic churches''
}}
{{Christianity|expanded=hide}}
The terms '''Old Catholic Church''', '''Old Catholics''', '''Old-Catholic churches''',<ref name="WCC">{{cite web|title=Old-Catholic churches|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/old-catholic-churches|access-date=27 March 2021|publisher=[[World Council of Churches]]}}</ref> or '''Old Catholic movement''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=James R. |first=Lewis |title=The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions |publisher=Prometheus Books |year=1998 |isbn=1-57392-222-6 |edition=1st |location=United States |pages=367 |chapter=Old Catholic Movement}}</ref> designate "any of the groups of [[Western Christians]] who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the [[Great Church|undivided church]] but who separated from the [[See of Rome]] after the [[First Vatican Council]] of 1869–70".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Old Catholic church {{!}} Christianity {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Old-Catholic-church|access-date=2021-11-18|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beyschlag |first=Willibald |date=1898 |title=The Origin and Development of the Old Catholic Movement |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3153434 |journal=The American Journal of Theology |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=481–526 |issn=1550-3283}}</ref> 

The expression Old Catholic has been used from the 1850s by communions separated from the [[Roman Catholic Church]] over certain doctrines, primarily concerned with [[Papal supremacy|papal authority]] and [[Papal infallibility|infallibility]]. Some of these groups, especially in the [[Netherlands]], had already existed long before the term. The Old Catholic Church is separate and distinct from [[Traditionalist Catholicism]].

Two groups of Old Catholic churches currently exist: the [[Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic)|Union of Utrecht]] (UU, not to be confused with [[Unitarian Universalism]]) and the [[Union of Scranton]] (US). Neither group is in [[full communion]] with the [[Holy See]]. Member churches of the Union of Utrecht are in full communion with the [[Anglican Communion]] as well as the [[Church of Sweden|Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden]] and the [[Philippine Independent Church]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Bilateral Relations |url=https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/bilateral-relations |publisher=[[Church of Sweden]] |access-date=27 March 2021 |date=24 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2009-04-08|title=Churches in Communion with the Church of England|url=http://www.europe.anglican.org/partners/partners_incommunion.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325133000/http://www.europe.anglican.org/partners/partners_incommunion.htm|archive-date=25 March 2010|access-date=2010-04-25|publisher=Europe.anglican.org}}</ref> and many UU churches are members of the [[World Council of Churches]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Old-Catholic Church in the Netherlands|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/europe/netherlands/old-catholic-church-in-the-netherlands.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521145425/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/europe/netherlands/old-catholic-church-in-the-netherlands.html |archive-date=21 May 2011 |access-date=2010-04-25|publisher=Oikoumene.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Old-Catholic churches {{!}} World Council of Churches|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families/old-catholic-churches |access-date=2021-03-31|website=www.oikoumene.org}}</ref>

Both groups trace their beginning to the 18th century when members of the [[Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht|See of Utrecht]] refused to obey papal authority and were [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunicated]]. Later Catholics who disagreed with the Roman [[Catholic dogma]] of [[papal infallibility]], as defined by the [[First Vatican Council]] (1870), were thereafter without a bishop and joined with the See of Utrecht to form the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches. Today, Utrechter Union churches are found chiefly in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic. 

In 2008, the [[Polish National Catholic Church]] created the Union of Scranton and separated from the Union of Utrecht. This was done in protest of the older Union's decision to [[ordination of women|ordain women]] and bless [[Blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches|same-sex marriages]]. The [[Nordic Catholic Church]] later joined the Union of Scranton as well.

{{TOC limit|3}}

==History==
===Pre-Reformation diocese and archdiocese of Utrecht===
{{Main article|Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)}}
In the pre-[[Reformation]] era, there were already disputes that set the stage for an independent bishopric of Utrecht between the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]], notably during between the 11th to 15th centuries.

===Post-Reformation Netherlands===
{{Main article|Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands|Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht}}
The northern provinces that revolted against the [[Spanish Netherlands]] and signed the 1579 [[Union of Utrecht]], persecuted the Roman Catholic Church, confiscated church property, expelled monks and nuns from convents and monasteries, and made it illegal to receive the [[Catholic sacraments]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kaplan|first=Benjamin J.|date=Autumn 1994|title={{thinsp}}'Remnants of the papal yoke': apathy and opposition in the Dutch reformation |journal=[[The Sixteenth Century Journal]]|volume=25|issue=3 |pages=653–669|jstor=2542640|issn=0361-0160|doi=10.2307/2542640|s2cid=163784117 }}</ref> However, Catholicism did not die, rather priests and communities went underground. Groups would meet for the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]] in the attics of private homes at the risk of arrest.{{sfn|Neale|1858}} Priests identified themselves by wearing [[Clerical clothing|all black clothing]] with [[Clerical collar|very simple collars]].<ref name="Parker" />

All the [[episcopal sees]] of the area, including that of Utrecht, had fallen vacant by 1580, because the [[Spanish crown]], which since 1559 [[Spanish Netherlands|had patronal rights over all bishoprics in the Netherlands]], refused to make appointments for what it saw as [[Heresy in the Catholic Church|heretical]] territories, and the nomination of an [[apostolic vicar]] was seen as a way of avoiding direct violation of the privilege granted to the crown.<ref name="Parker">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1uRGuEWx3UC&pg=PA30 |pages=30–31|title=Faith on the Margins: Catholics and Catholicism in the Dutch Golden Age |isbn=9780674033719|last1=Parker|first1=Charles H.|date=July 2009|publisher=Harvard University Press }}</ref> The appointment of an apostolic vicar, the first after many centuries, for what came to be called the [[Holland Mission]] was followed by similar appointments for other Protestant-ruled countries, such as [[Vicar Apostolic of England|England]], which likewise became mission territories.<ref name="Parker" /> The disarray of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands between 1572 and about 1610 was followed by a period of expansion of Roman Catholicism under the apostolic vicars,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUrFh6pSd3MC&pg=PA48 |pages=48–49|title=Calvinists and Catholics During Holland's Golden Age: Heretics and Idolaters |isbn=9781107023246|last1=Kooi|first1=Christine|date=30 April 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> leading to Protestant protests.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxWUCtuXAlQC&pg=PA168 |page=168|title=The Low Countries as a Crossroads of Religious Beliefs|isbn=9004122885|last1=Gelderblom|first1=Arie Jan|last2=De Jong|first2=Jan L. |last3=Vaeck|first3=Marc Van|date=January 2004|publisher=BRILL }}</ref>

The initial shortage of Roman Catholic priests in the Netherlands resulted in increased pastoral activity of [[religious (Catholicism)|religious]] clergy, among whom [[Jesuits]] formed a considerable minority, coming to represent between 10 and 15 percent of all the Dutch clergy in the 1600–1650 period. Conflicts arose between these, and the apostolic vicars and [[secular clergy]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zachman |first1=Randall C. |date=September 2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSza_fU2yI4C&pg=PA124 |page=124 |title=John Calvin and Roman Catholicism: Critique and Engagement, then and Now |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=9780801035975}}</ref> In 1629, there were 321 Roman Catholic priests in the United Provinces, 250 secular and 71 religious, with Jesuits at 34 forming almost half of the religious. By the middle of the 17th century the secular priests were 442, the religious 142, of whom 62 were Jesuits.<ref name=Parker39>{{cite book|last1=Parker |first1=Charles H. |date=July 2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1uRGuEWx3UC&pg=PA39 |page=39|title=Faith on the Margins: Catholics and Catholicism in the Dutch Golden Age|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674033719}}</ref>

The sixth apostolic vicar of the [[Dutch Mission|Dutch/Holland Mission]], [[Petrus Codde]], was appointed in 1688. In 1691, the Jesuits accused him of favouring the [[Jansenist]] [[heresy]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Civic Humanism in Clerical Garb: Gallican Memories of the Early Church and the Project of Primitivist Reform 1719-1791 |last=Van Kley |first=Dale K. |volume=200 |issue=1 |pages=77–120 |journal=Past & Present |date=August 2008 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtm055}}</ref> [[Pope Innocent XII]] appointed a commission of [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] to investigate the accusations against Codde. The commission concluded that the accusations were groundless.<ref name=Vissera>{{cite journal |last=Vissera|first=Jan|date=2003|title=The Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht|journal=International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church|volume=3|issue=1|pages=68–84 |doi=10.1080/14742250308574025 |s2cid=144732215|issn=1474-225X}}</ref> In 1702, [[Pope Clement XI]] deposed Codde, to which Codde obeyed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardon |first=John A. |url=http://archive.org/details/religionsofworld0000hard |title=Religions of the World |date=1963 |publisher=Newman Press |others=Internet Archive |location=Westminster, Md. |pages=470 |chapter=17. Old Catholic Churches}}</ref>

While the religious clergy remained loyal to the Holy See, three-quarters of the secular clergy at first followed Codde, but by 1706 over two-thirds of these returned to Roman Catholic allegiance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bakvis |first1=Herman |url=https://archive.org/details/catholicpowerinn00bakv |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/catholicpowerinn00bakv/page/22 22] |title=Catholic Power in the Netherlands |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=9780773503618 |year=1981}}</ref> Of the laity, the overwhelming majority sided with the Holy See.<ref name=Parker39/> Thus, most Dutch Catholics remained in full communion with the pope and with the [[apostolic vicars]] appointed by him.

After Codde's resignation, the Diocese of Utrecht elected [[Cornelius Steenoven]] as [[Bishops in the Catholic Church|bishop]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=ELJ |title=Cambridge Journals Online - Ecclesiastical Law Journal |publisher=Journals.cambridge.org |access-date=2010-04-25}}</ref> The See of Utrecht declared the right to elect its own archbishop in 1724, after being accused of [[Jansenism]]. Following consultation with both canon lawyers and theologians in France and Germany, [[Dominique Marie Varlet]], a Catholic bishop of the French Oratorian Society of Foreign Missions, consecrated Steenoven as a bishop without a papal mandate.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpwfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP13 |title=Domestic Correspondence of Dominique-Marie Varlet |year=1986 |access-date=2010-04-25|isbn=9004076719 |last1=Varlet |first1=Dominique-Marie|publisher=BRILL }}</ref> What had been ''de jure'' autonomous became ''de facto'' an independent Catholic church. Although the pope was notified of all proceedings, the Holy See still regarded the diocese as vacant due to papal permission not being sought. The pope, therefore, continued to appoint apostolic vicars for the Netherlands. Steenoven and the other bishops were [[Excommunication (Catholic Church)|excommunicated]] by the Roman Catholic Church, and thus began the [[Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands|Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands]].{{sfn|Neale|1858}} Subsequent bishops were then appointed and ordained to the sees of [[Deventer]], [[Haarlem]] and [[Groningen (city)|Groningen]] under the [[Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht|See of Utrecht]] in later years.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l79xM4Cxde0C&pg=PA4|title=The Old Catholic Church|date=October 2006|edition=3rd|access-date=2010-04-25 |isbn=9780912134413 |last1=Pruter |first1=Karl|publisher=Wildside Press LLC }}</ref>

Due to prevailing anti-papal feeling among the powerful Dutch [[Calvinists]], the Church of Utrecht was tolerated and even praised by the government of the [[Dutch Republic]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qchh2SrClcC&pg=PP10 |title=Aspects of European history, 1494-1789 |access-date=2010-04-25 |isbn=9780415027847 |last1=Lee |first1=Stephen J. |year=1984|publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

In 1853 [[Pope Pius IX]] received guarantees of [[religious freedom]] from King [[William II of the Netherlands]] and [[Reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands|re-established the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Algis Ratnikas |title=Timeline Netherlands |url=http://timelines.ws/countries/NETHERLANDS.HTML |publisher=Timelines.ws |access-date=2010-04-25 |archive-date=2 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402040722/http://timelines.ws/countries/NETHERLANDS.HTML |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Holy See considers the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht]] as the continuation of the [[episcopal see]] founded in the 7th century and raised to metropolitan status on 12 May 1559, thus not recognizing any legitimacy of Old Catholics.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 769</ref>

===First Vatican Council, Old Catholic Union of Utrecht===
{{Papal primacy and infallibility|expanded=objections}}

After the [[First Vatican Council]] (1869–1870), several groups of Roman Catholics in [[Austria-Hungary]], [[Imperial Germany]], and [[Switzerland]] rejected the [[Roman Catholic dogma]] of [[Papal infallibility|papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals]] and left to form their own churches.<ref>{{cite web|title=Old Catholic Conference |url=http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/documents/Dollinger.html|access-date=2010-04-25 |website=oldcatholichistory.org}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The formation of the Old Catholic communion of Germans, Austrians and Swiss began under the leadership of [[Ignaz von Döllinger]], following the First Vatican Council.<ref name="WCC" /> These were supported by the [[Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht]], who ordained priests and bishops for them. Later the Dutch were united more formally with many of these groups under the name "[[Utrecht Union|Utrecht Union of Churches]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/documents/Congress.html |title=Declaration of the Catholic Congress |website=oldcatholichistory.org |access-date=2010-04-25}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the spring of 1871, a convention in [[Munich]] attracted several hundred participants, including [[Church of England]] and Protestant observers.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Study of the First Old Catholic Congresses |url=http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/history/Congress1.html |website=oldcatholichistory.org|access-date=2010-04-25}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Döllinger, an excommunicated Roman Catholic priest and church historian, was a notable leader of the movement but was never a member of an Old Catholic church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Father Johann Joseph Ignaz von Dollinger |website=oldcatholichistory.org |url=http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/clergy/Dollinger.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727142139/http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/clergy/Dollinger.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 March 2010 }}</ref>

The convention decided to form the "Old Catholic Church" in order to distinguish its members from what they saw as the novel teaching in the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility. Although it had continued to use the [[Roman Rite]], from the middle of the 18th century the Dutch Old Catholic See of Utrecht had increasingly used the [[vernacular]] instead of Latin. The churches which broke from the Holy See in 1870 and subsequently entered into union with the Old Catholic See of Utrecht gradually introduced the vernacular into the [[liturgy]] until it completely replaced Latin in 1877.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |issn=0735-8318 |author=James S. Pula |date=Summer 2009 |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=1–19 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/us_catholic_historian/v027/27.3.pula.html |via=Project MUSE |journal=U.S. Catholic Historian |title=Polish-American Catholicism: A Case Study in Cultural Determinism |doi=10.1353/cht.0.0014 |s2cid=154139236 |access-date=2010-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608014459/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=%2Fjournals%2Fus_catholic_historian%2Fv027%2F27.3.pula.html |archive-date=8 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1874, the Old Catholics removed the requirement of [[clerical celibacy]].<ref name="Vissera" />

The [[Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany]] received support from the government of [[Otto von Bismarck]], whose 1870s ''[[Kulturkampf]]'' policies persecuted the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Davis |first=Derek H.|date=Autumn 1998|title=Editorial: Religious persecution in today's Germany: old habits renewed|journal=Journal of Church and State|volume=40|issue=4|location=Waco, TX |publisher=J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University|pages=741–756 |doi=10.1093/jcs/40.4.741|issn=0021-969X}}</ref> In Austria-Hungary, [[German nationalism in Austria|pan-Germanic nationalist groups]], like those of [[Georg Ritter von Schönerer]], [[Away from Rome!|promoted the conversion of all German speaking Catholics]] to Old Catholicism and Lutheranism, with poor results.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jensen|first=John H.|year=1971|title=Forces of change|series=The European experience, topics in modern history|volume=1|location=Wellington|publisher=Reed|isbn=9780589040635 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9AOAAAAQAAJ}}{{Page needed|date=February 2016}}</ref>

=== Spread of Old Catholicism throughout the world ===
[[File:Altkatholische Kirche Gablonz Jablonec.jpg|thumb|Old Catholic [[parish]] church in [[Jablonec nad Nisou|Gablonz an der Neiße]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (now Jablonec nad Nisou, [[Czech Republic]]). Some ethnic German Roman Catholics supported Döllinger in his rejection of the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility.]]In 1897 a group of Polish migrants in the United States broke away from the Holy See due to theological and liturgical issues; their leader, [[Francis Hodur|Franciszek Hodur]], was consecrated a bishop by Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht [[Gerardus Gul]], establishing the [[Polish National Catholic Church]], which joined the Union of Utrecht.

==== Split of Old Roman Catholics and Liberal Catholics ====
In 1910, [[Arnold Mathew]]—a former [[British Catholicism|British Catholic]] and Anglican, who was consecrated by Old Catholic Archbishop Gul in 1908—split away from the Union of Utrecht, establishing the [[Old Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain]]. In 1914, he consecrated [[Rudolph de Landas Berghes]], who emigrated to the United States in 1914 and planted the seed of Old Roman Catholicism in the Americas. Mathew also consecrated an excommunicated Capuchin Franciscan priest as bishop: [[Carmel Henry Carfora]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Independent and Old Catholic Churches |publisher=Novelguide.com|url=http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ear_01/ear_01_00043.html|access-date=2010-04-25|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-09-29|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080929060718/http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ear_01/ear_01_00043.html}}</ref> Various [[Christian denomination|Christian denominations]] claiming [[apostolic succession]] from Mathew were founded in the world through Berghes, Carfora, and others including [[James Wedgwood]]—founder of the [[Liberal Catholic Church]]. Such groups' apostolic succession is deemed to be invalid by both the [[Holy See]], the [[Union of Utrecht]] and the [[Anglican Communion]]. Mathew himself was [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunicated]] and declared a "pseudo-bishop" by [[Pope Pius X]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pius X Papa |date=15 February 1911 |title=Sacerdotes Arnoldus Harris Mathew Herbertus Ignatius Beale Et Arthurus Guilelmus Howarth Nominatim Excommunicantur |url=https://archive.org/details/sacerdotes-arnoldus-harris-mathew-herbertus-ignatius-beale-et-arthurus-guilelmus |journal=[[Acta Apostolicae Sedis]] |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=53–54}}</ref> while the [[International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference]] declared his consecration to be [[null and void]], obtained [[mala fide]].<ref name="Brandreth19872">{{Cite book |last=Brandreth |first=Henry R. T. |title=Episcopi vagantes and the Anglican Church |publisher=Borgo Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-89370-558-6 |location=San Bernardino, CA |orig-year=First published in 1947}}</ref>

Another significant figure, [[Joseph René Vilatte]], who was ordained a deacon and priest by Bishop [[Eduard Herzog]], of the [[Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland]];<ref>{{cite web|last=Weeks|first=Donald M.|title=A partial chronological history of pioneer Old Catholics in the United States|website=oldcatholichistory.org|url=http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/timetable/timetable.pdf|access-date=2010-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727142221/http://www.oldcatholichistory.org/pages/timetable/timetable.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> he worked with Catholics of Belgian ancestry living on the [[Door Peninsula]] of [[Wisconsin]], with the knowledge and blessing of the Union of Utrecht and under the full jurisdiction of the local Episcopal Bishop of [[Fond du Lac, Wisconsin]].<ref>C.B. Moss (1964) "The Old Catholic Movement" p.&nbsp;291, middle paragraph</ref> However, he subsequently left the Old Catholics and was later consecrated a bishop by Patriarch [[Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares|Mar Julius I]] of the [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]], though the validity of such consecration is disputed.<ref name="Brandreth19872" /> He proceeded to establish a number of Christian denominations before eventually reconciling with the Holy See.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=23 June 1925 |title=Une grande conversion |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2621873 |access-date= |website=[[La Croix (newspaper)|La Croix]] |language=}}</ref>

=== Polish National Catholic schism from Utrecht ===
In 2003, the Polish National Catholic Church voted itself out of the {{abbr|UU|Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches}} due to the Utrechter Union's acceptance of female ordination, and their attitude towards [[homosexuality]], both of which the Polish National Catholic Church rejects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pncc.org/?page_id=6 |title=Our History |publisher=PNCC.org |access-date=13 August 2014 |archive-date=1 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101215550/http://www.pncc.org/?page_id=6 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/24/history|title=Utrechter Union - History |website=www.utrechter-union.org}}</ref> Prior, in 1994, the German Old Catholic bishops of the Utrechter Union decided to [[Ordination of women|ordain women as priests]], and put this into practice on 27 May 1996. Similar decisions and practices followed in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alt-katholisch.de/information/frauenordination.html|title=Information&nbsp; > &nbsp;Frauenordination&nbsp;• Katholisches Bistum der Alt-Katholiken in Deutschland|website=www.alt-katholisch.de|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303090743/http://www.alt-katholisch.de/information/frauenordination.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> By 2020, the Swiss church also voted in favour of [[same-sex marriage]]. Marriages between two men and two women were conducted in the same manner as heterosexual marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=James |first1=Roberts |last2=Teague |first2=Ellen |date=1 September 2020 |title=News Briefing: Church in the World |url=https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13319/news-briefing-church-in-the-world |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=The Tablet |language=en}}</ref>

=== Old Catholic Church of Slovakia ===
The Old Catholic Church of Slovakia was accepted in 2000 as a member of the Union of Utrecht.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/171/communiqu%C3%A9_of_the_ibc_meeting_in|title=Utrechter Union - Communiqué of the IBC meeting in Breslau/PL 2000|website=www.utrechter-union.org|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502203117/http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/171/communiqu%C3%A9_of_the_ibc_meeting_in|url-status=dead}}</ref> As early as 2001 some issues arose concerning future consecration of Augustin Bacinsky as old-catholic bishop of Slovakia, and the matter was postponed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/172/communiqu%C3%A9_of_the_ibc_meeting_in|title=Utrechter Union - Communiqué of the IBC meeting in Bendorf/D, 2001|website=www.utrechter-union.org|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=29 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729213151/http://www.utrechter-union.org/page/172/communiqu%C3%A9_of_the_ibc_meeting_in|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Old Catholic Church of Slovakia was expelled from the Union of Utrecht in 2004, because the episcopal administrator Augustin Bacinsky had been consecrated by an ''[[episcopus vagans]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/pagina/139/member_churches|title=Utrechter Union - Member Churches|website=www.utrechter-union.org|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=13 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613210645/http://www.utrechter-union.org/pagina/139/member_churches|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At present, the only recognized Christian church in America that is in communion with the Union of Utrecht is the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Thaddeus A. Schnitker |date=July 1999 |title=The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht |url=http://www.tec-europe.org/partners/Utrecht_partners.htm |access-date=2013-08-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417223214/http://www.tec-europe.org/partners/Utrecht_partners.htm |archive-date=17 April 2012 }}</ref>

== Statistics ==
{{As of|2016}}, there are 115,000 members of Old Catholic churches.<ref>{{cite web|title=International Old-Catholic Bishops' Conference|website=oikoumene.org|location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/old-catholic-churches/ibk|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216041819/https://www.oikoumene.org/en/church-families/old-catholic-churches/ibk|archive-date=2016-02-16|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Church !! Membership
|-
|[[Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany|Catholic Diocese of the Old-Catholics in Germany]]||15,500<ref>{{cite web|title=Catholic Diocese of the Old-Catholics in Germany|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1948 |location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/catholic-diocese-of-the-old-catholics-in-germany|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220154418/https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/catholic-diocese-of-the-old-catholics-in-germany|archive-date=2016-02-20|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Old Catholic Church of Austria]]||14,621<ref>{{cite web|title=Old-Catholic Church in Austria|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1967 |location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-church-in-austria|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229200712/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-church-in-austria/|archive-date=2016-02-29|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands]]||10,000<ref>{{cite web|title=Old-Catholic Church in the Netherlands|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1948 |location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-church-in-the-netherlands|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229201429/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-church-in-the-netherlands|archive-date=2016-02-29|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland]]||13,500<ref>{{cite web|title=Old-Catholic Church of Switzerland|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1948 |location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-church-of-switzerland|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229201658/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-church-of-switzerland|archive-date=2016-02-29|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Mariavite Church|Old Catholic Mariavite Church in Poland]]||29,000<ref>{{cite web|title=Old-Catholic Mariavite Church in Poland|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1969 |location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-mariavite-church-in-poland|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229201910/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/old-catholic-mariavite-church-in-poland|archive-date=2016-02-29|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Polish-Catholic Church in the Republic of Poland|Polish Catholic Church in Poland]]{{efn|[[Polish Catholic Church in Poland]], a member church of the {{abbr|UU|Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches}}, is not to be confused with the [[Catholic Church in Poland]] or confused with the {{abbr|PNCC|Polish National Catholic Church}}, a former member church of the {{abbr|UU|Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches}}.}}||20,000<ref>{{cite web|title=Polish Catholic Church in Poland|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1948 |location=Geneva|publisher=World Council of Churches|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/polish-catholic-church-in-poland|access-date=2016-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229202155/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/polish-catholic-church-in-poland|archive-date=2016-02-29|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

==Doctrine==
Old Catholic theology views the [[Eucharist]] as the core of the [[Christian Church]]; from this point of view, the church is a community of believers. All are in [[Koinonia|communion]] with one another around the sacrifice of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]], as the highest expression of the love of [[God in Christianity|God]]. Therefore, the celebration of the Eucharist is understood as the experience of Christ's triumph over [[Christian views on sin|sin]]. The defeat of sin consists in bringing together that which is divided.<ref name="utrechter-union1">{{cite web |title=A theological and spiritual vision |url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/english/faith001.htm |publisher=Union of Utrecht of The Old Catholic Churches |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417153746/http://www.utrechter-union.org/english/faith001.htm |archive-date=17 April 2010 |access-date=23 March 2010 }}</ref>

An active contributor to the Declaration of the Catholic Congress of Munich, 1871—and all later assemblies—was [[Johann Friedrich von Schulte]], professor of [[dogmatics]] at [[Prague]]. Von Schulte summed up the results of the congress as follows:<ref name="Baumgarten1911">{{Catholic|inline=1|last=Baumgarten|first=Paul Maria|wstitle=Old Catholics|volume=11}}</ref>

* adherence to the ancient Catholic faith;
* maintenance of the rights of Catholics;
* rejection of new Roman Catholic dogmas;
* adherence to the constitutions of the ancient Church with repudiation of every dogma of faith not in harmony with the by-then established conscience of the Church;
* reform of the Church with constitutional participation of the laity;
* preparation of the way for reunion of the Christian confessions;
* reform of the training and position of the clergy;
* adherence to the State against the attacks of [[Ultramontanism]];
* rejection of the [[Society of Jesus]];
* claim to the real property of the Church

The 1889 {{visible anchor|Declaration of Utrecht}} states the Union of Utrecht believes in [[Vincent of Lérins]]{{'s}} following quote from his ''[[Commonitory]]'': "all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all; for this is truly what is [[Catholic (term)|catholic]]".<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=|title=Dictionnaire des religions|date=1984|publisher=Presses universitaires de France|isbn=2-13-037978-8|pages=1771–2|language=fr|chapter=VIEUX-CATHOLIQUES|oclc=10588473}}</ref><ref>{{Source-attribution|{{cite book|location=Grand Rapids|publisher=B. Eerdmans|series=A select library of the Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian Church. Second series |volume=11|editor1-last=Schaff|editor1-first=Philip|editor1-link=Philip Schaff|editor2-last=Wace|editor2-first=Henry|editor2-link=Henry Wace (priest)|title=Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian |edition=Reprint |year=1955|orig-year=1894 by various publishers |oclc=16266414|author1=Vincent of Lérins|translator=Charles A. Heurtley |chapter=The ''Commonitory'' of Vincent of Lérins, for the antiquity and universality of the catholic faith against the profane novelties of all heresies|pages=127–130 [132]|chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf211.iii.html |via=[[Christian Classics Ethereal Library]]}}}}</ref> The {{abbr|UU|Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches}} allows those who are [[Christian views on divorce|divorced]] to have a new religious marriage in the church,<ref>[http://www.alt-katholisch.de/information/haeufig_gestellte_fragen/ehe_scheidung_wiederheirat/index.html Ehe, Scheidung, Wiederheirat (Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202212757/http://www.alt-katholisch.de/information/haeufig_gestellte_fragen/ehe_scheidung_wiederheirat/index.html |date=2 February 2009 }}</ref> and Old Catholics had gradually replaced the Latin mass with the vernacular by 1877.<ref name=":0" /> In 1989, the Union of Utrecht opposed [[Christianity and abortion|abortion]], but "[u]nusual exceptions should be made in consultation with a priest".<ref name="Deseret News 1989">{{cite web |date=1989-04-15 |title='OLD CATHOLICS' SAY CHRIST IS THEIR LEADER |url=https://www.deseret.com/1989/4/15/18802956/old-catholics-say-christ-is-their-leader |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Deseret News}}</ref>

=== Apostolic succession ===
Old Catholicism values [[apostolic succession]] by which they mean both the uninterrupted laying on of hands by bishops through time (the [[Historical episcopate|historic episcopate]]), and the continuation of the whole life of the church community by word and sacrament over the years and ages. Old Catholics consider apostolic succession to be the handing on of belief in which the whole Church is involved. In this process the ministry has a special responsibility and task, caring for the continuation in time of the mission of Jesus Christ and his apostles.<ref name="utrechter-union1" />

According to the principle of ''[[ex opere operato]]'', certain ordinations by bishops not in communion with Rome are [[Validity and liceity (Catholic Church)|still recognised as being valid by the Holy See]], and the ordinations of and by Old Catholic bishops in the Union of Utrecht churches has never been formally questioned by the Holy See until the more recent ordinations of women as priests.<ref>{{cite web|title=Edward McNamara, "The Old Catholic and Polish National Churches"|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur395.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622191447/http://www.ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur395.htm|archive-date=22 June 2019|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref>

==Ecumenism==
The Union of Utrecht considers that the reunion of the churches has to be based on a re-actualization of the decisions of faith made by the undivided Church. In that way, they claim, the [[Great Church|original unity of the Church]] could be made visible again. Following these principles, later bishops and theologians of the Union of Utrechts churches stayed in contact with [[Russian Orthodox]], [[Lutheran]] and [[Anglican]] representatives.<ref name="utrechter-union0" /><ref name="utrechter-union2">{{cite web |title=The Old Catholic Ecumenical Commitment |publisher=Union of Utrecht of The Old Catholic Churches |url=http://www.utrechter-union.org/english/ecumenical.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812021030/http://www.utrechter-union.org/english/ecumenical.htm |archive-date=12 August 2009}}</ref>

Old Catholic involvement in the multilateral [[ecumenical]] movement formally began with the participation of two bishops, from the Netherlands and Switzerland, at the Lausanne Faith and Order (F&O) conference (1927). This side of ecumenism has always remained a major interest for Old Catholics who have never missed an F&O conference. Old Catholics also participate in other activities of the WCC and of national councils of churches. By active participation in the ecumenical movement since its very beginning, the OCC demonstrates its belief in this work.<ref name="utrechter-union2" />
==See also==
{{portal|Catholicism|Christianity|Religion}}

===Movements===
* [[Independent Catholicism]]
* [[Liberal Catholic Church]]
* [[Willibrord Society]]
* [[German Catholics (sect)]]

===People===
* [[Franz Heinrich Reusch]]
* [[Warren Prall Watters]]
* [[Gerard Shelley]]
* [[Amalie von Lasaulx]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===

* {{Source-attribution|{{cite book|location=Oxford; London|publisher=John Henry and James Parker|last=Neale|first=John M|author-link=John Mason Neale|title=History of the so-called Jansenist church of Holland; with a sketch of its earlier annals, and some account of the Brothers of the common life|year=1858|oclc=600855086|hdl=2027/mdp.39015067974389}}}}

== Further reading ==
* ''Episcopi Vagantes and the Anglican Church''. [[Henry R.T. Brandreth]]. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1947.
* ''Episcopi vagantes in church history.'' A.J. Macdonald. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1945.
* ''The Old Catholic Church: A History and Chronology'' (The Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, No. 3). [[Karl Pruter]]. Highlandville, Missouri: St. Willibrord's Press, 1996.
* ''The Old Catholic Sourcebook'' (Garland Reference Library of Social Science). Karl Pruter and [[J. Gordon Melton]]. New York: Garland Publishers, 1983.
* ''The Old Catholic Churches and Anglican Orders''. C.B. Moss. The Christian East, January, 1926.
* ''The Old Catholic Movement''. C.B. Moss. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1964.

* "La Sainte Trinité dans la théologie de Dominique Varlet, aux origines du vieux-catholicisme". Serge A. Thériault. ''Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift'', Jahr 73, Heft 4 (Okt.-Dez. 1983), p.&nbsp;234-245.

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Old Catholics}}
{{NIE poster|Old Catholics}}{{Union of Utrecht}}{{Union of Scranton}}{{Western Christianity footer}}{{Religion topics}}

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[[Category:Old Catholicism| ]]
[[Category:Christian denominations established in the 19th century]]