Old Catholic Church

Old Catholic Church
PolityEpiscopal
Union of Utrecht
Union of Scranton
AssociationsWorld Council of Churches (Union of Utrecht only)
Full communionAnglican Communion (Union of Utrecht only)
Church of Sweden (Union of Utrecht only)[3]
Philippine Independent Church (Union of Utrecht only)
Separated fromCatholic Church
Also known as Old Catholics or Old-Catholic churches

The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches,[4] or Old Catholic movement,[5] designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivided church but who separated from the see of Rome after the First Vatican council of 1869–70".[6][7]

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 authority and 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 (UU) 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 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Philippine Independent Church[8][9] and many UU churches are members of the World Council of Churches.[10][11]

Both groups trace their beginning to the 18th century when members of the See of Utrecht refused to obey papal authority and were 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 ordain women and bless same-sex marriages. The Nordic Catholic Church later joined the Union of Scranton as well.

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Member Churches". utrechter-union.org. Utrecht, NL: Utrechter Union der Altkatholischen Kirchen. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b "The Union of Scranton: a union of churches in communion with the Polish National Catholic Church". unionofscranton.org. Scranton, PA: Union of Scranton. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Agreement" (PDF). Union of Utrecht. 23 November 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Old-Catholic churches". World Council of Churches. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  5. ^ James R., Lewis (1998). "Old Catholic Movement". The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions (1st ed.). United States: Prometheus Books. p. 367. ISBN 1-57392-222-6.
  6. ^ "Old Catholic church | Christianity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  7. ^ Beyschlag, Willibald (1898). "The Origin and Development of the Old Catholic Movement". The American Journal of Theology. 2 (3): 481–526. ISSN 1550-3283.
  8. ^ "Bilateral Relations". Church of Sweden. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Churches in Communion with the Church of England". Europe.anglican.org. 8 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  10. ^ "Old-Catholic Church in the Netherlands". Oikoumene.org. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  11. ^ "Old-Catholic churches | World Council of Churches". www.oikoumene.org. Retrieved 31 March 2021.


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