Old Catholic church

Old Catholic church, 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.

Origins

The steady process of centralization in the see of Rome and in the person of the pope, which has marked the later history of the Christian church in the West, has naturally led to recurrent opposition. This has taken a variety of forms—for instance, conciliarism in the 15th century and Jansenism in the 17th. A new wave of opposition was released by the plans for the First Vatican Council and the promulgation of the doctrine of the infallibility of the pope in 1870 (see Vatican Council, First). There was widespread hostility to these plans, the most notable figure being the church historian J.J.I. von Döllinger, who was one of the most outstanding Roman Catholic scholars of the period.

After the council, all the bishops of the opposition one by one gave in their adhesion to the new dogma. Döllinger remained inflexible and in time was excommunicated by name. He himself took no part in forming separatist churches, but it was largely as a result of his advice and guidance that Old Catholic churches came into being in a number of countries—Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and elsewhere. As no bishop had joined any of these groups, recourse was had to the Jansenist church in Holland, which had maintained a somewhat precarious existence in separation from Rome since the 18th century but had preserved an episcopal succession recognized by Rome as valid though irregular.

The first consecration of the new order was that of Joseph H. Reinkens, who was made bishop in Germany by a sympathetic bishop of the Jansenist Church of Holland, Bishop Heykamp of Deventer, on Aug. 11, 1873. Rather later and for similar reasons, though with a certain national emphasis, the Polish National Catholic Church came into being in the United States and Canada. The episcopal succession was transmitted to this church in 1897 by Bishop E. Herzog of Switzerland.

Organization

In 1889 the Union of Utrecht was formed, and the declaration of Utrecht, issued in that year by the Old Catholic bishops, is the charter of Old Catholic doctrine and polity. Adherents to this union are the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands, the Old Catholic Church of Germany, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, the Old Catholic Church of Austria, and the Polish National Catholic Church (largely Polish-American in membership). The Old Catholic churches in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia suffered severely during and after World War II. The name “Old Catholic” is sometimes used of other small sects directed by episcopi vagantes (see episcopus vagans), or unrecognized bishops; but this is an inaccuracy.

The chief authority in the Old Catholic churches is the conference of bishops. The archbishop of Utrecht exercises a kind of honorary primacy. Each diocese has its synod, with full participation of both clergy and laity in every aspect of the life of the church, including the election of bishops.

Theological position

Döllinger at the start laid down the vocation of the Old Catholic churches in three propositions: (1) “to bear witness for the truth and against new-fangled errors, especially the disastrous and arbitrary development of new articles of the faith; (2) gradually to bring into being a Church which will be more closely conformed to the ancient undivided Church; (3) to serve as an instrument for a future great reunion of separated Christians and Churches.”

Taking these principles as their basis, the Old Catholics deny that they teach anything which is contrary to the doctrine and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. They accept the Scriptures, the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, and the dogmatic decisions of the first seven ecumenical councils. They uphold the conciliar basis of the church and accord a high place to tradition. They accept seven sacraments as of permanent obligation in the life of the church. The episcopate is accepted as a gift given by God to the church, in which all Catholic bishops share equally, having been admitted thereto by bishops who themselves stand in unbroken historical succession from the time of the Apostles.

Nevertheless, many differences in practice separate Old Catholics from Roman Catholics. By adopting in all countries the use of the vernacular in public worship, the Old Catholics accepted what at the time was regarded as one of the fundamental principles of the Protestant Reformation. Confession to God in the presence of a priest is not obligatory, and celibacy of the clergy was made optional in some Old Catholic churches.

Ecumenical relationships

The third of Döllinger’s principles pledged the Old Catholics from the start to work persistently for Christian union. This was stressed at the first Bonn conference on Christian union, held in 1874, and was repeated at all the international Old Catholic congresses, held at intervals of roughly five years. The Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift (founded in 1893 as the Internationale Theologische Zeitschrift) renders unique service as a reliable and unprejudiced sourcebook on interchurch relationships throughout the world. In 1931, by the agreement of Bonn, full intercommunion was established between the Church of England and the Old Catholic churches; this was followed in 1946 by a similar agreement between the Polish National Catholic Church and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Most of the Anglican churches have accepted these agreements; through mutual participation in episcopal consecrations, rather more than half the Anglican episcopate in the world has the Old Catholic as well as the Anglican episcopal succession. Under the papacy of John Paul II, high-level ecumenical discussions took place, especially with the Polish National Catholic Church.