What's an "Old Catholic"?
The Old Catholics in Germany formed as a response to the new dogmas of papal infallibility and papal supremacy, which were promulgated at the First Vatican Council in 1870 over the strenuous objections of many bishops and archbishops, particularly in German-speaking countries, and many attempted to boycott the council in a vain attempt to stop the dogmas from being adopted. Once the dogmas were proclaimed, the Old Catholics attempted to remain within the Roman Catholic Church and founded Old Catholic associations, but because of their rejection of the new dogmas, they were excommunicated and forced to start a church of their own. The original Old Catholic associations formed the basis of the new church. Hence the name – “Old Catholic” refers to the church's insistence on maintaining the “old”, original form of Catholicism, as opposed to the new version now embodied by Rome.
The various Old Catholic churches that resulted from this joined the (historically separate) Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands. The Archbishop of Utrecht consecrated the German Old Catholic's first bishop, Josef Hubert Reinkens. The Old Catholic churches on the Euroepan continent then joined together to form the Union of Utrecht – a communion of autonomous national churches with many similarities to the Anglican Communion, with the Archbishop of Utrecht as the figurehead. Today there are Old Catholic churches in Germany, Switzerland (where they are called “Christ-Katholiken”), Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, with missions in France, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Sweden, and Denmark.
From their earliest days, Old Catholics were very open to ecumenism, and sought union with both Anglicans and the Orthodox Church. Discussions continue with the Orthodox, while full communion with Anglicans was established by the Bonn Agreement in 1931. Since then, Old Catholic bishops and Anglican bishops join in consecrating one another, clergy is exchanged, Anglicans may participate in Old Catholic parishes as full members (and vice versa), and so on. Theologically and liturgically, Old Catholics and Anglicans are very similar, and discussions for deepening the relationship are ongoing.
Like Anglicans, the Old Catholics permit clergy to marry and have families, admit women to the priesthood, permit divorce and remarriage within limits, celebrate open communion (i.e. open to all baptized faithful regardless of denomination), and have a more synodical-democratic and decentralized structure. While the Old Catholic churches offer guidance and teachings in questions of morals, these are not forced upon the members through threats of excommunication.
More information about the Old Catholics and the Union of Utrecht may be found on Wikipedia.
Further information
- To find out more about our Anglican-rite English services in Hannover, please click here.
- To find out more about Anglicans, please click here.
- For more information about our English Communion services, please click here.