Old Catholic History
About the Old Catholics in the Catholic tradition, to the Christians of today The name “Old Catholic” can be confusing. Most people hear "Catholic" and think of Rome, the Pope, the Vatican – “Roman Catholic”, in other words. "Old Catholic" sounds to some like “old-fashioned”. However, Old Catholic views are quite different.
We would like to present a brief overview of who the Old Catholics are.
It began early on, the beginnings of the conflicts over the proper relationship between belief and ecclesial structure, between spirituality and power, go back to the earliest days of the Church. In the first millennium of the undivided church, the various local churches and bishops were autonomous. However, unfortunately the controversy over church leadership in law and belief repeatedly flared up – the schism from the Orthodox in 1054 and the Protestant Reformation starting in 1517 are just two of the major examples, alongside numerous smaller, “intra-catholic” confrontations.
The Catholic Church in Utrecht (Netherlands) and its bishops were essentially independent of Rome until 1702: The Utrecht bishops were freely elected by the local chapter, which was made up of local clergy. Because of the confusion and chaos of the Reformation in the Low Countries, the church province of Utrecht was to be placed directly under the control of Rome and its existing independence dissolved. In spite of the inhibition of Utrecht's Archbishop Peter Codde in 1702 and the papal threat to "demote" the Utrecht province to a missionary territory – thus nullifying the Utrecht chapter's rights – the Utrecht chapter decided to assert its ancient rights in the Church Catholic, and in 1723 elected Cornelius Steenhoven as Archbishop. Steenhoven was then ordained as bishop by the French missionary bishop Dominique Varlet.
Independent catholic church
The leitmotif of the Old Catholic Church is today just as it was in the beginning: holding fast to the beliefs and practices of the early undivided Church, in whose midst and whose head is Jesus Christ.
The name “Old” Catholic thus came from the belief that Old Catholics were remaining with the "old" original teachings of the undivided catholic and apostolic church – as a way of denying the “new dogmas”, which were believed to be a break with the continuity of tradition and could not be regarded as truly catholic in any sense.
When in 1870 Rome assembled the First Vatican Council and there promulgated the as dogma the doctrine of papal supremacy (universal jurisdiction), and the doctrine of papal infallibility in questions of morality and tradition, many Catholics rejected these teachings as being neither supported by Scripture nor founded in tradition. They continued to hold on to the "old" catholic and apostolic faith. Catholics – both lay and clergy – who could not in good conscience accept these new dogmas were excommunicated (that is, barred from the sacraments of the church) and were thus compelled to form an independent catholic church under the leadership of their first bishop.
For more information regarding the Old Catholic Church contact us, on our contact page.
We would like to present a brief overview of who the Old Catholics are.
It began early on, the beginnings of the conflicts over the proper relationship between belief and ecclesial structure, between spirituality and power, go back to the earliest days of the Church. In the first millennium of the undivided church, the various local churches and bishops were autonomous. However, unfortunately the controversy over church leadership in law and belief repeatedly flared up – the schism from the Orthodox in 1054 and the Protestant Reformation starting in 1517 are just two of the major examples, alongside numerous smaller, “intra-catholic” confrontations.
The Catholic Church in Utrecht (Netherlands) and its bishops were essentially independent of Rome until 1702: The Utrecht bishops were freely elected by the local chapter, which was made up of local clergy. Because of the confusion and chaos of the Reformation in the Low Countries, the church province of Utrecht was to be placed directly under the control of Rome and its existing independence dissolved. In spite of the inhibition of Utrecht's Archbishop Peter Codde in 1702 and the papal threat to "demote" the Utrecht province to a missionary territory – thus nullifying the Utrecht chapter's rights – the Utrecht chapter decided to assert its ancient rights in the Church Catholic, and in 1723 elected Cornelius Steenhoven as Archbishop. Steenhoven was then ordained as bishop by the French missionary bishop Dominique Varlet.
Independent catholic church
The leitmotif of the Old Catholic Church is today just as it was in the beginning: holding fast to the beliefs and practices of the early undivided Church, in whose midst and whose head is Jesus Christ.
The name “Old” Catholic thus came from the belief that Old Catholics were remaining with the "old" original teachings of the undivided catholic and apostolic church – as a way of denying the “new dogmas”, which were believed to be a break with the continuity of tradition and could not be regarded as truly catholic in any sense.
When in 1870 Rome assembled the First Vatican Council and there promulgated the as dogma the doctrine of papal supremacy (universal jurisdiction), and the doctrine of papal infallibility in questions of morality and tradition, many Catholics rejected these teachings as being neither supported by Scripture nor founded in tradition. They continued to hold on to the "old" catholic and apostolic faith. Catholics – both lay and clergy – who could not in good conscience accept these new dogmas were excommunicated (that is, barred from the sacraments of the church) and were thus compelled to form an independent catholic church under the leadership of their first bishop.
For more information regarding the Old Catholic Church contact us, on our contact page.