Old Catholic Churches

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Matthew_Holford

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I have heard of the Old Catholic Churches. Knowing of their existence is about as far as my knowledge of them goes.


  1. *]How many Old Catholic Churches are there?
    *]Is there a list of them?
    *]What countries are they found in?
    *]Is each church autonomous or do the Old Catholic Churches have a central authority?
    *]Where do they stand on the real presence and transubstantiation? Is their theology on the real presence and transubstantiation the same as the Latin Catholic Church or is it more akin to Anglicanism and Protestantism?
    *]Do they ordain women or do they believe that holy orders must be reserved to men?
    *]Do they ordain homosexuals like some Anglican churches or do they see this as morally wrong?
    *]Do they accept civil divorce as OK?
    *]Where do they stand on artificial contraception, abortion, and IVF?
 
What is an “Old Catholic Church”? Are you talking the American Catholic Church (which isn’t Catholic)?
 
bkayw said:
What is an “Old Catholic Church”? Are you talking the American Catholic Church (which isn’t Catholic)?
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I believe that they are a group of dioceses which split from the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church sui iuris following Vatican I because they rejected the definition of the infallible teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff as defined in Vatican I’s dogmatic constitution Pastor aeternus. I also believe that they they joined together in a federation called the Union of Utrecht. It is my understanding that they are primarily to be found in Germany and the Netherlands.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
I have heard of the Old Catholic Churches. Knowing of their existence is about as far as my knowledge of them goes.


  1. *]How many Old Catholic Churches are there?
    *]Is there a list of them?
    *]What countries are they found in?
    *]Is each church autonomous or do the Old Catholic Churches have a central authority?
    *]Where do they stand on the real presence and transubstantiation? Is their theology on the real presence and transubstantiation the same as the Latin Catholic Church or is it more akin to Anglicanism and Protestantism?
    *]Do they ordain women or do they believe that holy orders must be reserved to men?
    *]Do they ordain homosexuals like some Anglican churches or do they see this as morally wrong?
    *]Do they accept civil divorce as OK?
    *]Where do they stand on artificial contraception, abortion, and IVF?
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  1. I don’t know the answers to all this, but I do know that one Old Catholic community near here has a priest who was formerly serving in the Latin Rite, then was defrocked when convicted of sexual abuse.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
I have heard of the Old Catholic Churches. Knowing of their existence is about as far as my knowledge of them goes.


  1. *]How many Old Catholic Churches are there?
    *]Is there a list of them?
    *]What countries are they found in?
    *]Is each church autonomous or do the Old Catholic Churches have a central authority?
    *]Where do they stand on the real presence and transubstantiation? Is their theology on the real presence and transubstantiation the same as the Latin Catholic Church or is it more akin to Anglicanism and Protestantism?
    *]Do they ordain women or do they believe that holy orders must be reserved to men?
    *]Do they ordain homosexuals like some Anglican churches or do they see this as morally wrong?
    *]Do they accept civil divorce as OK?
    *]Where do they stand on artificial contraception, abortion, and IVF?
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  1. It’s a complicated historical subject, the origin of which goes back to the Jansenists. You might try THE OLD CATHOLIC MOVEMENT: ITS ORIGINS AND HISTORY/Fr. C.B. Moss. Moss was an Anglican, as am I; you should read cautiously. The contemporary Old Catholic movement is splintered and not easily summed up. In some senses it does seem to resemble contemporary Anglicanism in that regard.

    GKC
 
The Old Catholic Churches belong to the Union of Utrecht - which is in FULL communion with the Anglican church. Since there are different strands of the OCC, so womans ordination varies from strand to strand. For example, the “Community Catholic Church” which is the Old Catholic Church in Canada, ordains woman, while the “Polish National Catholic Church” does not. Some strands are pro-life, some strands are pro-choice. The OCC has valid orders, and a valid Apostolic succession, except for the woman-priests, as no woman can be validly ordained. I hope I have helped!
 
LoyalViews said:
The Old Catholic Churches belong to the Union of Utrecht - which is in FULL communion with the Anglican church. Since there are different strands of the OCC, so womans ordination varies from strand to strand. For example, the “Community Catholic Church” which is the Old Catholic Church in Canada, ordains woman, while the “Polish National Catholic Church” does not. Some strands are pro-life, some strands are pro-choice. The OCC has valid orders, and a valid Apostolic succession, except for the woman-priests, as no woman can be validly ordained. I hope I have helped!
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OTOH, not all OCs are in communion with the Union of Utrecht. PNCC isn’t, for example.

GKC
 
I believe Matthew is correct in siting the Union of Utrecht. In the last couple of years a community started in my city. There is one diocese in the United States and it’s important
to note that they are not recognized by Rome. A fact that sticks in my mind from doing research when they started up is that their bishop is on his third wife. If you want more background you can go to Emmaus Catholic Community’s web site. Keep these churches in your prayers that they are led back to the one true church…
 
kaitlyn48 said:
I believe Matthew is correct in siting the Union of Utrecht. In the last couple of years a community started in my city. There is one diocese in the United States and it’s important
to note that they are not recognized by Rome. A fact that sticks in my mind from doing research when they started up is that their bishop is on his third wife. If you want more background you can go to Emmaus Catholic Community’s web site. Keep these churches in your prayers that they are led back to the one true church…
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Utrecht is the oldest and largest of the OC groups. Not all OC Churches are members of that Union.

GKC
 
GKC said:
OTOH, not all OCs are in communion with the Union of Utrecht. PNCC isn’t, for example.

GKC
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Thank you for correcting me! I just presumed that they were. Just goes to show I should check first!
 
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