Nordic Catholic Church

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The Nordic Catholic Church ( Norwegian Den nordisk-katolske kirke ); is an Old Catholic Church founded in Norway in 1999 .

history

The Nordic Catholic Church emerged from the (Lutheran) Norwegian Church , from which it separated due to theological differences, including in particular the ordination of women to the priesthood and bishopric introduced by the Norwegian state church through political influence . From 2000 to 2011 it belonged to the Polish National Catholic Church of America (PNCC) and was thus part of the Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches until 2003 . With the election and consecration of their first bishop Dr. Roald Nikolai Flemestad, it became a largely self-governing church within the Old Catholic Union of Scranton. The degree of their independence corresponds roughly to that of the autonomous churches in the Byzantine Orthodox Church and is thus less than autocephaly ; z. B. the consecration of their bishops is incumbent on the PNCC-dominated Episcopal Conference of the Union of Scranton.

theology

The church is committed to an episcopal-synodal order with full equality of laypeople and clergy, as well as men and women in church leadership. She represents a Catholic understanding of ministry and the sacraments.

The basic theological documents of the Nordic Catholic Church include in particular the consensus document Koinonia on an early church basis , which emerged from the Orthodox- Old Catholic dialogue in 1987 and which the Nordic Catholic Church included in its document of faith ( Trus document ) in 2009 . In addition, in its declaration of faith ( Troserklaeringen ), the Nordic Catholic Church is committed to the Lutheran faith as far as it has preserved the faith of the undivided Orthodox Catholic Church.

As a member of the Scranton Union, it has also ratified the Scranton Declaration. This essentially repeats the Utrecht Declaration of 1889 (rejection of the doctrine of papal infallibility and the papal primacy of jurisdiction ) and also confirms the rejection of the modern dogmas of Mary ( Immaculata , Assumpta ) of the Roman Catholic Church (with regard to the form of their dogmatization ) as well as the more recent innovations in some member churches of the Anglican Church Fellowship and the Union of Utrecht, namely the ordination of women to the priesthood and the church blessing of same-sex associations, as not conforming to scriptures and traditions.

liturgy

The center of liturgical life is the celebration of the Eucharist, which in its structure is similar to the celebration of mass in other Old Catholic churches and the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. As Eucharist prayers are u. a. Variations of the Traditio Apostolica or a shortened version of the prayer of the St. Basil's Liturgy , each in the national language, used, in Germany also the Roman mass canon. In addition to the celebration of the Eucharist, the Nordic Catholic Church knows the personal and community prayer of the hours , as well as the celebration of the sacraments and casualies in the Catholic tradition. In contrast to the Roman Catholic Church, children are usually (as in the Orthodoxy churches) confirmed and fed with the Eucharist at their baptism. Also, the sacrament of marriage is not administered by the bride and groom themselves, but by priestly blessing. Thus the celebration of the wedding is reserved for the priests and cannot be led by a deacon. The Nordic Catholic Church can thus be described as a church with Orthodox theology and Western liturgy.

Ecumenism

The mother church of the Nordic Catholic Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, has - like the Orthodox churches - has been in communicatio in sacris with the Roman Catholic Church since 2006 , according to c. 844 § 2.3 CIC / 1983 .

This also includes the mutual recognition of spiritual offices between the Roman Catholic Church and the Polish National Catholic Church or Nordic Catholic Church: In February 2016, after a corresponding decision by Pope Francis , Erik Andreas Heyerdahl Holth became a former Nordic priest -Catholic Church incardinated in the Roman Catholic diocese of Oslo without being consecrated again.

The Polish National Catholic Church has been a member of the World Council of Churches since 1948 . The Nordic Catholic Church has been part of the Norwegian Christian Council since 2015 .

organization

The highest organ of the church is the synod . The Nordic Catholic Church has five congregations in Norway and two missions in Sweden. There are also three churches in France, three churches in Italy and one mission in Great Britain. In Germany there is an administration (2012-2018 under the name Christ-Katholische Kirche ), which includes five congregations, the Order of Port Royal and a mission in Hungary.

management

The episcopal leadership has been with the doctoral theologian Roald Nikolai Flemestad since 2011, who was consecrated by the bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church in 2011. It was previously presided over by Bishop Thaddeus S. Peplowski, Ordinary of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church . The administration in Germany, Hungary and Switzerland is led by an episcopal vicar in the absence of the bishop.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roald Flemestad: Looking for a new home? . In: New Directions , December 1999 , p. 15. See also William J. Tighe: Norwegian Woes , Touchstone Magazine, November / December 1999
  2. ^ Nordic Catholic Church - Who we are website of the Nordic Catholic Church. Retrieved February 11, 2016
  3. ^ Union of Scranton - Member Churches website of the Union of Scranton (Eng.). Retrieved July 3, 2018
  4. ^ Statutes of the Union of Scranton , Art. 8–9.
  5. ↑ In: Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift , Vol. 79, Issue 4, 1989. doi : 10.5169 / seals-404765
  6. ↑ Den nordisk-katolske kyrkja: Trusdokument (new Norwegian), 2009, pp. 14–58
  7. ↑ The nordisk-Katolske kirke: Troserklaeringen (Norwegian)., 1999
  8. ^ The Declaration of Scranton ( Memento of November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Declaration by the bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church dated April 28, 2008.
  9. ↑ Den nordisk-katolske kyrkja: Trusdokument (Norwegian), 2009, pp. 59–64
  10. ↑ Nordic Catholic Church in Germany - Our Liturgy . Retrieved February 25, 2019
  11. ^ Joint Declaration on Unity . Joint statement by the dialogue commission of the American Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Polish National Catholic Church dated May 17, 2006
  12. ↑ (Nesten) ny prest i Bergen . Announcement on katolsk.no (online portal of the Roman Catholic Church in Norway) of January 9, 2016. Accessed on February 11, 2016
  13. ^ Polish National Catholic Church . Member church listing on the World Council of Churches website. Retrieved February 11, 2016
  14. ↑ Come to Ønsker ny medlemskirke! . Announcement on the website of the Christian Council of Norway dated March 16, 2015. Accessed February 11, 2016
  15. ↑ Nordic Catholic Church in Germany - Our story . Retrieved July 3, 2018
  16. ^ Nordic Catholic Church - Clergy Directory . Retrieved July 3, 2018
  17. ^ Polish National Catholic Church - Our History . Retrieved February 11, 2016
  18. ^ William J. Tighe: Norwegian Woes , Touchstone Magazine, November / December issue, 1999
  19. ^ Nordic Catholic Church - Clergy Directory . Retrieved July 3, 2018

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