Union of the Old Catholic Churches in Utrecht

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The Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches (Utrecht Union) was founded on September 24, 1889 as a fellowship of Old Catholic Churches.

Principles of Old Catholicism

The Old Catholic Churches emerged (with the exception of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands, which had existed for a long time ) following the First Vatican Council of 1870. The Catholic Christians who did not accept the resolutions of the First Vatican Council were excommunicated and founded by the Roman Catholic Church finally own congregations and churches. The main points of conflict were the dogmas formulated at the council of the infallibility of the Pope and his jurisdiction primate over all bishops.

In the Utrecht Declaration of 1889, the founding document of the Union, the old Catholic bishops confessed to what they saw as the "old Catholic faith of the old undivided Church of the first millennium" and confirmed their rejection of what they believed to be illegal claims to power of the Pope.

They also profess the character of the Eucharist as a real visualization of Christ's sacrifice on earth and his permanent presence in the consecrated gifts of bread and wine, rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiation .

Another important point of the declaration is its commitment to ecumenism . The Old Catholic Church, especially in Germany and Switzerland, has been campaigning for an understanding between the individual denominations since its own ecclesiastical existence , among other things by holding several Union conferences in Bonn in the 1870s with representatives of the Orthodox and Anglican churches.

Canon law basis of the Union of Utrecht

From 1889 to 2000 the Utrecht Convention formed the canonical basis for the Union of Utrecht. The components were: 1. The Utrecht Declaration, which explains some theological standpoints of Old Catholicism, 2. The agreement on communio in sacris (between the Old Catholic local churches) and 3. The regulations, which for example determined the President of the Bishops' Conference. Major revisions of the agreement and regulations took place in 1952 and 1974, the text of the Utrecht Declaration remained untouched.

With legal effect from January 1, 2001, the convention was replaced by the statute of the bishops united in the Union of Utrecht adopted by the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference in 2000 . The statute consists of a preamble, internal rules (based on the agreement), rules of procedure (based on the regulations) and final provisions. The preamble defines some principles of Old Catholic ecclesiology and explains the Utrecht Declaration of 1889 as fundamental to Old Catholic teaching. Kurt Stalder's insights and reflections have been incorporated into the preamble . The tasks of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference are defined in the Internal Order. The rules of procedure appoint the Archbishop of Utrecht as President of the Bishops' Conference. Every bishop of the Union of Utrecht is obliged to sign the statute, which also includes the Utrecht Declaration of 1889.

Statements of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference

The Utrecht Declaration is the best-known religious text of Old Catholicism. The Utrecht Declaration of 1889 deals with the following topics in its eight articles: 1. Principle of Vincent von Lerin . 2. Rejection of papal infallibility and the primacy of jurisdiction , but recognition of the primacy of the early church as primus inter pares. 3. Rejection of the 1854 dogma of the Immaculate Conception . 4. Rejection of the bulls Unigenitus Dei filius and Auctorem fidei , further rejection of the syllabus . 5. Only conditional acceptance of the Council of Trent . 6. Explanations of the Eucharist and confession of real presence . 7. Hope for ecumenical understanding. 8. Rejection of the religious indifference of the present.

On December 26, 1950, the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference published the Declaration on the Assumption of Mary ; it was the (negative) Old Catholic answer to this year by Pope Pius XII. dogmatization took place. The letter of faith of 1969 was created in connection with the Orthodox-Old Catholic dialogue. It deals with some questions of ecclesiology and the doctrine of the sacraments. The letter of faith was resolved on December 15, 1969 and presented to the ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in a solemn form on June 21, 1970 by an Old Catholic delegation of bishops . The declaration on the Filioque of 1969 maintains the Old Catholic (and Orthodox) position that the (Western) addition of the Filioque is rejected in the Creed . In the declaration The primacy in the church of July 18, 1970, the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference endorses the primacy of the Roman bishop in the sense of the old, undivided Church, but rejects the design in the form of the First Vatican Council and its dogmas.

Institutions in the Union of Utrecht

International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference

The St. Getrudis Cathedral in Utrecht

The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference , abbreviated IBC, has been responsible for maintaining communion within the Union of Utrecht since 1889 and for witnessing the truth of the apostolic tradition. The Bishops' Conference has no direct jurisdiction in the member churches, so the Union of Utrecht is to a certain extent comparable to the Anglican Communion or the Orthodox Church (and its autocephalous churches). The Bishops' Conference can publish statements on contentious questions of faith and morals and also make statements on faith and doctrine. Agreements between the Union of Utrecht and other churches are also concluded through the Bishops' Conference.

The President of the IBK is ex officio the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht . According to the statute, the members of the IBK entitled to vote are the bishops of the Union of Utrecht. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church send a permanent representative , while the Episcopal Churches of Spain and Portugal send an observer on a case-by-case basis. In the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council , the representatives sent by the IBK have voting rights, and they also have observer status in the Anglican jurisdictions on mainland Europe.

International Old Catholic Congress

The International Old Catholic Congress is an integral part of Old Catholicism, but has no official church character. The Old Catholic Congresses take place every four years and are a comprehensive forum for lay people and theologians from all Old Catholic churches. Other churches also send their observers. Old Catholic Congresses have existed since 1871, but were limited to Germany until the Union of Utrecht was founded. Since 1890 they have been held as International Old Catholic Congresses. The Old Catholic Bishops have since taken part in all congresses, and a meeting of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference is often combined with the date of the congress.

Other facilities

The International Anglican-Old Catholic Coordinating Council , abbreviated (English) AOCICC, was initiated in 1998 by the Archbishops of Canterbury and Utrecht and deals with cooperation within the framework of the communio in sacris (community of the sacraments) established by the Bonn Agreement . In addition to the annual exchange of information about events in the two church families, relations with third churches are also discussed. The committee is renewed approximately every five years.

The International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD) was first considered in 2000 at a personal meeting between the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht Antonius Jan Glazemaker and the Pontifical Unity Council Edward Cardinal Cassidy . The commission began its work in 2003 under their successors in office, Archbishop Joris Vercammen and Walter Cardinal Kasper . The Roman Catholic Bishop Paul-Werner Scheele and the Christian Catholic Bishop Fritz-René Müller were appointed as co-presidents . The representatives of the Old Catholic Churches are nominated by the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, the appointment on the Roman Catholic side is made by the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity . The report of the commission was presented in 2009 under the title Church and Church Fellowship and was received by the participating churches for several years.

The International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD II) met again from 2012 to 2016, with the Old Catholic Bishop Matthias Ring and the Roman Catholic Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker, appointed by Cardinal Kurt Koch , available as co-presidents . The final document Church and Church Fellowship (Second Report) was published in 2017.

The Orthodox Old Catholic Working Group is a body set up by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, which has met regularly since 2004 and discusses ecumenical issues in the Orthodox-Old Catholic dialogue. The co-chairmen are the Christian Catholic Bishop Harald Rein and the Orthodox Bishop Kyrillos Katerelos (Athens), who took over this function in 2011 from the Metropolitan of Austria Michael Staikos . In the same year the working group in Phanar was received by the ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I , who clearly spoke out in favor of continuing the dialogue.

The International Old Catholic Theological Conference has existed since 1950 and is held on average every two years. The conferences serve to elaborate questions on contemporary theology and to deepen the common beliefs of Old Catholicism.

The International Old Catholic Lay Forum was established in 1991 and is carried out approximately every two years. The forum has no canonical character, but is run as an association. The lay forum is intended to implement the synodal principle of Old Catholicism at the level of the Union of Utrecht.

The resolutions and documents of these institutions are published regularly in the International Church Journal . The IKZ, founded in 1892, appears in quarterly issues in Bern and is the scientific organ of Old Catholicism. In addition to important resolutions of the Old Catholic local churches and contributions by Old Catholic authors, ecumenical publications can also be found in the IKZ.

Fellowship with other churches

As a result of the Bonn Agreement, the Union of Utrecht has been in full communion with the Anglican Church since 1931 ; the Bonn Agreement has also been applied to the Independent Philippine Church , the Reformed Episcopal Church in Spain and the Lusitan Church in Portugal since 1965 . Since November 2016 the Union of Utrecht has been in communion with the Church of Sweden and since June 2019 with the Mar Thoma Church .

Several old Catholic churches also invite Christians of other denominations to the Lord's Supper. In Germany there has been a mutual invitation to the Lord's Supper with the Evangelical Churches of the EKD since 1985 . The Old Catholic Church of Austria and the Evangelical Church A. u. Shortly afterwards, HB in Austria and the churches in the Czech Republic also made a corresponding agreement on Eucharistic hospitality; this Evangelical-Old Catholic regulation therefore currently applies in three countries.

There are currently no direct doctrinal discussions with the Lutheran World Federation , but a permanent Old Catholic observer is accredited in the Anglican-Lutheran Dialogue Commission.

The theological dialogue with the Orthodox churches, which came to an end in 1987, showed broad agreement on dogmatic questions. However, due to the introduction of the ordination of women by the Western European Old Catholic Churches in the 1990s, no agreement on church fellowship was reached. Since 2004, however, discussions have been held again, also on the issue of women's ordination. When the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomeos I officially visited the Netherlands in April 2014, his program also included a personal meeting with Archbishop Joris Vercammen and the celebration of a pontifical Vesper in the Old Catholic St. Gertrude's Cathedral in Utrecht. In his message of greeting to the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Patriarch praised, among other things, the 26 common basic texts published up to 1987 as “milestones” in the relationship between Orthodoxy and Old Catholicism and expressed his appreciation for the work of the current Orthodox Old Catholic working group.

There was practically no contact with the Roman Catholic Church until the Second Vatican Council . An Old Catholic observer delegation ( Werner Küppers , Petrus Maan , Herwig Aldenhoven ) was officially sent to the Second Vatican Council itself . Immediately after the council, national dialogue commissions began their work, in Germany with the participation of Heinrich Fries . In 1968 the Roman Catholic members from different countries met in Zurich; The result of this international consultation was the so-called Zurich Nota , which almost literally took over the regulations of the Council for the Eastern Churches and applied them to the Old Catholics, in particular the admission to penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick. On this basis, in 1973 the German Bishops' Conference under Julius Cardinal Döpfner approved an agreement on pastoral help between the Roman Catholic and the Old Catholic Church . In 1974 and 1975 further supplements requested by Rome were added, but the promulgation by the Vatican did not materialize. The dialogue was only continued at the national level over the next few decades; an international dialogue commission was not set up again until 2003. The Old Catholic Archbishop Joris Vercammen was invited to the appointment of Pope Francis and the private audience for ecumenical guests in March 2013. In the course of this personal encounter, the Roman Catholic Old Catholic dialogue was also honored.

The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht was hosted in the Vatican for the first time on October 30, 2014. After an exchange of information with Kurt Cardinal Koch , Pope Francis received the Old Catholic bishops under the leadership of Archbishop Vercammen in a private audience. With his address to the Bishops' Conference, the Pope encouraged the advancement of cooperation between Catholics and Old Catholics and explicitly mentioned the important role of the International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD), which has existed for some years. In the course of the separation of the churches there were "human errors".

Member churches

The founding members of the Union of Utrecht were the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands , which had been in a schism with Rome since 1723 and guaranteed the Apostolic Succession , as well as the Old Catholic Church in Germany, constituted from 1871 to 1873, and the Christian Catholic Church in Switzerland . In 1890 the Old Catholic Church in Austria joined. In 1897 and 1907, the Polish National Catholic Church, founded by Polish emigrants in the USA, was accepted . In 1909 the Mariavites , who lived in Poland and were monitored by the Russian occupation, were admitted to the Union of Utrecht. After the consecration of Jan Maria Michał Kowalski in 1909 , spiritualistic tendencies (including “mystical marriages” between priests and nuns) led to the exclusion of the Mariavites from the Union in 1924. In 1951 the Polish Catholic Church joined the Union.

Today's member churches

Independent churches with voting rights:

Dependent churches or parishes:

Former member churches

Lost churches

  • Slovenian Old Catholic Church
    • formerly 3000 believers, 1 bishop (Anton Kovačević), 4 parishes, 3 priests ( as of October 1969 )
  • Old Catholic Church in Serbia
    • formerly 3000 believers, 1 diocese administrator (Jovan Ajhinger, Belgrade), 4 parishes, 4 priests. There still seems to be a community near Novi Sad. In the preliminary remarks of the evaluation of the 2002 census, the following are listed: “Old Catholic Church” and “Croatian Old Catholic National Church”, but no figures are given in the publicly accessible area; they are included in “Other”. In the government yearbook of the Republic of "Serbia and Montenegro" for 2004, the diocese administrator is listed, so there seems to be state recognition.

Current developments and conflicts

When the German diocese consecrated the first women to priestesses on May 23, 1996 according to a synodal resolution of May 10, 1994, the German bishop's right to vote in the International Bishops' Conference was temporarily withdrawn. The reason for this was that it had previously been agreed to wait a few more years with the practical implementation of the ordination of women , which was accepted in principle in all Western European churches, and only to proceed together. However, since the International Bishops' Conference in 1997 found that such a joint approach would not be possible because of the differences in content, the three other Western European churches also ordained women in the following years. The two churches in Eastern Europe do not ordain women to the priesthood (the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic does, however, ordain women as deacons). However, they maintained ecclesial fellowship with those Old Catholic churches that also ordain women.

Since the PNCC categorically rejects the ordination of women, it left the Union of Utrecht in 2003 , after it had previously refused to communicate in sacris .

The Slovak jurisdiction was excluded from the Union of Utrecht in 2004 due to the ordination of a priest as bishop by a so-called vagante bishop .

On April 1, 2014, the International Bishops' Conference decided to re- admit the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites , which had been separate since 1924, into the Union of Utrecht; however, the admission has not yet been carried out because, following the decision of the International Bishops' Conference, it turned out that the Mariavites still needed internal clarification.

See also

literature

  • Christian Flügel: The Union of Utrecht and the history of its churches. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2006, ISBN 3-8334-6069-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Hintzen: Union of Utrecht . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder. Freiburg in Breisgau. 2007. ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 . Pp. 1401-1402.
  2. ^ Peter Neuner : Old Catholic Church . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder. Freiburg in Breisgau. 2007. ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 . Pp. 31-34.
  3. ↑ Urs Küry: The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt / Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 99 .
  4. ↑ Kurt Stalder: Experiencing the reality of Christ: Ecclesiological investigations and their significance for the existence of the church today . 1st edition. Benziger , Zurich Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-545-26192-1 , p. 220 .
  5. ^ Statute of the bishops united in the Union of Utrecht Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on April 26, 2014
  6. ^ Statute of the bishops united in the Union of Utrecht, preamble homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on April 26, 2014
  7. ↑ Urs von Arx: What makes the Church Catholic? Perspectives of a Christian Catholic answer . In: Thomas W. Müller (Ed.): Catholicity - an ecumenical opportunity. Writings of the Ecumenical Institute Lucerne 4 . Theological publishing house Zurich. Zurich. 2006. ISBN 978-3-290-20031-2 . P. 167.
  8. ^ Statute of the bishops united in the Union of Utrecht, Internal Order Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on April 26, 2014
  9. ^ Statute of the bishops united in the Union of Utrecht, Rules of Procedure Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on April 26, 2014
  10. ↑ a b c Report of the dialogue between the Old Catholic Churches and the Church of Sweden Homepage of the Old Catholic Church in Germany, accessed on April 27, 2014
  11. ↑ Urs von Arx: What makes the Church Catholic? Perspectives of a Christian Catholic answer . In: Thomas W. Müller (Ed.): Catholicity - an ecumenical opportunity. Writings of the Ecumenical Institute Lucerne 4 . Theological publishing house Zurich. Zurich. 2006. ISBN 978-3-290-20031-2 . P. 158.
  12. ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Krahl: Ecumenical Catholicism. Old Catholic landmarks and texts from two millennia . St. Cyprian, Bonn 1970, p. 153-158 .
  13. ↑ Grigorios Larentzakis: The Orthodox Church. Your life and your beliefs . 1st edition. Styria, Graz Vienna Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-222-12786-7 , p. 198 .
  14. ^ Church and church fellowship. Report of the International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius Lembeck, Paderborn Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 60 .
  15. ↑ Kurt Stalder: Experiencing the reality of Christ: Ecclesiological investigations and their significance for the existence of the church today . 1st edition. Benziger, Zurich Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-545-26192-1 , p. 233 .
  16. ↑ Victor Conzemius: Review of a synodal aggiornamento. A hundred years of Old Catholicism . In: Wolfgang Seibel SJ (Ed.): Voices of the time. Issue 6 June 1973 . Herder. Freiburg in Breisgau. P. 363.
  17. ^ The ecumenical task of the Utrecht Union Homepage of the Old Catholic Church in Germany, accessed on April 27, 2014
  18. ↑ Public Relations Working Group of the Catholic Diocese of Old Catholics in Germany (ed.): Church for Christians today: An information about the Old Catholic Church . Hoffmann, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-87344-001-6 , p. 12 .
  19. ↑ Angela Berlis: Growing together - growing together: Old Catholic and Anglican collaboration in the Netherlands . In: Angela Berlis / Matthias Ring (ed.): Anchor in Heaven: Assumptions about the Church in the Future. Festschrift for Bishop Joachim Vobbe . Catholic diocese of the old Catholics. Bonn. 2008. 2nd edition. ISBN 978-3-837-05957-1 . P. 184.
  20. ↑ Urs Küry: The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt / Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 100-101 .
  21. ↑ Christian Oeyen: On the original ecclesiological understanding of the Utrecht Union . In: Angela Berlis / Günter Eßer / Matthias Ring (eds.): Thinking movements. Collected essays on old Catholic theology. Celebration for the 70th birthday . Old Catholic diocese publisher. Bonn. 2008. ISBN 3-934610-28-5 . P. 118.
  22. ↑ Relations with the Anglican Church Fellowship Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on April 27, 2014
  23. ^ Church and church fellowship. Report of the International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius Lembeck, Paderborn Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 7 .
  24. ^ Church and church fellowship. Report of the International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius Lembeck, Paderborn Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 50 .
  25. ^ Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission met in December 2012 in Paderborn Homepage of the Archdiocese of Paderborn, accessed on April 27, 2014
  26. ↑ Urs von Arx: The report of the International Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission "Church and Church Fellowship" . In: Thomas W. Müller (Ed.): Church and Church Fellowship. The catholicity of the Old Catholics (Christ Catholics). Writings of the Ecumenical Institute Lucerne 10 . Theological publishing house Zurich. Zurich. 2013. ISBN 978-3-290-20089-3 . P. 13.
  27. ^ Roman-Catholic-Old Catholic Dialogue Commission met in December 2012 in Paderborn Homepage of the Archdiocese of Paderborn, accessed on April 27, 2014
  28. ↑ Orthodox Old Catholic Working Group received by Ecumenical Patriarchs Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on April 27, 2014
  29. ↑ Urs Küry: The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt / Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 102 .
  30. ^ Klaus-Dieter Gerth: Synodality and Episcopate . In: Angela Berlis / Klaus-Dieter Gerth (ed.): Christ Spes. Liturgy and Faith in an Ecumenical Context. Festschrift for Bishop Sigisbert Kraft . Peter Lang. Frankfurt / Main. 1994. ISBN 3-631-46621-8 . P. 152.
  31. ↑ International Church Journal Homepage of the Theological Faculty Bern / Department for Christian Catholic Theology, accessed on April 29, 2014
  32. ^ Church unity between the Union of Utrecht and the Church of Sweden Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on October 17, 2017
  33. ^ Union of Utrecht - Communiqué of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference (IBK) on the occasion of its 2019 meeting in Lublin / Poland. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  34. ^ Karl Vocelka: Multi-denominational Austria . Religions in the past and present . Styria, Vienna Graz Klagenfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-222-13392-3 , p. 161 .
  35. ↑ The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople visits Utrecht. Homepage of the Old Catholic Church in Germany, accessed on May 3, 2014
  36. ↑ Greetings from the Ecumenical Patriarch to the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference. Homepage of the Old Catholic Church in Germany, accessed on May 3, 2014
  37. ↑ Peter Neuner: New Aspects of the Communion in Communion. The theological significance of the limited fellowship with the Old Catholics. In: Wolfgang Seibel (Ed.): Voices of the time. Issue 3, March 1974. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau, pp. 172-173.
  38. ↑ Urs Küry: The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns . 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 421 .
  39. ↑ The Old Catholic Archbishop to Pope Francis. Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on May 1, 2014
  40. ^ Old Catholic Bishops' Conference: Working visit and private audience in Rome. Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on November 16, 2014
  41. ↑ Pope receives Old Catholics. Vatican Radio website, accessed November 16, 2014
  42. ^ Address by Pope Francis to the delegation of the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht. Vatican homepage, accessed November 16, 2014
  43. ^ Taylor & Francis Group (eds.): Europa World Year . Volume 2, 2004, p. 3718, ISBN 9781857432534
  44. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of November 30, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  45. ^ [1] Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on October 17, 2017