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Revised 10/03/09
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How are you to be considered "Old Catholic"?
While we accept both the Declaration of Utrecht and the Fourteen Theses of the Old Catholic Union Conference at Bonn, we do not claim in any way to be formally "in Communion" with the member churches of the Union of Utrecht.
From time to time we refer to ourselves and our diocese as being "Old Catholic." However, our sense of being thus is purely intentional. Perhaps a more accurate designation for us is "independent Catholic," although of late we have been gravitating more towards referring to ourselves as members of the "Independent Sacramental Movement" (ISM).
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The Declaration of Utrecht
This translation was printed in the
Report of the Lambeth Conference of 1930, page 142
(1) We adhere faithfully to the Rule of Faith laid down by St. Vincent of Lérins in these terms: "Id teneamus, quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est; hoc est etenim vere proprieque catholicum." For this reason we persevere in professing the faith of the primitive Church, as formulated in the ecumenical symbols and specified precisely by the unanimously accepted decisions of the Ecumenical Councils held in the undivided Church of the first thousand years.
(2) We therefore reject the decrees of the so-called Council of the Vatican, which were promulgated July 18, 1870, concerning the infallibility and the universal episcopate of the Bishop of Rome -- decrees which are in contradiction with the faith of the ancient Church and which destroy its ancient canonical constitution by attributing to the Pope all the plenitude of ecclesiastical powers over all dioceses and over all the faithful. By denial of his primatial jurisdiction we do not wish to deny the historic primacy which several ecumenical councils and the Fathers of the ancient Church have attributed to the Bishop of Rome by recognizing him as the Primus inter pares.
(3) We also reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception promulgated by Pope Pius IX in 1854 in defiance of the Holy Scriptures and in contradiction with the tradition of the first centuries.
(4) As for encyclicals published by the Bishops of Rome in recent times, for example, the Bulls Unigenitus and Auctorem fidei, and the Syllabus of 1864, we reject them on all such points as are in contradiction with the doctrine of the primitive Church, and we do not recognize them as binding on the consciences of the faithful. We also renew the ancient protests of the Catholic Church of Holland against the errors of the Roman Curia, and against its attacks upon the tights of national churches.
(5) We refuse to accept the decrees of the Council of Trent in matters of discipline, and as for the dogmatic decisions of that Council we accept them only so far as they are in harmony with the teaching of the primitive Church.
(6) Considering that the Holy Eucharist has always been the true central point of Catholic worship, we consider it our duty to declare that we maintain with perfect fidelity the ancient Catholic doctrine concerning the Sacrament of the Altar, by believing that we receive the Body and the Blood of our Savior Jesus Christ under the species of bread and wine. The Eucharistic celebration in the Church is neither a continual repetition nor a renewal of the expiatory sacrifice which Jesus offered once for all upon the Cross; but it is a sacrifice because it is the perpetual commemoration of the sacrifice offered upon the Cross, and it is the act by which we represent upon earth and appropriate to ourselves the one offering which Jesus Christ makes in Heaven, according to Hebrews 9:11-12, for the salvation of redeemed humanity, by appearing for us in the presence of God (Hebrews 9:24). The character of the Holy Eucharist being thus understood, it is, at the same time, a sacrificial feast, by means of which the faithful, in receiving the Body and Blood of our Savior, enter into communion with one another (1 Corinthians 1:17).
(7) We hope that Catholic theologians, in maintaining the faith of the undivided Church, will succeed in establishing an agreement upon questions which have been controverted ever since the divisions which have arisen between the churches. We exhort the priests under our jurisdiction to teach, both by preaching and by the instruction of the young, especially the essential Christian truths professed by all the Christian confessions, to avoid, in discussing controverted doctrines, any violation of truth or charity, and in word and deed to set an example to the members of our churches in accordance with the spirit of Jesus Christ our Savior.
(8) By maintaining and professing faithfully the doctrine of Jesus Christ, by refusing to admit those errors which by the fault of men have crept into the Catholic Church, by laying aside the abuses in ecclesiastical matters, together with the worldly tendencies of the hierarchy, we believe that we shall be able to combat efficaciously the great evils of our day, which are unbelief and indifference in matters of religion.
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A Question from Carol,
a life-long Episcopalian I still am not clear what specific religion it is that your congregation practices, I have heard you referred to as "Old Catholic" but don't know what that means exactly. As for being “Old Catholic” that simply means that we are Catholic Christians in the tradition of the Church of Utrecht (Holland). Old Catholic beliefs were the same as those of the Roman Catholic Church up until about 1850. In 1850 the pope declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by his own authority … this was followed by the declaration of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council of 1869-1870 (and significantly later by the Dogma of the Assumption in 1950). The minority party at Vatican I ended up leaving the Roman Church to become the “Old Catholics” – because they believed in the “old way” which saw infallibility in the church as vested in the council of Bishops as opposed to any one individual – i.e., the pope. In some ways “Old Catholics” are the last hold-outs of the Reformation – like Martin Luther they “appeal to a general council.”
The “Old Catholics” in this country are not in communion with the Old Catholic Churches in Europe, but we have called ourselves “Old Catholic” because we are in their “lines” of Apostolic Succession. For many Catholics the understanding of Apostolic Succession is something very tactile – the fact that a validly consecrated bishop lays hands makes the one upon whom the bishop lays those hands validly ordained – whether as deacon, priest or bishop. Many American "Old Catholics" have been very scrupulous in maintaining Apostolic Succession according to this understanding and, from this particular Catholic perspective, are valid churches.
Today, many of us in the USA are trying to downplay the “Old Catholic” label in favor of a more accurate descriptor. At this point many of us have settled on "Independent Sacramental Movement." We are independent of all the larger Sacramental Churches, but nevertheless too Sacramental to fall under the Protestant umbrella. Theologically we tend towards a Roman understanding of things but with a more reasoned approach (which is why we agree theologically with so much of the Anglican Tradition).
Structurally, we have been tending more towards a Congregational model of late … we believe in the passing on of the Apostolic Tradition via the laying on of hands by “valid” bishops, but are less concerned with being part of big institutions like the Roman Church, ECUSA or the European Old Catholic Communion. We hearken back to the so-called Ignatian Model – the senior priest is consecrated as the bishop of the local church by other bishops in the Apostolic Succession. He or she remains in communion with brother and sister bishops but without the obligation of obedience [unlike the Roman approach]. On one level, this works. However, as one of my brother bishops so aptly put it – “The Independent Movement has enough fruits, flakes and nuts to be its own breakfast cereal.” It is because of the “fruits, flakes and nuts” that churches like ECUSA cannot ipso facto recognize us as “valid” … and it would be too cumbersome for the local ECUSA bishop to pick and choose which independents are legit and which are escapees from the funny farm.
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The Fourteen Theses of the
Old Catholic Union Conference at Bonn
(14-16 September 1874)
I. We agree that the apocryphal or deutero-canonical books of the Old Testament are not of the same canonicity as the books contained in the Hebrew Canon.
II. We agree that no translation of Holy Scripture can claim an authority superior to that of the original text.
III. We agree that the reading of Holy Scripture in the vulgar tongue can not be lawfully forbidden.
IV. We agree that, in general, it is more fitting, and in accordance with the spirit of the Church, that the Liturgy should be in the tongue understood by the people.
V. We agree that Faith working by Love, not Faith without Love, is the means and condition of Man’s justification before God.
VI. Salvation cannot be merited by "merit of condignity," because there is no proportion between the infinite worth of salvation promised by God and the finite worth of man’s works.
VII. We agree that the doctrine of opera supererogationis* and of a thesaurus meritorum sanctorum, i.e., that the overflowing merits of the Saints can be transferred to others, either by the rulers of the Church, or by the authors of the good works themselves, is untenable. [*opera supererogationis and thesaurus meritorum sanctorum: these refer to the Roman doctrine that God expects so much merit from each human being, and that some saints lived exemplary lives filled with more merit than was required of God (opera supererogationis = "works above those required"). This extra merit was then kept in escrow by the Church (thesaurus meritorum sanctorum = "treasury of the merits of the saints"), who has the authority to portion it out to her children.]
VIII. 1. We acknowledge that the number of the sacraments was fixed at seven, first in the twelfth century, and then was received into the general teaching of the Church, not as tradition coming down from the Apostles or from the earliest times, but as the result of theological speculation.
2. Catholic theologians acknowledge, and we acknowledge with them, that Baptism and the Eucharist are principalia, praecipus, eximia salutis nostrae sacramenta ["original, distinguished, extraordinary sacraments for our welfare"].
IX. 1. The Holy Scriptures being recognized as the primary rule of Faith, we agree that the genuine tradition, i.e. the unbroken transmission partly oral, partly in writing of the doctrine delivered by Christ and the Apostles is an authoritative source of teaching for all successive generations of Christians. This tradition is partly to be found in the consensus of the great ecclesiastical bodies standing in historical continuity with the primitive Church, partly to be gathered by scientific method from the written documents of all centuries.
2. We acknowledge that the Church of England and the Churches derived from her have maintained unbroken the episcopal succession.
X. We reject the new Roman doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as being contrary to the tradition of the first thirteen centuries according to which Christ alone is conceived without sin.
XI. We agree that the practice of confession of sins before the congregation or a Priest, together with the exercise of the power of the keys, has come down to us from the primitive Church, and that, purged from the abuses and free from constraint, it should be preserved in the Church.
XII. We agree that "indulgences" can only refer to penalties actually imposed by the Church herself.
XIII. We acknowledge that the practice of the commemoration of the faithful departed, i.e. the calling down of a richer outpouring of Christ’s grace upon them, has come down to us from the primitive Church, and is to be preserved in the Church.
XIV. 1. The Eucharistic celebration in the Church is not a continuous repetition or renewal of the propitiatory sacrifice offered once for ever by Christ upon the cross; but its sacrificial character consists in this, that it is the permanent memorial of it, and a representation and presentation on earth of that one oblation of Christ for the salvation of redeemed mankind, which according to the Epistle to the Hebrews (9:11,12), is continuously presented in heaven by Christ, who now appears in the presence of God for us (9:24).
2. While this is the character of the Eucharist in reference to the sacrifice of Christ, it is also a sacred feast, wherein the faithful, receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, have communion one with another (I Cor. 10:17).
www.themissiondiocese.com
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