The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht were gathered together in 1889. However, their origins are in the earlier separation of the Catholic diocese of Utrecht in the Netherlands from the Roman Catholic Church in 1724. The originating dispute was over the freedom in Utrecht to elect their archbishop. Subsequent divisions occurred following the First Vatican Council in 1870. Churches in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland protested the doctrine of papal infallibility. These were gathered under the leadership of Ignatz von Döllinger in 1871. These came together with the Church of the Utrecht to form the Union of Utrecht in 1889. The Polish National Catholic Church was established in North America in the late 19th century in protest of the Irish dominance of the Catholic hierarchy. The PNCC established missions in Poland after the First World War. The PNCC broke communion with the Union of Utrecht in 2003, although continuing ties are maintained with the Polish Catholic Church, which remains a member of the Union of Utrecht.

Documents

• Declaration of Utrecht (1889)
• Bonn Agreement (1931)
  Establishing full intercommunion with the churches of the Anglican Communion

Member churches of the Union of Utrecht

• Alt-Katholiken in Deutschland
• Altkatholische Kirche Österreich (Old Catholic Church of Austria)
• Christkatholische Kirche der Schweiz (Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland)
• Oud-Katholieke Kerk van Nederland (Old Catholic Church - The Netherlands)
  • Mission St. Paul
    "An independent part of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands (Union of Utrecht), focuses the church's attention on the mission of the wider church"
• Slovenská katolícka cirkev (Old Catholic Church of Slovakia)
• Starokatolická církev v České republice (Old Catholic Church of the Czech Republic)
• Kościół Polskokatolicki w Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (Polish Catholic Church, Poland)

Dependent churches of the Union of Utrecht

• La Chiesa Vetero Cattolica (Old Catholic Church in Italy)
• Communauté Vieille Catholique d'Alsace (Old Catholic Mission in France)
• Old Catholic Church of Croatia
• Old Catholic Church in Sweden and Denmark

In addition, the Polish National Catholic Church was formerly a member of the Union of Utrecht, until 2003. The separation occurred over the decision in the Union of Utrecht to ordain women.

• Polish National Catholic Church (USA and Canada)

There are a number of other churches that use the name "Old catholic" that are listed on our Independent episcopal churches page. Some of these have historic ties to the European churches, although these ties have since been severed.

Editor:Rédacteur : Nicholas Jesson,
URL: http://ecumenism.net/denom/oldcatholic.php
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