Independent Catholic Churches - History

History

Although the term Old Catholic was first used in 1853 to describe those Catholics belonging to Utrecht, Netherlands, most scholars date the "modern" Old Catholic movement to the 1870s. After the First Vatican Council in 1870 considerable groups of Austrian, German and Swiss Catholics rejected the declaration of papal infallibility and left to form their own churches independent of the pope. These churches were supported by the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht who ordained their priests and bishops. Later they united more formally under the name Utrecht Union of Churches.

The "independent" Catholic movement came to Great Britain in 1908 when Arnold Harris Mathew was consecrated a bishop in the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht. Utrecht incorrectly believed that Mathew had a significant following in the United Kingdom, and also that there would be a wave of clergy wanting to leave the Church of England as a result of Pope Leo XIII's declaration that Anglican orders were null and void. Mathew believed that Old Catholicism would provide a home for these disaffected clergy; however, the mass conversions failed to occur. Before breaking with the Union of Utrecht, Mathew ordained several individuals to the episcopacy and priesthood, from whom a number of new churches quickly developed, including the Liberal Catholic Church, the first bishop of which was James Wedgwood, consecrated by F.S. Willoughby, who had in turn been consecrated by Mathew.

Joseph René Vilatte, an Old Catholic priest, is credited with being the first person to bring the independent movement to North America. In 1892 Vilatte travelled to India where he obtained ordination to the episcopacy by the Oriental Orthodox bishops in India. Over the following 28 years Vilatte consecrated a number of men to the episcopacy. These bishops, or their successors, went on to found many different jurisdictions in North America.