Old Catholicism - Ecumenism

Ecumenism

Immediately after forming the Union of Utrecht, the Old Catholic theologians dedicated themselves to a reunion of the Christian churches. The Conferences of Reunion in Bonn in 1874 and 1875 convoked by Johann von Döllinger, the leading personality of Old Catholicism, are famous. Representatives of the Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Churches were invited. The aim was to discuss the denominational differences as the ground for restoring the church communion. The basic assumptions for participation were the following principles: The acceptance of the Christological dogmata of Nicea and Chalcedon; Christ's foundation of the Church; the Holy Bible, the doctrine of the undivided Church and the Church fathers of the first ten centuries as the genuine sources of belief; and as criterion the famous sentence of St. Vincentius of Lerins: "id teneamus, quod ubique, semper et ab omnibus creditum est" (The true faith is what everywhere, always and by everybody has been believed) as a preferred method for historical research.

Reunion of the Churches had to be based on a re-actualization of the decisions of faith made by the undivided Church. In that way the original unity of the Church could be made visible again. Following these principles, later bishops and theologians of the Old Catholic Churches stayed in contact with (Russian) Orthodox and Anglican representatives.

Old Catholic involvement in the multilateral ecumenical movement formally began with the participation of two bishops, from the Netherlands and Switzerland, at the Lausanne Faith and Order (F&O) conference (1927). This side of ecumenism has always remained a major interest for Old Catholics who have never missed an F&O conference. Old Catholics also participate in other activities of the WCC and of national councils of churches. By its active participation in the ecumenical movement since its very beginning then, the OCC demonstrates its belief in the necessity of the continuation of this work.