Old Roman Catholics












    

    I. Group Profile

    

    

      

    1. 
Name:
 Old Catholics/ Old Roman Catholics

      

    2. 
Founder:
 Cornelius Jansen

      

    3. 
Date of Birth/Death:
 1585-1638

      

    4. 
Year Founded:
 Established in 1871 with the Declaration of Catholic Congress at Munich.

      

    5. 
History


        The Old Catholics arrival is fairly recent in theUnited States when compared to their
  involvement in Europe;  many first generation Old Catholics in America are still active
  in their congregations, while the history of the Old Catholics begins in Europe a few
  centuries ago.

      Some argue the basic beliefs and motivations of Old Catholicism began in the sixteenth
  century with Cornelius Jansen and the incidents at Port Royal.
Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638)
 believed that after the time of St. Augustine, the Catholic Church began to decline
  in practice and beliefs.
Abbe de St. Cyran (1581-1641)
 also agreed with Jansen and claimed only the Port Royal Community in France with their extremely conservative lifestyle were the true devotees of Catholicism.  In turn, the community lost the support of friends and Pope Clement XI.  On September 8, 1713 the Pope issueda bill called "Unigentius" which contained the misconduct of Jansen's teachings and punishments for following these teachings.  Many fled to Protestant Holland where they were received although the Protestants had more serious issues and concerns of their own and they did not fully agree with the credence of Jansen.  The common thread they shared that bonded them was their antipathy for the Jesuits.

      

      
 The Old Catholics move to Holland...


      
Archbishop John Van Neercassel
 defended Jansensists and had to defend himself in Rome after being accused of
  believing and following Jansen.  He was exonerated of charges and became a hero to the
  Dutch.  Because Rome could not punish him while he lived, they waited until his death to
  bestow consequences.  They refused to approve the consecration of a new bishop of
  Utrecht.  Eventually they found a bishop through default.

      
Dominique Marie Varlet
 who was consecrated in Paris as Bishop of Babylon, was passing through Amsterdam when
  a priest persuaded him to confirm the 604 children of their community.  Due to his
  compassion, Rome suspended the Bishop of Babylon.  He returned to Amsterdam to study and
  attempted to appeal his suspension.  During this time, they elected
Cornelius Steenoven
 to be the Archbishop of Utrecht, who The Bishop of Babylon consecrated in 1724.  Of
  course Rome considered this action to be illicit, although they could not say that what
  had taken place was invalid.  The Dutch Catholics claimed that they were nothing but the
  Church of Holland and contended that their faith and practices had not deviated from
  what they followed centuries prior.  The Dutch Church continually asserted its rights
  and privileges while Rome refused to respond until 1870.

      


      Old Catholics remain in high tension with Rome...
      

      

      The debate over Papal Authority during Vatican I in 1869 became heated and some were
  excommunicated for disagreeing with the doctrine.  Chaplain to King Ludwig of Bavaria,
Ignaz von Doellinger (1799- 1890)
 was excommunicated for holding an Old Catholic position and many others continued
  their efforts to validate and popularize the position of the Old Catholics.

      In 1871 an council was held in Munich which claimed the Old Catholic Church had twenty-three congregations in Germany and Australia, so the movement began to take shape in Europe.  In 1873 they elected Josef Hubert Reinkens
 as their bishop.  It was at this time that the German Old Catholics gave the
  independent Sees of Holland a new name -- Old Catholics.  Also, the
Doctrine of Utrecht
, which  became the most important document and stated all basic beliefs was written.

      Through the years the relationship between the Old Catholic Church in Holland and
  Germany strengthened and soon expanded to England.  Under
Bishop Arnold Hans Mathew (1852- 1919)
, the church gradually expanded.  Mathew mistakenly invited
Rev. Fredrick Samuel Willoughby
, an Anglican clergyman, into the church.  Willoughby, a Theosophist, convinced many
  clergy in The Old Roman Catholic Church of his views; many were also members of the
  Theosophical Society.  One of his priests,
Fr. James Ingall Wedgwood (1883- 1923)
 served dually as a Theosophical Society member and as a bishop in Mathew's Church.
  Soon Bishop Willoughby took control and ruined the Church.  The Church was left in
  pieces.  Many of the small groups claimed to be the one, true successor of the church
  founded by Bishop Mathew.  In actuality only about a dozen churches survived in England
  and around three times as many in the United States (Pruter and Melton, 20).

      Now, the Old Catholic Church is very different compared to the vision of Mathew.  The
  church does not satisfy the expectations of Anglicans.  No longer is it a refuge for
  unsatisfied Anglican priests, nor does each church fully interpret or follow the
  original position described in the doctrine of Utrecht.

      


      In the United States...
      

      

      
Joseph Rene Vilatte (1854-1929)
 brought Old Catholicism to the United States in the late nineteenth century, but
  other Old Catholic priests arrived in America under their own volition and under no
  direction.  They attempted to gain members by defining their beliefs; consequently, not
  many joined.

      Vilatte, originally a Presbyterian missionary in Wisconsin, found that not many of the
  Belgians desired to become Presbyterian.  In an attempt to gain more members, and with the
  help of the Anglicans, Vilatte was ordained as a deacon in 1885 and returned to
  Wisconsin under the Old Catholic beliefs.  Due to numerous reasons, he had a difficult
  time being recognized by the Old Catholic Church.  Eventually, he established a small
  church in St. Louis of Green Bay.  He suffered many financial constraints and due to
  other unknown reasons, petitioned to reunite with the Roman Church.  Vilatte finally
  left Wisconsin and handed over all problems and uncertainties of the future to Father
  Gauthier.  Under him the church slowly dissolved into the Episcopal Church.

      
William Henry Francis Brothers (d. 1979)
, born Roman Catholic and raised by immigrant parents in Waukegan, Illinois, became the
  next to encourage Old Catholicism in America.  Vilatte and others disapproved of
  Brothers, but he began to organize the church anyway.  He named himself both Archbishop
  and Metropolitan.  He consecrated many different bishops, withmany backgrounds.  For
  example, he consecrated
William Montgomery Brown
 who followed the doctrines of Karl Marx (Pruter, 30).

      Brothers moved in the early 1930s to Connecticut and took a wife, but even with his
  conventional ways, he did not receive a following.  He then moved to New York and found
  his niche.  He built an elaborate monastery in Woodstock which he lost in a fire.
  Brothers replaced it with a smaller, modest, attractive chapel.  He eventually followed
  Vilatte's lead and was accepted by the Russian Orthodox Church in North America in 1962.
  However, the relationship with the Russians did not meet his expectations.  He continued
  his ministry in Woodstock and many of his followers were members ofthe counterculture
  movement.  He ignored the Russians and even at the time of his death, his relationship
  was still unclear.

      One of the "most colorful and dynamic of the Old Catholic Bishops" (Pruter and Melton,
  32),
Carmel Henry Carfora (1878- 1958)
, was able to excite and interest many different people into the congregations.  Born
  in Italy, he came to North America as a missionary.

      The actual statistics on the population of the Old Catholic Churches are uncertain
  because many of the churches fail almost as quickly as they are born (Pruter, 65).
  One of the larger churches, The North American Old Roman Catholic Church, originally was
  under Archbishop Carfora.

      

      

    6. 
Sacred or Revered Texts:
 The Bible

      

    7. Cult or Sect:
      8. 
Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" 
and "sect" are employed in popular discourse.  Since the Religious 
Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and 
appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious 
diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative 
concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes.  For a 
more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the 
concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our 

Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find 
additional links to related issues. 

      

    8. 
Size of the Group:

The Encyclopedia of American Religions
 identifies seventeen active and two defunctOld Catholic groups in America.  Only a
  few of them, however, stemmed from the actual group in Holland.  Although located in many
  parts of the United States, their numbers are not particularly impressive. There doesn't
  seem to be any evidence to indicate that this is a growing movement.

      The one exception is the Mariavite Old Catholic Church, Province of North America that
  was founded in 1972.They claim to have grown from 487 members in that founding year
  to356,034 in 1995.  Melton raises serious doubts about the validity of these numbers.
  He says "observers have been unable to locate anyof the congregations...except a small
  chapel" in the founder's residence in Wyandotte, Michigan.  And, further, the founder
  has"consistently refused" to share information about the names and addresses of
  parishes. Here is some information on some of these groups as reported in the most
  recent edition of Melton's
Encyclopedia of American Religions:


      

      

        

      • 

        

        
Church of Utrecht in America

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED:  founder, Richard Marchenna consecrated by Carfora in 1941

        

        LOCATION:  Los Angeles, CA

        

        MEMBERSHIP:(1998)

        2,000 members

        20,000 constituents (mostly in Nicaragua; 2 centers in Los Angeles)

        

        

      • 

        

        
North American Old Roman Catholic Church (Rodgers)

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED:  1916

        

        LOCATION: St. Albans, NY

        

        MEMBERSHIP:

        (1965)

        30 parishes

        18,500 members

        112 clergy

        

        (1998)

        5 parishes

        615 members

        6 priests

        

        

      • 

        

        
Old Catholic Church in America (W.H. Francis Brothers)

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED: 1917

        

        LOCATION: Austin, TX

        

        MEMBERSHIP: (1992)

        4 congregations

        500 members

        112 clergy

        

      • 

        

        
Old Catholic Church in North America (Catholicate of the West)

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED: 1950 by Grant Timothy Billet, consecrated by Carfora

        

        LOCATION: Santa Monica,CA

        

        MEMBERSHIP: (1992)

        26 churches in the U.S.

        188 members

        43 clergy

        

        

      • 

        

        
Old Holy Catholic Church of the Netherlands

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED: mid-1970's in North America by Rainer Laufers

        

        LOCATION: Roosendaal, Netherlands

        

        MEMBERSHIP: (1992)

        5 parishes

        1500 members

        9 priests

        

        

      • 

        

        
Old Roman Catholic Church in North America

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED:  1963 by Robert A. Burns ordained by Carfora

        

        MEMBERSHIP: (1992)

        900 members

        5 priests

        

        

      • 

        

        
Old Roman Catholic Church (Shelley/ Humphreys)

        • 


        

        ESTABLISHED:1974 by Robert Clement, ordained by Richard Marchenna

        

        LOCATION: Pinellas Park, FL

        

        MEMBERSHIP: (1995)

        8 parishes

        

      • 

        
Mariavite Old Catholic Chruch, Province of North America*


        *
see Melton disclaimer on these numbers above


        

        ESTABLISHED: 1972, founder, Robert R. J. M. Zaborowski

        

        LOCATION: Wyandotte, MI

        

        MEMBERSHIP:

        (1972)

        8 parishes

        487 members

        32 clergy

        

        (1995)

        157 parishes

        356,034 members

        48 priests

    

    

    

    

    II. Beliefs of the Group

    

    

      The basic beliefs of the Old Catholics are fundamentally the same as contemporary
  Catholicism.  However, there are a

few differences

 that separate them.  The major difference that initially split Catholics was the
  question of the infallibility of the Pope.  Many argued that the only infallible head of the church should be Jesus Christ, therefore, the Pope's judgments could and would be monitored and even
  questioned.  From this point on, human authority would not interfere with Divine
  Authority.  With the question of Papal Infallibility answered, other reforms followed,
  such as:
participation in Vernacular Mass, revival of the apostate of the laity and clergy
  participation in matrimony
.  The view and positions of the Old Catholics paralleled the modernization of
  American Culture.  Many of the issues that divided the two groups were resolved in
  Vatican II.  However, the controversy over Papal Infallibility seems to be the constant
  divider.  Today, issues such as beliefs that use of
contraception should be decided between and husband and wife and allowing divorced
  people who remarry back into the church
 shows how directly opposite they are compared to what the Vatican believes.

      Although the Old Catholic Churches to many are unknown, "they have an importance which
  far outweighs their numerical strengths" (Pruter, v).  The demographics of the
  congregations are diverse.  During the late sixties and seventies, hippies were drawn to
  the Old Catholic Churches.  Not many of the congregations in America consisted of
  conservative members.  The more conventional congregations are the Polish National and
  African Orthodox Churches.  "Old Catholicism is probably the most integrated faith in
  America," according to Huelin (72).  The Black community has been intensely involved in
  the church, including holding authoritative positions since the beginning.

      

      The Church has such a long and extensive history, one would find it odd to consider it
  a "new" religious movement; however, due to its constant change and the different types
  of congregations that spill from them, the group constantly looks new.  Coming from a
  Roman Catholic background, I have struggled with understanding why I need to adhere to
  what the Vatican sets forth.  The Bible can be interpreted in many different ways; if it
  could not, there would not be as many sects spawning from Christianity.

    

    

    

    

    III. Links to Old Catholics Web Sites

    

    

      
               The Homepage of the Old Catholic
  Discussion List


                      This page is divided into sections:  a brief introduction and
  historical sketch of the Old Catholic Churches and an index of files about Old Catholic
  liturgics, faith and practice, and classical spiritually.

      
http://www.cccusa.org/oldcth-l


      
               An Introduction and
  Historical Sketch


                      Who we are, The Ancent Catholic Church of the Netherlands, The Church
  in the Netherlands and the Reformation, The move from isolation...

      
http://www.en.com/camillus/ocintro.html


      
            Declaration of the
  Catholic Congress at Munich


                                      The whole document presented on September 22-24, 1871.

      
http://www.cccusa.org/oldcth-l/oc_hist/munich.asc


      

  Apsolte's Creed


                             Basic beliefs of Catholics.

      
http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/mib/anglican/intro/lr-apostles-creed.html


      

      
                Anglicans and Old
  Catholics


                                                     A comparison between the two and how
  they are incorporated...

      
http://www.worldaccess.nl/~karelmg/anglok.htm/


    

    

    

    IV. Bibliography

    

    

    

    Huelin, George, 1983.

    
Old Catholics and Anglicans
, 1931-1981.  New York:  Oxford University Press.

    

    Melton, Gordon J., 1996.

    
The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Fifth Edition.
 Dertoit, MI: Gale Research. pp. 221-230.

    

    Pruter, Karl, 1985.

    
A History of the Old Catholic Church
.                   San Bernadino, CA:  Borgo Press.

    

     Pruter, Karl and Gordon Melton, 1983.

    
The Old Catholic Sourcebook
.                    New York:  Garland Publishings.

    

    
An excellent sourcebook with a lengthly interpretative essay and over 800
  bibiliographic references to the Old Catholics.


    

    

    

    

Created by Mariruth Graham
    
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
    
Fall Term, 1997
    
University of Virginia
    
Last modified: 07/16/01