German Catholics

German Catholics religious groups founded in 1844 by dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church. They were led by two excommunicated priests, Johann Czerski of Schneidemühl, Posen, and Johann Ronge of Breslau. The church, organized by a council in Leipzig in 1845 under the name of Deutsche-katholische Kirche, was attractive to Roman Catholics because it retained the traditional practices of baptism and communion. In keeping with the rationalism and nationalism of the period, it rejected papal primacy, celibacy, indulgences, devotion to saints, veneration of relics, and all but the above-mentioned sacraments. Following an early period of growth, with several hundred congregations consisting of some 80,000 members, a slow decline set in. Roman Catholics who had sought reform became disillusioned following the merger with the Protestant Free Congregations in 1850, and the later merger of many of these churches with the Friends of Light, an anti-Christian sect. Greatly reduced in membership, several German Catholic churches survived into the 20th cent.

Old Catholics Religious movement rejecting the dogma of Papal Infallibility, which had been announced by the First Vatican Council of 1870. The Old Catholics set up churches in German- and Dutch-speaking Europe, which later united in the Union of Utrecht in 1889. Since then the Archbishop of Utrecht has been head of the International Old Catholic Congress. Old Catholics have much affinity with Anglicans.

Old Catholics. A group of small national Churches, consisting of Christians who have separated from the RC Church.

1. The Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands, sometimes called the Church of Utrecht. This owes its origin to the Papal handling of the Jansenist controversy and particularly to the deposition in 1702 of Petrus Codde, the Vicar Apostolic of the area. The Chapter of Utrecht, acting independently of Rome, in 1723 elected Cornelius Steenoven Abp. of Utrecht; he was consecrated by D. M. Varlet, Bp. of Babylon, who had fallen foul of the Roman authorities but whose consecration had been regular. On Steenoven's death, Varlet consecrated his successor in 1725.

2. The German, Austrian, and Swiss Old Catholic Churches. This group of Churches was created from those who refused to accept the dogmas of the infallibility and universal ordinary jurisdiction of the Pope as defined by the Vatican Council of 1870, and seceded from the RC Church soon afterwards. They received their episcopal succession from the Church of Utrecht.

3. Small groups of Slav origin. National Church movements among the Poles in the USA (1897) and the Croats (1924) resulted in the establishment of separate Churches.

The doctrinal basis of the Old Catholic Churches is the ‘Declaration of Utrecht’, agreed upon in 1889. Old Catholic bishops have several times taken part in the consecration of Anglican bishops.

The term ‘Old Catholic’ is also used of RCs in England of older (especially recusant) background in contrast to converts and immigrants.