Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands

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The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands is the mother church related to the Old Catholic Churches, closely related to (and arguably the ancestor of) the Liberal Catholic Church.

1 Early history
2 Reformation
3 Vatican I
4 Doctrine
5 Old Catholic Archbishops of Utrecht
6 External links

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Early history

Catholicism came to the Netherlands by means of the proselytising of St. Willibrord in the 7th century. Willibrord had been consecrated by Pope Sergius I in 696 in Rome. In 1145 Pope Eugene III granted the Cathedral Chapter of Utrecht the right to elect bishops after such had been requested by the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III and Bishop Heribert of Utrecht. The Fourth Lateran Council confirmed this in 1215. Pope Leo X, issued the papal bull Debitum Pastoralis in 1520 giving extraordinary powers to Philip of Burgundy, 57th Bishop of Utrecht, essentially removing the ability of any external authority to "in the first instance, have his cause evoked to any external tribunal, not even under pretense of any apostolic letters whatever; and that all such proceedings should be, ipso facto, null and void". Only a Pope — as supreme jurisdictional Head of the Church — could alter or defy this privilege.

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Reformation

Forced into hiding during the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church of the Netherlands continued to thrive, even eventually obtaining a comfortable enough status with the local authorities so as to allow it to freely and openly express Catholicism. The Popes appointed Apostolic Vicars to Utrecht, while the other sees remained vacant since the dissolution of diocesan structures due to protestantism. Strangely, despite the Debitum Pastoralis and the waivers it provided, in 1692 the Dutch ancient Church came under persecution from counter-reformist Jesuits, who, despite opposition from Rome, accused Petrus Codde, Apostolic Vicar of Utrecht and the Dutch Republic, of favoring the so-called Jansenist heresy. Pope Innocent XII appointed a Commission of Cardinals who investigated Archbishop Codde, ending in exoneration. In 1700 Archbishop Codde was summoned to Rome and brought before a second Commission appointed by Pope Clement XI. After another acquittal, Clement XI suspended the Archbishop in 1701 and appointed his successor to the See of Utrecht.

This was not a popular decision in Holland, culminating in a demand by the Dutch for the return of Codde, and their refusal of his successor. Codde returned to Utrecht in June of 1703. Codde formally resigned, protesting the circumstance in his Pastoral Letter of March 19, 1704. He died December 18, 1710.

Lacking an archbishop, the Church was able to arrange for Irish bishop, Luke Fagan, Bishop of Meath (later Archbishop of Dublin), to ordain priests for the see of Utrecht. The legal matters arising from the violations of Debitum Pastoralis led to the case being brought before the University of Leuven in May of 1717, which found in favor of the Ancient Church, but was unable to resolve the matter with the Roman Church, leading to an autonomous, independent catholic church. In 1723 dissatisfied Dutch clergymen elected Cornelius van Steenoven to be their Archbishop of Utrecht. He was consecrated, without a papal mandate, by a Lebanese titular missionary bishop who was travelling through the Netherlands to confirm children. Both consecrator and consecrated incurred the penalty of excommunication, though the Lebane bishop was reconciled afterwards. Van Steenoven after his consecration autonomously appointed bishop to the vacant Dutch sees of Deventer, Haarlem and Groningen.

Most Dutch Catholics continued to follow the Pope and obeyed his newly appointed Apostolic Vicars from Utrecht.

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Vatican I

After Pope Pius IX reestablished a Church hierarchy in Holland in 1853, the rebellious Church of Utrecht adopted the name "Old Catholic Church" to distinguish herself from the newly created Roman hierarchy by its seniority in Holland. In 1870 Vatican I was convened, and the bishops of the Church of Utrecht, not recognized by the Church in Rome, were refused seats, because they were not seen as being Roman Catholic. At the council, the dogmas of papal primacy in jurisdiction and papal infallibility were defined, to the objection of the Old Catholic hierarchy of the Church of Utrecht and some communities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Many separate communities were formed at this time, seeking to practice pre-Vatican I, anti-Roman centralism, Catholic ideas. Since no bishops left Rome over the issues of Vatican I, these communities sought Apostolic Succession from the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, leading to the formation of the Utrecht Union of Churches, and the final adoption of the name "Old Catholic" by these German speaking communities.

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Doctrine

Perhaps the most fundamental positions of the Old Catholic Church are its claim to Apostolic succession directly back to Christ, and to being legally separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

The churches of the Union of Utrecht generally follow the theological and ecclesiological lead of the Church of England, with whom they have been in Communion since 1930. The Polish National Catholic Church, which was the only Old Catholic body in the U.S. and was a member of the Union, did so until the Episcopal Church in the U.S. began ordaining women in about 1975.

Old Catholics have celebrated Mass in the vernacular virtually since their foundation. They did so already in the 18th century. They reject the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility, as well as later Roman Catholic dogma (e.g. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary). They sometimes reject auricular confession. Old Catholic clergy can marry at any time, since their Church allowed marriage to its priests in 1878.

Theological Modernism has had severe influence upon the main bodies of the Old Catholics. The main church of Dutch Old Catholics since 1998 has allowed women to enter the priesthood, and has for a long time allowed divorce.

While the vernacular was introduced at a very early stage, external rites remained very Catholic, as well as the prayers of Mass, which still emphasized sacrificial intention. Since the 1960s however most Old Catholics have followed radical liturgical reforms according to the trend in the Roman Catholic Church.

Independent Old Catholic bodies, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, tend to follow the theological and ecclesiological ideas of their founders and current bishops, which can vary from extremely conservative to extremely liberal. It is generally not useful to talk of "The" Old Catholic Church in the U.S.

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