The Ancient Catholic Church of the Netherlands is closely related to the Old Catholic Church, and the Liberal Catholic Church, and can be said to be the ancestor of both. The Old Catholic Church (in Switzerland Christian Catholic Church) is not so much a religious denomination, as a community, part of whose member churches split from the Roman Catholic church in 1870. ... The Liberal Catholic Church is a form of Christianity open to theosophical ideas. ...

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 Council of the Lateran 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. Jump to: navigation, search This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... Saint Willibrord (c. ... // Events Islam starts in Arabia, the Quran is written, and Syria, Iraq, Persia, North Africa and Central Asia convert to Islam. ... Sergius I (d. ... Events Births Deaths Categories: 696 ... Jump to: navigation, search City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost... Events Pope Lucius II is succeeded by Pope Eugene III Nur ad-Din ascends to power in Syria Construction begins on Notre-Dame dChartres in Chartres, France Korean historian Kim Pusik compiled the historical text Samguk Sagi. ... The Blessed Eugene III, né Bernardo Pignatelli (d. ... Utrecht is a municipality and the capital city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ... Conrad III (1093-1152), the first German king of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia. ... Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici (11 December 1475, Florence – 1 December 1521, Rome), pope between 1513 and his death, is known primarily for his failure to stem the Protestant Reformation, which began during his reign when Martin Luther first attacked the Roman Catholic Church. ... Papal bull of Pope Urban VIII, 1637, sealed with a leaden bulla. ...

Reformation

Forced into hiding during the reformation, the Church of Utrecht 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. Strangely, despite the Debitum Pastoralis and the waivers it provided, in 1592 the Ancient Church came under persecution from counter-reformist Jesuits, who, despite opposition from Rome accused Petter Codde, Archbishop of the Church of Utrecht 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. The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop heading a diocese of particular importance due to either its size, history, or both, called an archdiocese. ... Jansenism was a branch of Christian philosophy founded by Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), a Flemish theologian. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... Innocent XII, né Antonio Pignatelli (March 13, 1615 - September 27, 1700) pope from 1691 to 1700, was the successor of Alexander VIII. He came of a distinguished Naples family and was educated at the Jesuit college in Rome. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ... Clement XI, né Giovanni Francesco Albani (July 23, 1649 – March 19, 1721) was pope from 1700 to 1721. ... The Bishopric of Utrecht was one of the ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, and included not only the present day Dutch province of Utrecht, but also the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, and Overijssel. ...

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. March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... Events Building of the Students Monument in Aiud, Romania. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 4 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. ...

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 Church 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. Primate of Ireland is a title possessed by the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland (Anglican) Archbishops of Dublin. ... The Catholic University of Leuven, founded in 1425, is now the names of two Belgian universities, after the original university split in 1968: the Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and the French-speaking Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational...

Vatican I

After Pope Pius IX reestablished a Church hierarchy in Holland in 1853, the Church of Utrecht adopted the name "Old Catholic Church" to distinguish herself from the newly created 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 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 Church of Utrecht and communities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Many separate communities were formed at this time, seeking to practice pre-Vatican I, Roman Catholic ideas. Since no bishops left Rome over the issues of Vatican I, these communities sought Apostolic Succession from the Archbishop of Utrecht, leading to the formation of the Utrecht Union of Churches, and the adoption of the name "Old Catholic". Blessed Pope Pius IX, born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti (May 13, 1792 – February 7, 1878), was pope for a record pontificate of over 31 years, from June 16, 1846 until his death. ... In Roman Catholic theology, papal infallibility is the dogma that the Pope, when he solemnly defines a matter of faith and morals ex cathedra (that is, officially and as pastor of the universal Church), is correct, and thus does not have the possibility of error. ...

Doctrine

Perhaps the most fundamental positions of the Ancient Catholic Church are its claim to Apostolic succession directly back to Christ, and to being legally separate from the Roman Catholic Church. In Christianity, the doctrine of apostolic succession (or the belief that the Church is apostolic) maintains that the Christian Church today is the spiritual successor of the Church of the Apostles. ... Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest organizational body of Christians. ...

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. which was a member of the Union, did so until the Episcopal Church in the U.S. began ordaining women in about 1975.

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 extrememly liberal. It is generally not usueful to talk of "The" Old Catholic Church in the U.S.

Old Catholic Archbishops of Utrecht

• Cornelius van Steenoven (1724-1725)
• Cornelius Johannes Barchman Wuytiers (1725-1733)
• Theodorus van der Croon (1734-1739)
• Petrus Johannes Meindaerts (1739-1767)
• Walter van Nieuwenhuisen (1768-1797)
• Johannes Jacobus van Rhijn (1797-1808)
• Willibrord van Os (1814-1825)
• Johannes van Santen (1825-1858)
• Henricus Loos (1858-1873)
• Johannes Heijkamp (1875-1892)
• Gerardus Gul (1892-1920)
• Franciscus Kenninck (1920-1937)
• Andreas Rinkel (1937-1970)
• Marinus Kok (1970-1982)
• Antonius Jan Glazemaker (1982-1999)
• Joris August Odilius Ludovicus Vercammen (2000-pres.)

External links

www.oldcatholic.com/ochistory.html