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The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571). The Archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, recognised as primus inter pares, but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most, but not all, member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivided church but who separated from the see of Rome after the First Vatican council of 1869–70".
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but typically when two or more denominations are in full communion it enables services and celebrations, such as the Eucharist, to be shared among congregants or clergy of any of them with the full approval of each.
The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands, sometimes known as the Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order, the Church of Utrecht , or Jansenist Church of Holland, is an Old Catholic jurisdiction originating from the Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580). The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands is the mother church of the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht.
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans. The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and differs theologically in several aspects.
The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exist two persons of the opposite sex. These disagreements are primarily centered on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, sacred Tradition, and in some churches on varying understandings of homosexuality in terms of psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While various Church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.
The Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) is an organization created in 1969 which seeks to make ecumenical progress between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. The sponsors are the Anglican Consultative Council and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The Old Catholic Church of the Czech Republic consists of the Czech parishes in full communion with the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches. The church is also a member of the National Ecumenical Council, the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. The official publication of the community is Communio.
The Union of Utrecht (UU), or the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches, is a federation of Old Catholic churches, nationally organised from 1870 schisms which rejected Roman Catholic doctrines of the First Vatican Council; its member churches are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church in Europe is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See in Rome, including represented Eastern Catholic missions. Demographically, Catholics are the largest religious group in Europe.
The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside of the Catholic Church were categorised as heretics or schismatics, but in many contexts today, in order to avoid offence, the euphemism "separated brethren" is used.
Lutheranism is present on all inhabited continents with an estimated 81 million adherents, out of which 74.2 million are affiliated with the Lutheran World Federation. A major movement that first began the Reformation, it constitutes one of the largest Protestant branches claiming around 80 million out of 920 million Protestants, The Lutheran World Federation brings together the vast majority of Lutherans, the second largest the International Lutheran Council with 7.15 million lutherans in 46 countries. Apart from it, there are also other organisations such as the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as multiple independent Lutheran denominations.
The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference or International Bishops' Conference (IBC) is the synod of bishops of Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches (UU) member churches.
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. Two of the major events that contributed to the movement were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions, and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops. Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest with a long-time partner, was appointed to be the next Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church ratified the election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay non-celibate man, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Jeffrey John ultimately declined the appointment due to pressure.
Willem Jacobus "Wim" Eijk is a Dutch prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012. He has been the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht since 2007. He was Bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden from 1999 to 2007. Before his clerical career he worked as a doctor; as a priest he made medical ethics the focus of his academic studies.
Arnold Harris Mathew, self-styled de jure 4th Earl Landaff of Thomastown, was the founder and first bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and a noted author on ecclesiastical subjects.
The Old Catholic Church in Sweden is the Swedish member church of the Union of Utrecht.
The Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC) is an American-based independent Catholic church. Its members understand themselves as following the Catholic tradition without being in communion with the Bishop of Rome. The ECC is a confederation of independent communities based in the United States and Europe. The membership of the ECC is about 10,000, including seven bishops, and more than 50 communities across 20 states. In 2009, the Ecumenical Anglican Church (EAC), an independent church, joined the ECC. The ECC is a member of the National Council of Churches (NCC).
Catholic laity are the ordinary members of the Catholic Church who are neither clergy nor recipients of Holy Orders or vowed to life in a religious order or congregation. Their mission, according to the Second Vatican Council, is to "sanctify the world".
The Union of Scranton is a communion of Old Catholic churches established in 2008 by the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) of the United States, after the Union of Utrecht began ordaining women and blessing same-sex unions. Since then, it has expanded to include the Nordic Catholic Church (NCC), begun by people who had separated from the Church of Norway, a Lutheran state church, in opposition to similar practices and has developed a more Catholic theology. The Nordic Catholic Church includes the Christ-Catholic Church in Germany as a daughter-church, which traces its history through the Union of Utrecht and the Polish National Catholic Church, as well as St. Severin's Abbey which is the German Province of the Order of Port Royal.
References
- ↑ Weyermann, Maja (2011-06-21). "International Old Catholic Bishops Conference (IBC) withdraws from the parishes in Italy" (Press release). Utrecht, NL: Utrechter Union der Altkatholischen Kirchen. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
- ↑ Compare changed footer of additional archived page with "[Flash based website]". vincenzodilerins.it (in Italian). Florence, IT: Parrocchia San Vincenzo di Lerins. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
