Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic)

Foundation and enlargement The mother church, the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands, was established in the 18th century as a result of tensions between the local Catholic hierarchy and the Roman Curia. The other churches, such as the Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, and the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, followed suit after the First Vatican Council, which defined the dogma of papal infallibility. Old Catholic Church of Slovenia (with bishops Radovan Jošt and Anton Kovačevič), and Old Catholic Church of Serbia (with bishop Milan Dobrovoljac (1954–1966). Three churches formed "Union of Old-Catholic Churches in Yugoslavia" (1954). This union eventually ceased to exist with break-up of Yugoslavia (1991–1992) and even before that, the Old Catholic bishopric in Serbia was extinguished, and the same happened with bishoprics in Slovenia and Croatia. Finally, remaining Old Catholic parishes in Croatia and other parts of former Yugoslavia were placed under jurisdiction of the Old Catholic Church of Austria. In turn, in 1998 the Polish National Catholic Church's General Synod put in place a set of guidelines heavily restricting intercommunion with Old Catholic Churches that ordained women including forbidding its bishops from being part of consecrations of any bishops from such churches, and vice versa. ==Organization==

Individual Union of Utrecht member churches maintain a degree of autonomy, similar to the practice of the Anglican Communion. Each diocese of the member churches has a diocesan bishop, and countries with more than one diocese have a bishop who is appointed as "bishop in charge" or a similar title. The primate ('''' leader) of the union is the Archbishop of Utrecht (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht). From 2000 to 2020, the archbishop was Joris Vercammen, a former Roman Catholic who served on the central committee of the World Council of Churches. In 2020, Joris Vercammen was succeeded by Bernd Wallet. == Beliefs ==

The Old Catholic churches reject the universal jurisdiction of the pope, as well as the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility (1870), which was used to proclaim the Roman Catholic dogmas of the Assumption of Mary (1950). While Old Catholics affirm the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, they do not emphasize transubstantiation as the sole dogmatic explanation for this presence. Old Catholics of Utrecht generally refrain from using the '''' in the Nicene Creed and also reject a dogmatic understanding of Purgatory; however, they generally do recognize a purification by Christ's grace after death and include prayers for the dead in their liturgy and devotions. They maintain such basic western Catholic practices as baptism by affusion (pouring of water) and the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. Additionally, they have many aspects in common with the Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches, such as optional clerical celibacy. Utrechter churches accept the doctrines of the Christian Church before the Great Schism of A.D. 1054. Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany since 2021, Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland , and Old Catholic Church of Austria since 2022. ==See also==