The Old Catholic Churches

Catholic churches that refused the papal dogmas of 1870 and kept the Mass, the bishops and the priesthood, yet let their clergy marry, put worship into the people's language, and in most of their churches now ordain women, with the Polish National Catholic Church and the Polish-Catholic Church in Poland standing apart on that last point.

Union of Utrecht, The Declaration of Utrecht, 24 September 1889 (English, fresh translation from the German)

Union of Utrecht (International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference), History

IBC, Communiqué of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, Amersfoort, June 2025

IBC, Communiqué of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference, Konstancin, June 2026

Wiktor Wysoczański (head bishop of the Polish-Catholic Church in Poland), "Z badań nad polskim nurtem starokatolicyzmu," Rocznik Teologiczny 58/4 (2016), pp. 637-656 (Polish)

Union of Utrecht, "Two new bishops for the Union of Utrecht" (3 October 2026)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, "Die Alt-Katholische Kirche in Deutschland" (information leaflet, 4th ed., May 2012; German)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, Häufige Fragen (frequently asked questions; German)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, "Alt-katholisch in 30 Sekunden" (German)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, "Liturgie – unsere Gottesdienste" (German)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, Frauenordination (German)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, Morgenlob (morning prayer sheet), 6 July 2021 (German)

Christ Catholic Church of Switzerland, Taufe (baptism; German)

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, parish of Nuremberg, "Taufe und Beitritt" (German)

Christ Catholic Church of Switzerland, Kirchenjahr (the church year; German)

Christkatholische Kirche der Schweiz (German Wikipedia; last resort, citing Urs von Arx, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz)

Polish National Catholic Church, About (Core Beliefs, Our Church Teachings)

Polish National Catholic Church, Historical Timeline of the P.N.C.C., Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich, Jr. (September 2022)

Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church, Our Bishops (Hodur and Mikovsky)

All Saints Church PNCC (Western Diocese), Newsletter, September 2026, "Upcoming Synod"

Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Declaration of Faith and Articles of Religion (5 August 1947), Diocese of Greater Manila Area

Iglesia Filipina Independiente, IFI History, Diocese of Greater Manila Area

Armentrout and Slocum, An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, "Bonn Agreement" (Church Publishing; Episcopal Church glossary, archived copy)

Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, "Jansenist Church in Holland"

John Mason Neale, A History of the So-Called Jansenist Church of Holland (1858), chapter 10

Old Catholic Church (Wikipedia; last resort, for the 2016 membership figure and the 1996 date)

Polish National Catholic Church (Wikipedia; last resort, for the 1997 and 2003 steps and the membership estimate)

Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Wikipedia; last resort, for the census figure)

Union of Scranton (Wikipedia; last resort)

The story has three starts. The oldest is Utrecht: in 1702 the pope removed its archbishop, and in 1723 its cathedral chapter elected a new one without a papal mandate. The second is 1870, when Catholics in Germany, Austria and Switzerland refused the Vatican decrees, organized their own dioceses, and in 1889 joined Utrecht in a union of bishops. The third is America and Asia: Polish immigrants in Scranton who formed their own parish in 1897 and took their bishop from Utrecht in 1907, and the Philippine Independent Church of 1902. In 1996 the German Old Catholics ordained women priests. The Polish National Catholic Church refused that step and in 2003 was out of the Union.

Rome removes Utrecht's archbishop

The German diocese's leaflet says that the church of Utrecht and its bishops had been largely independent of Rome, with bishops chosen freely by the cathedral chapter. In 1702 the pope deposed Archbishop Peter Codde, who led the church of Utrecht (Rome consecrated him, like his predecessors, under a borrowed title, Schaff-Herzog notes), and threatened to reduce the church of Utrecht to a mission territory. The chapter chose to keep its old rights.

Utrecht elects its own archbishop

The cathedral chapter of Utrecht elected Cornelius Steenoven archbishop in 1723, and the Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia says it did so to keep the church from dying out. Bishop Dominique Marie Varlet consecrated him on 15 October 1724, in his private chapel in Amsterdam, at six in the morning. The pope put Steenoven under the ban. The schism is dated by the election (1723) or by the consecration (1724).

The Vatican decrees

On 18 July 1870 the First Vatican Council promulgated the decrees on the infallibility and the "universal episcopate or ecclesiastical plenitude of power" of the pope. Catholics who would not accept them were put out of the sacraments. They organized as a separate Catholic church under their own bishops, the German diocese's leaflet says, and took the name Old Catholic for the old faith of the undivided church.

The first German bishop

In 1873 the Bishop of Deventer consecrated Joseph Hubert Reinkens in Rotterdam as the first German Old Catholic bishop. The Swiss followed: Eduard Herzog was elected bishop in 1876 by the national synod and consecrated on 18 September 1876 at Rheinfelden, by Reinkens.

Priests may marry

The sources give two dates, and each is the date for its own church. The Swiss national synod decided in 1876 that ordination and celibacy are not bound together; the German Wikipedia says so, citing the historian Urs von Arx. The German diocese says its fifth synod ended the rule in 1878. The Union's own history says that "the speed with which the German and Swiss churches introduced reforms (e.g. abolition of celibacy) was difficult for the Dutch."

The Declaration of Utrecht

On 24 September 1889 five bishops met at Utrecht: Heykamp of Utrecht, Rinkel of Haarlem, Diependaal of Deventer, Reinkens of Germany and Herzog of Switzerland. They signed a declaration of the principles of their churches and declared themselves in full communion. The Union's history says it is the document each new bishop of a member church must assent to by his signature at his consecration. It has never been revised.

Hodur and the Polish National Catholic Church

On 14 March 1897 Franciszek Hodur took charge of St. Stanislaus Parish in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The first demands of the parish were legal ownership of church property and parish government by elected committees. Hodur was excommunicated in 1898, and the first General Synod met in September 1904. The Central Diocese says that Hodur was consecrated bishop on 29 September 1907 in Utrecht, by Archbishop Gerard Gul of Utrecht, Bishop John Van Thiel of Haarlem and Bishop Peter Spit of Deventer. The first Mass in Polish was on Christmas Day 1901.

The Philippine Independent Church

On Sunday 3 August 1902 Isabelo de los Reyes, Sr., head of the Union Obrera Democratica, proclaimed the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and Gregorio Aglipay became its first Obispo Maximo. Its General Assembly adopted a Declaration of Faith and Articles of Religion on 5 August 1947. On 7 April 1948 three of its bishops received apostolic succession from the Episcopal Church in Manila.

Full communion with the Anglicans

At Bonn on 2 July 1931, representatives of the Old Catholic churches and the Church of England agreed that each recognizes the other as holding the essentials of the faith. The Episcopal Dictionary says that this "does not require from either Communion the acceptance of all doctrinal opinion, sacramental devotion, or liturgical practice characteristic of the other." The German diocese says the Union also has full communion with the Philippine Independent Church since 1965, and with the Lutheran Church of Sweden since 2017.

Women ordained priests

On Whit Monday, 27 May 1996, Bishop Joachim Vobbe of the German diocese ordained the deacons Regina Pickel-Bossau and Angela Berlis priests at Konstanz. The diocese calls this the result of a long process and "an overdue reform." The first woman bishop in the Union, Maria Kubin, was consecrated for the Austrian church in Vienna on 24 June 2023 by Archbishop Bernd Wallet. Not every member church followed: the head bishop of the Polish-Catholic Church in Poland wrote in 2016 that his church, still in the Union, ordains men only, and that the IBC had said in 1997 that full communion among the member churches no longer exists, because the ordination of women is not recognized by all.

The PNCC leaves the Union

The PNCC did not accept the ordination of women. Wikipedia says it entered "impaired communion" with the Union in 1997. The Union's history says the church left in 2003 because of the ordination of women. The PNCC's own timeline says it was "voted out" of the IBC in November, because it "remained faithful to the Catholic Faith as well as the Declaration of Utrecht." Wikipedia dates the PNCC's Union of Scranton to 2008.

New bishops

In 2026 the Union's member churches elected new bishops: Erna Peijnenburg, elected Bishop of Haarlem on 29 August, and Jürgen Wenge, elected on 3 October to succeed Matthias Ring in Germany. Both elections needed the IBC's confirmation under the Union's statute.

Joseph Hubert Reinkens

First bishop of the Old Catholics in Germany, consecrated at Rotterdam in 1873, and a signer of the Declaration of Utrecht in 1889. He consecrated Herzog in 1876.

Eduard Herzog

First bishop of the Christ Catholic Church of Switzerland from 1876 to 1924, and a signer of the Declaration. The German Wikipedia says that he stayed unmarried all his life and that every later Swiss bishop was married.

Franciszek (Francis) Hodur

Founder of the Polish National Catholic Church, born at Żarki in Austrian-ruled Poland. He was ordained priest in 1893, took charge of St. Stanislaus Parish in 1897, was consecrated bishop at Utrecht in 1907, and served as Prime Bishop until his death on 16 February 1953.

Isabelo de los Reyes, Sr.

Head of the Union Obrera Democratica, who proclaimed the Iglesia Filipina Independiente on 3 August 1902. Gregorio Aglipay, one of the founders, was its first Obispo Maximo and died on 1 September 1940.

Bernd Wallet

The Archbishop of Utrecht presides over the IBC. The IBC's communiqués of June 2025 and June 2026 list Archbishop Bernd Wallet as "President of the IBC." He is a presiding bishop among equals, not a ruler: the Union's own history calls the IBC "the linking organ."

Anthony Mikovsky

The PNCC's own timeline records him as elected seventh Prime Bishop at the 2010 General Synod. A September 2026 parish newsletter still names "Prime Bishop Mikovsky," and says the XXVII General Synod was due at the end of that month. No published result of that synod was found by 27 October 2026, so this chart cannot say whether he was re-elected.

The date of the schism. The German leaflet gives 1723, the year the chapter elected Steenoven; the Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia gives 1723 for the election and 1724 for the consecration; Neale gives 15 October 1724 for the consecration. Wikipedia says the See of Utrecht declared its right to elect its own archbishop in 1724. All agree on the facts and differ on which act to call the schism.

The dates for marriage of the clergy. The Swiss date is 1876 (German Wikipedia, citing von Arx, which also dates the Swiss constitution to 1875). The German diocese gives 1878 in its leaflet, its frequently asked questions and its "in 30 seconds" page: "the fifth synod in the year 1878" ended the automatic tie of ordination and celibacy, and left deacons, priests and bishops free to marry or not. English Wikipedia gives 1874 for Switzerland. The PNCC says that "since 1921, bishops and priests have been permitted to marry."

Who reached whom. The Declaration of Utrecht is a union of three national churches. The Philippine Independent Church came from the Philippine Revolution and a break with Rome in 1902, not from 1870. Its Declaration of 1947 says it "has no intention of departing from Catholic doctrine, practice and discipline as set forth by the Councils of the undivided Church." The Union's history lists the PNCC as accepted into the Union "in 1897 resp. 1907."

Not the same church. The Christian Catholic Church of Zion, Illinois, which John Alexander Dowie founded in 1896, is not related to the Swiss "Christkatholische Kirche," though the English names are close.

The Union holds the faith of the undivided church of the first millennium, rejects papal infallibility and treats the Bishop of Rome as first among equals; the PNCC adds its bishops' decisions; the IFI says Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation, beside the creeds.

The Declaration of Utrecht sets the rule of faith as "the ecumenical symbols" and the dogmatic decisions of the ecumenical councils "of the undivided Church of the first millennium." It rejects the Vatican decrees of 1870, but allows the Bishop of Rome a "historic primacy" as first among equals. It also accepts the Council of Trent's dogmatic decisions only "insofar as they agree with the teaching of the ancient Church." The Union says this one document is what its churches confess, and each new bishop signs it.

The PNCC says its bishops "make decisions on matters of faith, morals and discipline" together, with the Prime Bishop as first among equals. The Philippine Independent Church says the Holy Scriptures "contain all things necessary to salvation," and that nothing not proved by them should be required, and in the same declaration binds the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.

Therefore we abide by the faith of the ancient Church as it is formulated in the ecumenical symbols and in the universally accepted dogmatic decisions of the ecumenical synods held in the undivided Church of the first millennium.

The bishops work in concert to run the Church and together, with the Prime Bishop as first among equals make decisions on matters of faith, morals and discipline.

The Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation, and nothing, which cannot be proved thereby, should be required to be believed.

The Declaration on the pope. "We therefore reject as contradicting the faith of the ancient Church and destroying her constitution, the Vatican decrees, promulgated July 18, 1870, concerning the infallibility and the universal episcopate or ecclesiastical plenitude of power of the Roman Pope." It also renews old protests and rejects "the bulls Unigenitus and Auctorem fidei, the Syllabus of 1864" where they contradict "the doctrine of the ancient Church."

The German diocese on dogma (our translation). It holds to the decisions of "the seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Church of the first millennium," and says that later councils, including Vatican I, were "only partial councils" and have no binding force for it. It adds that the synod "cannot formulate articles of faith"; only a general council can.

The IFI on its own past. Its 1947 articles say its earlier doctrinal rules are not binding where they differ from the Declaration, and speak of the need to "eradicate such errors of judgement and doctrine as crept into its life."

Salvation is by faith in Christ shown in good works; baptism, often given to small children, cleanses from sin and brings rebirth and entry into the church; the IFI calls baptism necessary for salvation.

The Union's Declaration is silent on how a person is saved. The Philippine Independent Church states the doctrine most fully: "Salvation is obtained only through a vital faith in Jesus Christ," and this "faith should manifest itself in good works." The same church says baptism "is necessary for salvation," and "signifies and confers grace cleansing from original sin as well as actual sin previously committed." It names two sacraments as ordained by Christ, baptism and the Eucharist, and five more.

The Christ Catholic Church of Switzerland says that baptism, whether by immersion or by pouring, with the prayer for the Holy Spirit and first communion, opens to the candidate cleansing from sins, freedom from the power of evil and rebirth to new life. It says this is shown best with adults, but that the common path for children is baptism "in early childhood." The German diocese says (our translation) baptism is "the basic sacrament and sign of belonging to the Christian church," given by pouring water on the head, and is never repeated. The PNCC says that "the Church is made up of baptized Christians."

Salvation is obtained only through a vital faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Lord and Saviour. This faith should manifest itself in good works.

Baptism is necessary for salvation. It signifies and confers grace cleansing from original sin as well as actual sin previously committed; makes us children of God and heirs of everlasting life. It effects our entrance into the Church of God.

The Church is made up of baptized Christians who worship together, partake of the sacraments, hear and obey the Word of God.

The Swiss church on baptism. "Die liturgischen Handlungen eröffnen und vermitteln folgendes: Reinigung von Sünden, Befreiung aus der Macht des Bösen und Wiedergeburt zum neuen Leben." The page speaks of the water baptism "handle es sich um ein Eintauchen in Wasser oder ein Übergiessen mit Wasser," and says that for children "Taufe im Kleinkindalter" and confirmation have come apart in time.

Gap. The Declaration of 1889 has no article on baptism, and I fetched no statement of the Union as a whole on infants. The German diocese's own wording is that membership needs only baptism, and that a child's first sacrament is not repeated. The lineage chart scores the Union as baptizing infants as the ordinary means of entry, and the Swiss page agrees for the Swiss church.

Confession. The German diocese says (our translation) that the duty of regular private confession was removed "soon after 1870" in most Old Catholic dioceses, in favor of shared services of reconciliation in which the priest pronounces God's forgiveness, with private confession still offered "as an offer, not as a duty."

The Eucharist is the center of worship; the body and blood of Christ are received under the species of bread and wine, and it is not a repetition of Christ's sacrifice but its perpetual commemoration; in Germany communion is in both kinds and open to all baptized believers.

The Declaration of Utrecht holds "the ancient Catholic doctrine concerning the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, by believing that we receive the Body and the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ Himself under the species of bread and wine." It denies that the Eucharist is "a continual repetition" or "a renewal of the expiatory sacrifice which Christ offered once and for all on the Cross"; it is rather "the perpetual commemoration of that sacrifice." It adds that the Eucharist is "a sacrificial meal," in which the faithful "have communion with one another."

The German diocese says the Eucharist stands at the center of its life and is held "where possible every Sunday." It gives communion in both kinds, and welcomes all baptized people who believe with it that Jesus is truly present in the gifts. The PNCC calls the Mass "the true central point of Catholic worship" and expects its members "to join in the common worship of God and receive Holy Communion." The Philippine Independent Church calls it "the central act of Christian worship."

The Eucharistic celebration in the Church is neither a continual repetition nor a renewal of the expiatory sacrifice which Christ offered once and for all on the Cross

by believing that we receive the Body and the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ Himself under the species of bread and wine.

The Holy Eucharist (Holy Mass) is the true central point of Catholic worship.

The German invitation. The diocese's own words: "Alle Getauften, die an einer alt-katholischen Eucharistiefeier teilnehmen und mit uns glauben, dass in den Gaben von Brot und Wein Jesus tatsächlich gegenwärtig ist, sind zur Kommunion (die unter beiderlei Gestalten gereicht wird) herzlich willkommen." In English: all the baptized who take part and believe that Jesus is truly present in the gifts are welcome, and the Communion is given in both kinds.

The IFI. "The Holy Eucharist, commonly called The Mass, is the central act of Christian worship. It is the sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death. Those who partake of it receive the Body and Blood of Christ."

Not a word of transubstantiation. The Declaration does not use the word. It says the Eucharist is a "real representation" of Christ's one offering, "which Christ according to Heb. 9:11-12 continuously makes in heaven."

Bishops, priests and deacons in succession from the apostles; bishops chosen by synods in which the laity vote; clergy may marry; the PNCC and IFI are episcopal, with a Prime Bishop or Supreme Bishop.

The Union's churches are led by bishops, with priests and deacons beneath them, and the German diocese says that "the bishop leads the church directly and independently," helped by an elected council. Yet the synod is two-thirds elected lay delegates and chooses the bishop, and each parish's assembly elects its priest. The diocese says the principle is "what concerns all should be decided by all" (its German, our translation). Ordination is given by the laying on of a bishop's hands in silence with the calling down of the Holy Spirit. Deacons, priests and bishops are free to marry or not, in the German church since 1878.

Most Union churches ordain women as deacons, priests and bishops. The German diocese ordained its first women priests in 1996, and Austria consecrated the Union's first woman bishop in 2023. The Polish-Catholic Church in Poland, still a Union member, ordains men only. The Polish National Catholic Church does not ordain women; it left the Union over the question. It does allow bishops and priests to marry, "since 1921." The PNCC's synods include elected lay delegates, who with the clergy elect bishop-candidates. The Philippine Independent Church has "three Orders of Ministries" and a Supreme Bishop over a Supreme Council of Bishops.

rejecting all the abuses in ecclesiastical matters and hierarchical tendencies

Since 1921, bishops and priests have been permitted to marry.

From Apostolic times there have been three Orders of Ministries in the Church of God: Bishops, Priests and Deacons.

Which body holds which position on women. Most Union churches ordain women: the German diocese since 27 May 1996, and the Union's first woman bishop was consecrated for Austria on 24 June 2023. "Die Gleichberechtigung aller Menschen ist ein Grundsatz unseres Glaubens," the diocese says: the equal standing of all people is a principle of its faith, so it sees no reason why women should not hold spiritual office. The Polish-Catholic Church in Poland, still in the Union, ordains men only, by its head bishop's account in 2016. The Polish National Catholic Church does not ordain women. The Union's history says it left the Union in 2003 over the matter; the PNCC says it was voted out because it "remained faithful to the Catholic Faith as well as the Declaration of Utrecht." I found no statement from the Philippine Independent Church on women's ordination in the pages fetched.

Celibacy. The IFI says clergy "are permitted to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness." The German diocese gave as its reason that "the New Testament knows both ways of life" (our translation), and cites Matthew 8:14 and 1 Corinthians 9:5.

The Union's structure. The IBC is "the linking organ" of national churches that each govern themselves. The Archbishop of Utrecht presides, and its statute requires the IBC to confirm each new bishop.

The Mass in the language of the people, with the ceremonial of the old church kept, the altar central, and the saints remembered; the Union is restrained about the saints and Mary, and the IFI allows their veneration.

The German diocese says it cultivates "the traditional Catholic form of worship" and wants worship that opens "the whole person to God's presence." The liturgical year is kept, and the German Church marks the saints on its calendar. Asked whether Old Catholics venerate Mary and the saints, the diocese answers (our translation from the German) that the church is "very reserved" about it; the saints are honored as examples of faith, Mary as the Lord's mother, and "a special devotion to Mary or the saints is foreign" to the German church. The Swiss church describes Lent as the season when no Alleluia is sung. The Union's Declaration rejects the dogma of the Immaculate Conception "as being without foundation in Holy Scriptures and the tradition of the first centuries."

The Polish National Catholic Church holds Mass "in the language of the people," and the Philippine Independent Church says the Mass is to be "heard and understood by the worshippers." That church holds that "veneration of Saints is not contrary to God's commandments," but forbids their deification. None of the fetched pages mentions instruments, and nothing here is said about singing apart from the Alleluia.

Masses are celebrated in the language of the people, so that all worshipers can understand God’s message.

The altar is the most sacred part of the Church because there Jesus is sacramentally present.

We also reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception promulgated by Pope Pius IX in 1854 as being without foundation in Holy Scriptures and the tradition of the first centuries.

On the saints, in German. "Eine besondere Marien- oder Heiligenfrömmigkeit ist der deutschen alt-katholischen Kirche dabei allerdings fremd": in our translation, a special devotion to Mary or the saints is, however, foreign to the German Old Catholic church. The same page says the church calendar names days for people "whom we regard as saints and venerate" (our translation), and calls them examples of faith. The fetched Union pages do not teach asking the saints to intercede, so this chart does not say that the Union invokes them.

The IFI on images. "If images of saints are used for adornment, care is to be exercised that such ornaments may not distract the minds of the worshippers from the Person of Jesus Christ." It also says: "Veneration of the Saints must not obscure the duty of the faithful to direct approach to God through Jesus Christ."

The language. English Wikipedia says the vernacular "completely replaced Latin in 1877" in the Old Catholic liturgy. That date comes from Wikipedia alone; the Union's own pages give none.

The Spirit abides in the church to teach, govern and sanctify; he is called down in ordination and given in confirmation; none of the fetched pages claims or teaches signs and wonders today, and the IFI repudiates unproved miracles.

The Polish National Catholic Church says the Holy Spirit "abides in the Church to teach, govern and sanctify its members" and "regenerates and sanctifies souls." The Philippine Independent Church places the gifts of the Spirit in confirmation, in which "through the imposition of the Bishop's hands, anointing and prayer, baptized Christians are strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit." It also says that "so-called miracles, based not on well-authenticated facts but on merely fantastic rumors, are repudiated."

The German diocese says the office of a bishop, priest or deacon is given when a bishop lays on hands in silence and "calls the Holy Spirit down" on the candidate (our translation). No fetched page from the Union teaches speaking in tongues, prophecy or healing as gifts the church seeks today.

The third person of the Blessed Trinity abides in the Church to teach, govern and sanctify its members.

Confirmation , whereby, through the imposition of the Bishop's hands, anointing and prayer, baptized Christians are strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and confirmed in the Faith.

So-called miracles, based not on well-authenticated facts but on merely fantastic rumors, are repudiated.

The Spirit and the bishops. The German diocese's frequently asked questions say the bishop lays on hands in silence and calls the Holy Spirit down on the candidate. The Declaration of Utrecht opens with an "invocation of the Holy Spirit" over the bishops' meeting.

Gap. The Union has no fetched statement on the miraculous gifts, so this placement is the chart's own, based on what the churches claim for ordination and confirmation.

Christ will come to judge the living and the dead; the German diocese's prayers ask for the dead; no fetched page states a teaching on purgatory.

The Philippine Independent Church confesses in its Apostles' Creed that Christ "shall come to judge both the living and the dead," and says baptism makes believers "heirs of everlasting life." The Union's Declaration says nothing of the last things. The German diocese's morning prayer for 6 July 2021 asks, in the general intercessions, "for all the departed and for those who mourn them," and the Swiss church says the high point and center of its church year is the three-day Easter celebration of Christ's suffering, death, burial and resurrection.

I found no Old Catholic page that teaches purgatory. The lineage chart records prayer for the dead as retained, and the sources fetched confirm only that the churches pray for the dead in their intercessions.

from thence He shall come to judge both the living and the dead.

God is one in three divine persons: the Father, who created it all; the Son, who died for our sins and rose from the dead; the Holy Spirit, who regenerates and sanctifies souls.

In German. The Swiss church writes of Easter as "die dreitägige Osterfeier, die Leiden und Tod, Grablegung und Auferstehung Jesu Christi vergegenwärtigt." The German diocese's prayer reads "Für alle Verstorbenen und die um sie Trauernden."

Not found. The Declaration of Utrecht, the PNCC's core beliefs and the IFI's articles say nothing of purgatory, the intermediate state or the millennium. The Union has no catechism among the fetched pages.

Married clergy, bishops included

Priests, deacons and bishops may marry: the German church since 1878, the Swiss since 1876, the PNCC since 1921, and the IFI by its Articles.

The Old Catholic churches let their clergy marry, and the German diocese gives its reasons (our translation): compulsory celibacy is "a church law that cannot be grounded in the Bible," and "the New Testament knows both ways of life," since some apostles were married (Matthew 8:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5). The diocese adds that those who feel called to celibacy, alone or in a religious community, can live that call in the church too. The PNCC, the IFI and the Union all hold this. Each date comes from its own church: the German 1878, the Swiss 1876, the PNCC 1921.

Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are not commanded by God's Law to marry or to abstain from marriage therefore they are permitted to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.

Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.

Here the Old Catholics stand on the text and Rome does not. Paul asks, "Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" (1 Corinthians 9:5), and the bishop is to be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). Forbidding marriage to the ministry is the mark of those who "fall away from the faith" (1 Timothy 4:1-3). The Old Catholic churches deserve credit for dropping a rule the apostles never made. The same verses limit the office to the man who is the husband of one wife, which bears on the next question.

The German diocese says the shortage of priests that compulsory celibacy brings is unknown among the Old Catholics. The sources do not give any teaching that marriage is required of a bishop; they leave it free, which the text does too.

Women ordained deacons, priests and bishops

Most Union of Utrecht churches ordain women, from 1996 in Germany; the Polish National Catholic Church does not, and left the Union over it; the Polish-Catholic Church in Poland stays in the Union and ordains men only.

The German diocese writes, in our translation: "The equality of all people is a principle of our faith. So for us there is no reason why women should not exercise a spiritual office." It ordained its first women priests at Konstanz on 27 May 1996, and the Union's first woman bishop was consecrated for Austria in 2023. The PNCC does not ordain women and left the Union in 2003. The Polish-Catholic Church in Poland ordains men only and remains in the Union; in 1997 the Union's bishops said that full communion among the member churches no longer exists on this point. The Philippine Independent Church's position is not in the pages fetched, though the lineage chart records it as ordaining women.

Die Gleichberechtigung aller Menschen ist ein Grundsatz unseres Glaubens. Es gibt für uns deshalb auch keinen Grund, warum Frauen kein geistliches Amt ausführen sollten.

voted out of the International Bishop Conference (IBC) of the Union of Utrecht because the P.N.C.C. remained faithful to the Catholic Faith as well as the Declaration of Utrecht

Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law. And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church.

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.

The Union churches that ordain women set aside the plain words of the apostle: "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12). Paul gives his reason from creation, not from the culture of one town, and the elders he describes are men, the "husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). Galatians 3:28 says that in Christ "there can be no male and female" as to salvation; it does not abolish the order Paul sets in the church. The PNCC stands nearer the apostolic pattern on this question than the Union does. Its own timeline gives its reason as faithfulness to the Declaration of Utrecht, not an argument from the text.

This verdict is about who may hold the office of teaching and oversight in the assembly. It is not a verdict on the worth of women or on their many tasks in the New Testament church. The PNCC, while it keeps this part of the pattern, keeps a priesthood, a hierarchy of bishops and a Mass that the New Testament does not give; it is not nearer the pattern on those.

The Declaration of Utrecht, and no pope

A single dated confession, the Declaration of 1889, based on the first millennium, which rejects the 1870 decrees and holds the pope first among equals.

What makes a church Old Catholic is the Declaration of Utrecht. It says no organ of the church has an infallible voice over the whole church, holds that the pope has only a "historic primacy," and rejects the Syllabus of 1864 and the bulls Unigenitus and Auctorem fidei where they depart from the early church. The Union's history says that this is "the historical document which the churches 'confess' through their bishops," and that each new bishop must assent to it by his signature.

It is this historical document which the churches 'confess' through their bishops, and to which each new bishop of one of the member churches must assent by his signature at his consecration.

by recognizing him as the primus inter pares

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ.

and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The Declaration is right where Rome is wrong. Christ is "head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1:22), and "he is the head of the body, the church" (Colossians 1:18); no bishop of Rome has the place that belongs to him. The Declaration, though, binds the dogmatic decisions of seven councils and the "teaching of the ancient Church" beside the Bible, and keeps a bishop first among his equals over the rest. Christ said: "one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). The pope is gone as head, but the rule that bishops and councils may bind the church remains.

The German diocese says that the synod "cannot formulate articles of faith"; that is left to "a general council." The same diocese says Vatican I was not truly ecumenical, free or synodal. The text of the New Testament names no council as the church's lawgiver.

Full communion without agreed doctrine

Since the Bonn Agreement of 1931 the Union has been in full communion with the Anglicans, and later with the IFI and the Church of Sweden, on terms that do not require the same doctrine.

The Bonn Agreement of 2 July 1931 joined the Old Catholic churches and the Church of England. The Episcopal Dictionary says that it "does not require from either Communion the acceptance of all doctrinal opinion, sacramental devotion, or liturgical practice characteristic of the other." The German diocese lists the Anglican communion since 1931, the Philippine Independent Church and two others since 1965, and the Lutheran Church of Sweden since 2017.

Intercommunion does not require from either Communion the acceptance of all doctrinal opinion, sacramental devotion, or liturgical practice characteristic of the other but implies that each believes the other to hold all the essentials of the Christian faith.

giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema.

The Old Catholics are right to seek unity, and the apostle asks for it: "giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). But the unity he describes is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). A communion that says it need not share doctrine, sacramental teaching or worship makes the bond something less than one faith. The apostle also says that anyone who preaches "any gospel other than that which ye received" is to be rejected (Galatians 1:9). Fellowship should rest on agreement in what the apostles taught.

The German diocese offers its table to "all baptized" who believe in the presence of Christ in the gifts. That is a welcome that does not ask the doctrine of baptism or of the Supper to be settled first.

Blessing of same-sex couples

The German diocese lists the blessing of same-sex couples among the reforms it has already carried out; the Swiss and Dutch churches are reported to have done the same; the Union as a whole does not speak with one voice.

The German diocese writes, in our translation: "Church remarriage of the divorced, the opening of the spiritual office to women and the blessing of same-sex couples are reforms that we have already carried out." English Wikipedia (a last resort here) reports that the Swiss church opened church marriage to same-sex couples in 2022, joining the German and Dutch churches. No single Union-wide statement was found. The PNCC does not hold it, and it left the Union over this and the ordination of women.

Kirchliche Wiederheirat Geschiedener, die Öffnung des geistlichen Amtes für Frauen und die Segnung gleichgeschlechtlicher Paare sind Reformen, die wir bereits umgesetzt haben.

And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.

Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

Christ answers the question of marriage from the beginning: God "made them male and female," and "the two shall become one flesh" (Matthew 19:4-5). Paul calls same-sex intercourse "against nature" (Romans 1:26) and says that those who practice it "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), and that some Corinthians "were" such, but "were washed" (1 Corinthians 6:11). A church that blesses what God's word names as sin has not loved those people; it has hidden the way of repentance from them. This is the point on which the German diocese stands furthest from the New Testament.

The same diocese says that the view often found in Scripture, that the husband is the head of the wife and she is to submit to him, is time-bound. Setting aside a plain apostolic teaching as time-bound is how the church arrived at this and at the ordination of women: it puts its judgment above the text.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. Choose a course to read the Scripture and the reason. The Old Catholic churches are not of one mind, so each verdict names the body that holds the teaching: the Union of Utrecht churches, the Polish National Catholic Church, or the Philippine Independent Church. The verdicts follow the placements of "The Line and the Branches" for the Union.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Here the Old Catholics are right and Rome is wrong. They reject the pope's infallibility and his universal jurisdiction, and the text is with them: "one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8), and Peter himself wrote as "a fellow-elder," under "the chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:1, 4). But the Union's rule of faith is still "the faith of the ancient Church" as the councils of the first thousand years formulated it, and Scripture is read through them. Scripture makes "the man of God" "complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17), and Paul says "not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6). The line has been moved out from the Bible to the church's own past.

The other two bodies. The Philippine Independent Church comes nearer in its article that nothing not proved by Scripture be required, but it binds the creeds as well. The PNCC leaves decisions on faith, morals and discipline to its bishops together. A council is a human body, and its decisions of the first millennium are no more inspired than those of the second.

The Bereans were praised for "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11): the test was the text. The Union's own Declaration says its churches "adhere" to the principle of Vincent of Lérins, "what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all." Christ said of those who bind teachings beside God's word: "in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men" (Matthew 15:9).

for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

The Philippine Independent Church says "vital faith in Jesus Christ" brings salvation, and that is Paul's word: "by grace have ye been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). But the same church holds that baptism "confers grace," cleanses from "original sin," and is "necessary for salvation," and the Swiss church describes the common path for children as baptism in early childhood, with the cleansing, the new birth and the Spirit given in the rite. In the New Testament those who believed were baptized, "both men and women" (Acts 8:12), and Peter commanded, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you" (Acts 2:38). A baby cannot repent or believe. Baptism in the text is a burial (Romans 6:3-4); the Swiss church allows immersion or pouring, and the German parish page describes pouring. The Union's Declaration is silent on faith and baptism.

Salvation by faith with works as its fruit is the right order, and the IFI's article says so. The New Testament calls the penitent believer to the water for forgiveness (Acts 2:38). "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16): the belief comes first, and the baptism follows from it. A rite that works on the child before faith puts the order backward.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins: but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread.

Here the Union stands nearer the New Testament than Rome. The German diocese holds the Eucharist "where possible every Sunday," the pattern of Acts 20:7: "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread." This course stands at the lineage chart's mean, which scores the frequency as a weekly Eucharist with other occasions, the Eucharist the Declaration says is no repetition of the cross. Christ "offered one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Hebrews 10:12). But the Union still holds the body and blood "under the species" of bread and wine, offered as a sacrifice by a priest at an altar, while the New Testament calls the table a "communion" (1 Corinthians 10:16) and gives no priest an altar.

Why this course sits one step nearer than the lineage chart's mean. The lineage chart scores the Union's frequency of the Supper at the far end, the rung for a Mass "daily as a sacrifice." The German diocese says the Eucharist is held "where possible every Sunday," with smaller Eucharists on weekdays, and the Declaration denies that the Eucharist repeats the sacrifice. That is the rung for "every week, with additional occasions." With that frequency the mean of the three Supper criteria falls to the value shown here; the correction is recorded for the lineage chart.

The German church gives communion in both kinds, as Christ gave it. What keeps the course off the line is the nature of the Supper: the body and blood "under the species" of bread and wine, a sacrifice, and a priest at an altar.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church.

Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve;

The Old Catholic churches deserve credit for letting their clergy marry: the overseer is to be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). But they keep a bishop as an office over the priests and over many congregations. In the New Testament the same men are "elders" and "bishops" (Titus 1:5-7; Acts 20:17, 28), a plurality "in every city," who are not to be "lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:3). The Union churches that ordain women go further from the text: "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man," and Paul grounds it in creation, "For Adam was first formed, then Eve" (1 Timothy 2:12-13). The same verse that lets the elder marry makes him a man (1 Timothy 3:2).

What they changed. Bishops are chosen by synods in which the laity vote, parishes elect their priests, and the Declaration rejects "hierarchical tendencies." None of this removes the office above the elders. The Philippine Independent Church goes further the other way, with a Supreme Bishop over a Council of Bishops.

The PNCC's structure is the most hierarchical on paper, but it gave the property and the parish government to elected committees from the first day in 1897, and the lay delegates of its synod elect its bishops. The Union rests on national bishops; the apostles' churches had none above the elders of each city.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus,

Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.

And when it came to pass that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter raised him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

The Old Catholic churches deserve credit for putting worship into the language of the people. But they keep a priest at an altar, a ceremonial calendar and a Mass said from a book, where the apostles' churches taught one another and sang "with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16). This course stands at the lineage chart's mean, which scores the saints as addressed but not invoked: the Union's own pages show only their veneration as examples, with special devotion to Mary or the saints called "foreign" to the German church. The Philippine Independent Church allows their veneration. The New Testament has "one mediator" (1 Timothy 2:5) and a throne we approach directly (Hebrews 4:16).

The sources fetched say nothing of instruments, so no verdict is given on them here.

When Cornelius fell at Peter's feet, Peter said: "Stand up; I myself also am a man" (Acts 10:26). The commemoration of saints as examples is not worship, and the Union keeps it modest. What is missing is the pattern of Acts and the epistles, where the assembled church taught and admonished one another in song and the Supper.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

The Old Catholic churches do not stage miracles, and the Philippine Independent Church rejects unproved ones, which is nearer the text than the churches that claim them. The signs "confirmed" the word "by them that heard" it (Hebrews 2:3-4), and the Spirit was given in Samaria "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands" (Acts 8:18). The Old Catholic churches hold that the Spirit is still called down by a bishop's hands in the line from the apostles. The text gives the hands to the apostles, not to a succession. This course stands in the middle because it makes the apostles' gift the bishops' own while it does not claim the signs.

The New Testament nowhere says that a line of bishops carries the apostles' power. Apostolic succession in the text is of the teaching ("the things which thou hast heard from me... commit thou to faithful men," 2 Timothy 2:2), not of a rite of the hands. The sources fetched give no Old Catholic teaching on tongues, prophecy or healing.

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.

we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

The churches confess what Scripture says: Christ "shall come to judge both the living and the dead," and the dead will come forth "unto the resurrection of life" or "unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29). They pray for the departed in their intercessions, and the text gives that practice no warrant. "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27); the rich man and Lazarus were parted by a gulf nothing could cross (Luke 16:26), and Paul looked to be "at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). I found no teaching of purgatory in the sources, so this course sits nearer the line than Rome's.

The Union's own pages say little on the subject, and the placement rests on the creed the churches confess and on the intercession for the dead in the German diocese's prayer. The New Testament speaks of hope for the dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14), and does not command prayer for them.

The Old Catholic churches hold much that Scripture holds. They confess the Trinity and the deity of Christ in the creeds, and they refused a pope's claim to rule the whole church and to speak without error. They read the Bible in the people's language and put worship into it. They let their clergy marry, as the apostles did, and they elect their bishops and priests with the voice of the laity. The German diocese holds the Eucharist every Sunday where it can, gives the cup to all, and they say plainly that it is no new sacrifice of Christ. They have dropped the compulsory private confession. The Polish National Catholic Church put the ownership of the church property into the hands of the people who built it, and has held, against its former fellow churches, that the apostles' order does not give the office of teacher to women.

The line between these churches and the New Testament runs through the same places as the line between Rome and the New Testament, but it is nearer. They threw off the pope, and they stopped short at the first millennium, which is another authority beside the Bible.

They kept three orders of clergy, a priest at an altar, baptism for infants, and a Mass said from a book. Where they went further, most Union churches ordaining women and the German, Swiss and Dutch churches blessing same-sex couples, they went away from the text, not toward it; the PNCC refused both and has the apostle with it on those points. The apostles left the church one head, Christ, and one rule, the Scriptures. Any church of the old faith or the new is measured by those two, and these churches are measured by them as well.

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