Our History

Introduction
What is the Old Catholic Church?

Such teaching is truly Catholic
as has been believed in all places,
at all times, and by all the faithful.
St. Vincent of Lérins

The Old Catholics are a body of Christians committed to the Person of Jesus Christ and His teaching.

We accept and believe the testimony of the apostles, eyewitnesses of His life, death, and resurrection from the dead. The apostles passed on to succeeding generations their own testimony about Jesus Christ and His life. By proclaiming the Gospel and giving their own testimony (called the Apostolic Tradition), the Church developed worldwide.

Old Catholics are part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We receive our apostolic union with the Universal Church, as well as our distinctiveness, though our historical link with the Catholic Church of the Netherlands.

To understand the Old Catholic Church one must know the history of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, united for only a thousand years before the first of its many divisions. This is the story of Christian leaders struggling to preserve the essentials of faith and the structure of the Church as established by Christ and the Apostles.

Summary

A short explanation and history

Chapter 1

The Early Church and the Great Schism

Chapter 2

Beginnings of the Old Catholic Movement

Chapter 3

Old Catholic Movement in Modern Times

Sources of additional information

The crucifix against the blue sky

There are two types of time.

There is chronological time, the time we measure by clocks, calendars, and changing seasons. It is the fourth dimension of our physical existence.

Called chronos by the Greeks, this time moves sequentially, without interruption, and in one direction only. This is time we can manage and predict. For all living things, however, chronos time is finite.

There is also the time kairos. Kairos is sacred time, a time of origins, of eternal mysteries, patterns, meaningful behaviors, and sacred actions. Kairos is reversible, repeatable, even circular instead of linear.

We enter kairos through liturgy, the sacraments, and meditation.


	The Heartland Old Catholic Church The Right Reverend James R. Judd, Secretary, Heartland College of Bishops St. Ignatius Center - 1624 Luella Street North, Saint Paul, MN 55119-3017 Telephone (651) 776-3172
	To locate the parish nearest you, click here.

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