New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-10-25
TIE Old CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The most important question when was 10
be decided by the Old Catholic Congress OF
Munich was that of permanent organization.
Were the opponents of Papal Infallibility to
continue in passive resistance, hoping that
tie natural guardians of the sound doctrine,
the Bishops, would, in the course of time, free
the Church from the abhOIred innovation Tor
were they at once to reOrganze those who
rejected the innovation and adhered to the
"OM Catholic" doctrine as the only true and
Old Catholic Church Contrary to the general
expectation, the former course was advocated
by D0llinger; but, however great the esteem
may be in which D0llinger is held by the
Old Catholics, his advice was almost unani-
mOusly rejected and the organization OF Ola
Catholic congregations, wherever 1T may
be found necessary, provided for. Thus the
Old Catholics have ceased to be party within
the Roman Catholic Church they have be-
come Il new religious denomination. In Munich
and other Bavarian cities large congregations
of the new Church were at once constituted,
and it is asserted that within few months
every important town of the German Empire
will have its own congregation. AS the so
called Jansrnists of Holland, church organi-
cation nearly two hundred years old, has fully
identified itself with the Old Catholic Church,
the new congregation of this denomination
have from the start one Archbishop and two
Bishops TO perform those episcopal functions
which, in the opinion of Catholics, only
Bishops of true apostolical succession can law
fully perform but it is expected that, so soon
as the congregations shall be fully organized,
they will be divided into diOceses, and new
bishops appointed for them.
The establishment Of the Old Catholic Church
derives a special importance from the attitude
which the Eastern Churches are observing
with regard to it. These Churches consider
their separation from tho Catholic Churches CT
Western Europe as almost exclusively due to
the arrogance of the Bishops of Rome. They
have watched the progress of the Catholic
opposition against Papal InfallibiIty as the
providental opening for the reunion OF the
two largest divisions of the Christian world.
Prior to the Congress, a special delegate from
the Russian Church was in consultation with
D0llingcr, and the Holy Synod of st. Peters
burg sent to the Congress itself one of the
greatest scholars of the Greek Church, Prof.
Ozierow, as official delegate, particularly in
structing him, in case he should find the
principles of the Old Catholic Church in
accordance with the spirit of the primitive
Christian Church, to enter at once into nego-
tiations concerning a reunion. AS the Con-
gress of Munich declared the separation of
the Eastern and Western Churches to have
been uncalled for, and reunion to be both
desirable and practical, important results may
follow in the near future. This movement for
union. in which, it is hoped, the Anglican
Church, or at least an important section of it,
will take part, is regarded az the more i'm
pOrtant since the combined Oriental, Angli-
can, and Old Catholic Bishops may ere long
exceed in number those of the Roman Catho-
lie Church. and thus may represent larger
portion of the churches laying claim to apOs
tOical successiOn--a fact which could not fail
to be of great weight in the, eyes of all who
consider the continuity of episcopal succession
@ matter of vital importance.
Ofstill greater immediate Importance than this
movement in the ecclesiastical world is the
influence which the spreading of the Old Catholic
Church may have upon the relation between
Church and State in Europe. The claims of
the Papacy with regard to secular govern
ments are so far-reaching that there is hardly
a single Catholic country which is willing to
concede them. The Old Catholics can, there
fore, in advance expect the sympathy of most
of the Catholic governments which will either
favor them or solve the difficulty arising out
of the disputed claims to the name of Cath
Ole Church, by separating the tie between
Church and State altogether. Italy has long
since taken the lead in this latter direction;
Bavaria has now followed, and if many other
governments as is probable, shall take the
same course, the long cherished wish of Euro
pean Liberals for separation between Church
and State may soon be fulfilled.
How the world Is doctored by the Eclectic