Independent Catholicism
Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic and form "micro-churches claiming apostolic succession and valid sacraments", in spite of not being affiliated with the Catholic Church. The term "Independent Catholic" derives from the fact that "these denominations affirm both their belonging to the Catholic tradition as well as their independence from Rome".
It is difficult to determine the number of jurisdictions, communities, clergy and members who make up Independent Catholicism, particularly since the movement "is growing and changing in every moment". Some adherents choose Independent Catholicism as an alternative way to live and express their Catholic faith outside the Catholic Church while rejecting some traditional Catholic teachings.
Independent Catholicism may be considered part of the larger independent sacramental movement, in which clergy and laity of various faith traditions—including the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran churches, the Anglican Communion and various non-Catholic Christian churches—have separated themselves from the institutions with which they previously identified. Within this movement, various independent churches have sprung from the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the members of these independent Eastern Orthodox groups most often self-identify as independent or autocephalous Orthodox and not as Independent Catholic.
Some Independent Catholic churches have joined the International Council of Community Churches, a denomination based in Loudon, Tennessee, in the United States. In doing so, it gives them a place and voice in national and international Christian organizations such as Churches Uniting in Christ, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and the World Council of Churches, membership of which is usually reserved to larger, longer-established church bodies.
History
Early episcopal consecrations without papal approval
The consecration of bishops without the approval of the wider church or papal mandate appears to be an ancient phenomenon, which led to Canon VI of the Council of Chalcedon's assertion that any potential sacramental validity of such consecrations is valueless without the church's endorsement. The resurgence of the phenomenon in the modern era seems to have coincided with the spread of Enlightenment values. Beginning in 1724, Dominique Marie Varlet, the Latin Catholic Bishop of Babylon, consecrated four men successively as Archbishop of Utrecht without papal approval.This consecration by Varlet caused a theological controversy and schism within the Catholic Church, which now possessed bishops who were validly consecrated without the permission of the pope. This schism marked the birth of the movement that would later be known as the Old Catholic Church.
First departure from the Catholic Church
The sharing of apostolic succession in the west outside the Catholic Church was largely confined to the Church of Utrecht for over a century. After the Vatican Council in 1870, many Austro-Hungarian, German and Swiss Catholics rejected assertions of universal jurisdiction of the pope and the declaration of papal infallibility, and their bishops, inspired by earlier acts in Utrecht, decided to leave the Catholic Church to form their own churches, independent of Rome. Now independent of the Pope, these bishops were sometimes referred to as autocephalous bishops from within their circles or episcopi vaganti from outside of their circles. These validly-consecrated bishops could claim apostolic succession, and they continued to share valid lines of apostolic succession with the priests and deacons they ordained. In 1889, they formally united as part of the Utrecht Union of Churches.Arnold Harris Mathew
In 1908, the movement that would become Independent Catholicism left continental Europe when Arnold Harris Mathew, a former Catholic priest, was consecrated in Great Britain by Archbishop Gerardus Gul of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands. Mathew believed that Old Catholicism might provide a home for disaffected Anglican clergy who reacted to Pope Leo XIII's declaration that Anglican orders were null and void, and Gul incorrectly believed that Mathew had a significant following in the United Kingdom. Two years later, in 1910, Mathew consecrated two priests to the episcopate, without clear reasons and without consulting the Archbishop of Utrecht, and, in response to the ensuing protest, declared his autonomy from the Old Catholic Church. Mathew later consecrated several other bishops who spread through England and North America. Plummer writes that, as a result, "we begin to see the small, endlessly multiplying groups, with a high percentage of the membership in holy orders, which came to characterize the independent movement."Joseph René Vilatte
, an Old Catholic priest ordained by Bishop Eduard Herzog of the Old Catholic Church in Switzerland, is credited with being the first person to bring to North America the movement that would result in Independent Catholicism. In 1892, Vilatte traveled to India, where he was consecrated, as Mar Timotheos, by Mar Julius I of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. In 1915, Vilatte founded the American Catholic Church which no longer exists. During the following 28 years, Vilatte consecrated "a number of men who are the episcopal ancestors of an enormous variety of descendants" in North America.Subsequent departures
The 20th century has seen a number of clergy and laity move into the Independent Catholic movement from the Catholic Church.Czechoslovak Hussite Church
Perhaps the largest departure from the Catholic Church was the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, which organized on 8 January 1920, when several thousand priests and laypeople formed an independent church in response to their deep concerns over the Catholic Church's opposition to modernism. The church's first patriarch was Karel Farský, a modernist and former Catholic priest. The first bishops of the CHC were consecrated by priests through the laying on of hands. In 1931, Louis-Charles Winnaert, who was consecrated by Liberal Catholic bishop James Wedgwood, consecrated two CHC bishops, Gustav Procházka and Rostislav Stejskal, thus sharing apostolic succession with the CHC. The CHC ordained its first woman priest in 1947, and it consecrated its first woman bishop in 1999. According to the 2011 Czech Republic census, 39,276 people at that time self-identified as members of the CHC.Carlos Duarte Costa
was a Catholic bishop in Brazil for twenty years before distancing himself, and being excommunicated by the Catholic Church over his opposition to its position on clerical celibacy, divorce, vernacular liturgy, and accused the Catholic Church of fascist sympathies. In 1945, Duarte Costa founded the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church and began consecrating numerous bishops in the apostolic succession. He is known as "St. Charles of Brazil" by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, which had grown to 560,781 members by 2010.Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc
From 1975 until his death in 1984, exiled Catholic archbishop Ngô Đình Thục of Huế, Vietnam, an older brother of Ngo Dinh Diem, the first president of South Vietnam, consecrated a number of bishops, first for the Palmarian Catholic Church, then for the sedevacantists of the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church.Emmanuel Milingo
served as Catholic archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia from 1969 to 1982. He resigned in 1982 over the issues of faith healing and exorcism. After marrying, Milingo formed Married Priests Now!, and ordained married priests. He also consecrated four married priests as bishops, including George Stallings of Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation, Peter Paul Brennan of the Old Catholic Confederation.Telesphore George Mpundu
In 2024 the former Catholic archbishop of Lusaka, Telesphore George Mpundu, secretly consecrated Anthony Ward for the Servants of the Holy Family; and by November 2025, Mpundu and Ward "received notice" from Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, that they had incurred latae sententiae excommunication. The excommunication has been disregarded by the group.Appeal
Upon encountering Independent Catholicism for the first time, the questions of many individuals "are often historical: 'Where did this come from? Who ordained you? Did you invent this? Many Independent Catholics respond by emphasizing their tie to the larger Christian tradition of which they form part, the heritage they have received from larger, historic, mainstream churches, like the Catholic Church or Lutheran Churches, and their continuity of faith and ministry with those churches. Like Christians of the Early Church, many see their efforts as "the seeds of a new kind of ministry that can adapt itself to the time and place of its exercise, the needs of the moment, and the people who are actually present in that particular place at that particular time. And yet is it so new? Is it not perhaps the very way that St. Paul set about spreading the Gospel and building the Church?"Many Independent Catholic communities look to the past, seeking to create communities according to models provided by the New Testament and restoring various practices of the primitive Church.
Beliefs and practices
Virtually all members of the Independent Catholic movement possess "a deep commitment to the catholic sacramental tradition" and worship according to a prescribed liturgy, usually derived from a mainstream Christian rite. Plummer suggests that "the most critical factor for independent sacramental identity is the single-minded focus on sacramental activity very few independent communities offer coffee hour, Sunday School, and the array of other social programs which have come to characterize many mainstream churches."Like the liturgies of early Christian communities, the liturgies of Independent Catholic communities often vary widely, with each cleric or community making "its own choices of emphasis in terms of doctrine, liturgy, and other matters." In practice, Independent Catholic polity is often essentially congregational.
For the most part, Independent Catholic communities possess a sacramental and eucharistic spirituality, often mirroring the sacramental life and theology of the Catholic Church. Most possess a mediatory priesthood and an historic episcopate, which are often the only constants amid diversity that ranges from extreme traditionalism to radical experimentation. Julie Byrne comments: "Independents vary widely, ranging from right to left in the political spectrum. On the right traditionalist churches practice versions of Catholicism more conservative than Rome. These include the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Marcel Lefebvre, as well as the Mount St. Michael's community in Spokane, Washington, and actor Mel Gibson's church in Malibu, California, which made headlines when he directed the movie, The Passion of the Christ in 2004. On the left stand groups such as the Church of Antioch, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, and the White-Robed Monks of St. Benedict."
While the Western Church and its theology have remained constant, despite changing clergy, Independent Catholicism often possesses another model in which "the priesthood remains constant, while the church it serves and the theology it teaches are often in a state of flux. While some western Christians may see this state of affairs as a distortion, it is nonetheless the centerpiece of the independent sacramental inheritance from the west."
Plummer says: "Independent sacramental Christians have given a unique primacy to the priesthood, carrying the 'priesthood of all believers' to an extent never before envisioned. In many such churches, most or all of the members are ordained, with ordination functioning more like , rather than a professional credential. For better or worse, there is great freedom to create new church structures, new forms for the sacraments, and new theologies, or at least a new synthesis of inherited elements."
Many Independent Catholic communities are small, are led by an unpaid clergy, and lack a stable schedule or location. Larger Independent Catholic communities have often resulted from schism within the Church or are often led by clergy who were formed by and formerly ministered to the Church; these communities often resemble mainstream churches with a larger population of laity and a small number of paid clergy. In Independent Catholicism, freelance ministries meeting the needs of a small number of persons are far more common than large parishes.
While many Independent Catholic clergy and communities affirm the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, with or without the filioque and with varying interpretations, they espouse a variety of doctrines and beliefs, ranging from neo-gnostic and theosophical beliefs allowing for "freedom in the interpretation of scriptures, creeds, and liturgies," or the belief in no creed at all, to extremely traditional orthodox Catholic positions. Plummer says: "The nature of the movement makes it virtually impossible for there to ever be a unified theology" among Independent Catholics.
Within the movement of Independent Catholicism, views vary widely on such issues as the ordination of women, homosexuality, divorce, issues of conscience, and other issues that are also controversial in other mainstream Catholic and Christian churches. Drawing from the ecumenical Christian tradition and other religious traditions, a growing number of Independent Catholic clergy and communities espouse a certain universalism, believing that God's loving embrace and forgiveness might be extended to all. Sometimes reaching beyond the bounds of the Christian tradition, some Independent Catholic clergy and communities feel greater liberty to incorporate into their lives and their worship a wide ranges of elements from other spiritual and religious traditions.
Plummer suggests the following categories for Independent Catholic communities: clergy who primarily celebrate alone, traditionalists with conservative theological commitments, churches maintaining traditional liturgy but with a different social or theological vision, groups with a particular focus on women's issues or the recovery of the Divine Feminine in worship, groups seeking liberal, non-dogmatic approaches to being church with little, if any, standards of dogmatic beliefs, and fellowships with an esoteric spirituality.
Hundreds of websites are devoted to Independent Catholic jurisdictions and communities, some of which "seem to exist primarily in cyberspace." Others have no web presence at all.