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Independent Catholic churches are Christian groups, particularly small groups, led by bishops and identifying with Catholic tradition but not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church nor with any other churches whose sacraments are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church (such as the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches). The term "independent Catholic" is not usually applied to the Church of England nor to the other member-churches of the Anglican Communion. However, "independent Catholic" is customarily applied to churches that consider themselves to be "Old Catholic", including the Old Catholic churches that form the Union of Utrecht, even though the Union of Utrecht churches are in communion with the Church of England and with the wider Anglican Communion (though the Union of Utrecht churches are not actual member-churches of the Anglican Communion). In the case of Continuing Anglican churches outside the Anglican Communion, those churches identifying with Catholic tradition may sometimes be considered as being independent Catholic churches. Virtually all groups in the independent Catholic movement claim to have valid apostolic succession for their bishops. The bishops of independent Catholic churches are sometimes referred to as ''episcopi vagantes'' ("wandering bishops") because of their lack of affiliation with a larger communion of churches. ==History== Although the term Old Catholic was first used in 1853 to describe those Catholics in Utrecht in the Netherlands, most scholars date the modern Old Catholic movement to the 1870s. After the First Vatican Council in 1870, considerable groups of Austrian, German and Swiss Catholics rejected the declaration of papal infallibility and left to form their own churches independent of the pope. These churches were supported by the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht who ordained their priests and bishops. Later they united more formally under the name Utrecht Union of Churches (UU). The "independent" Catholic movement came to Great Britain in 1908 when Arnold Harris Mathew was consecrated by Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands Archbishop Gerardus Gul. The Union of Utrecht incorrectly believed that Mathew had a significant following in the United Kingdom and, also, that there would be a wave of clergy wanting to leave the Church of England as a result of Pope Leo XIII's declaration that Anglican orders were null and void. Mathew believed that Old Catholicism would provide a home for these disaffected clergy; however, the mass conversions failed to occur. Before separating from the Union of Utrecht, Mathew ordained several individuals to the episcopacy and priesthood, from whom a number of new churches quickly developed, including the Liberal Catholic Church, whose first bishop, James Ingall Wedgwood, was consecrated by Frederick Samuel Willoughby who had been consecrated by Mathew.〔 Joseph René Vilatte,〔 an Old Catholic priest,〔(Old Catholic SourceBook - General info ) 〕 is credited with being the first person to bring the independent movement to North America. In 1892 Vilatte traveled to India where he obtained ordination to the episcopacy by the Oriental Orthodox bishops in India. Over the following 28 years Vilatte consecrated a number of men to the episcopacy. These bishops, or their successors, went on to found many different jurisdictions in North America. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Independent Catholic churches」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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