Old Catholic

American  

noun

1. a member of any of several European churches professing to be truly Catholic but rejecting certain modern Roman Catholic doctrines, dogmas, and practices, especially the dogma of papal infallibility.

2. a member of any of several minor churches, especially in the U.S., differing from the Roman Catholic Church chiefly in their rejection of the ecclesiastical authority of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

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Old Catholic British  

adjective

1. of or relating to several small national Churches which have broken away from the Roman Catholic Church on matters of doctrine

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noun

1. a member of one of these Churches

Etymology

Origin of Old Catholic

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Bilgri left the church last year and joined the Old Catholic Church, which emerged in the Netherlands in the 19th century and lets priests marry and allows same-sex relationships.

From Reuters • Apr. 12, 2021

Where his predecessor as a Quebec hero, Maurice Richard, was a man of the Old Catholic and agricultural dispensation, Béliveau was a hero of a new and more self-empowered Quebec.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 9, 2014

The first woman was ordained in Switzerland, for instance, in 2000 after “years of debate,” he said, and some Old Catholic dioceses — Poland, for one — still do not accept the ordination of women.

From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2010

Maria Longhitano, a member of the breakaway Old Catholic Church, says she hopes her ordination will break down "prejudice" in the Roman Church.

From BBC • May 13, 2010

The three Dutch Old Catholic bishops declared themselves ready to consecrate a bishop, if it were desired.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6 "Dodwell" to "Drama" by Various