Declaration of Utrecht

The Declaration of Utrecht, adopted on September 24, 1889, is the foundational confession of faith of the Old Catholic Churches. It was written at a decisive moment in Church history, following the First Vatican Council of 1870, when a number of bishops and theologians believed that certain newly defined Roman doctrines departed from the faith and canonical order of the ancient Church. Rather than establishing a new church, they sought to preserve what they understood to be the historic Catholic faith.

The Declaration is both a profession of faith and a statement of principle. It affirms the authority of Holy Scripture, the witness of the Ecumenical Councils, and the consensus of the undivided Church of the first millennium. At the same time, it explains why the Old Catholic bishops could not accept certain later doctrines and disciplinary developments which they believed lacked support in the faith of the early Church.

Throughout the document, the bishops make clear that their purpose was not to reject Catholic tradition, but to remain faithful to it. They reaffirm the centrality of the Holy Eucharist, uphold the apostolic ministry of bishops, encourage theological dialogue conducted in truth and charity, and call the Church back to the simplicity and integrity of the apostolic faith. The Declaration is therefore both doctrinal and pastoral in its tone.

More than a century later, the Declaration of Utrecht remains one of the most important historical documents of the Old Catholic movement. It continues to express the principles upon which many Old Catholic Churches understand their identity: fidelity to the ancient Church, respect for legitimate episcopal authority, and commitment to the faith that has been handed down through the ages. The complete text of the Declaration follows below.

A Translation of the Profession of Faith (Declaration)

Formulated by the Old Catholic Bishops assembled at Utrecht, September 24, 1889

1.

We adhere faithfully to the Rule of Faith laid down by St. Vincent of Lerins in these terms:

"Id teneamus, quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est; hoc est etenim vere proprieque catholicum."

(We hold that which has been believed everywhere, always, and of all men; for that is truly and properly Catholic.)

For this reason we persevere in professing the faith of the primitive Church, as formulated in the oecumenical symbols and specified precisely by the unanimously accepted decisions of the Ecumenical Councils held in the undivided Church of the first thousand years.

2.

We therefore reject the decrees of the so-called Council of the Vatican, which were promulgated July 18th, 1870, concerning the infallibility and the universal Episcopate of the Bishop of Rome, decrees which are in contradiction with the faith of the ancient Church, and which destroy its ancient canonical constitution by attributing to the Pope the plenitude of ecclesiastical powers over all Dioceses and over all the faithful.

By denial of his primatial jurisdiction we do not wish to deny the historic primacy which several Ecumenical Councils and the Fathers of the ancient Church have attributed to the Bishop of Rome by recognizing him as the Primus inter pares (First Among Equals).

3.

We also reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception promulgated by Pius IX in 1854 in defiance of the Holy Scriptures and in contradiction to the tradition of the first centuries.

4.

As for other Encyclicals published by the Bishops of Rome in recent times—for example, the Bulls Unigenitus and Auctorem Fidei, and the Syllabus of 1864—we reject them on all such points as are in contradiction with the doctrine of the primitive Church, and we do not recognize them as binding on the consciences of the faithful.

We also renew the ancient protests of the Catholic Church of Holland against the errors of the Roman Curia, and against its attacks upon the rights of national Churches.

5.

We refuse to accept the decrees of the Council of Trent in matters of discipline, and as for the dogmatic decisions of that Council we accept them only so far as they are in harmony with the teaching of the primitive Church.

6.

Considering that the Holy Eucharist has always been the true central point of Catholic worship, we consider it our duty to declare that we maintain with perfect fidelity the ancient Catholic doctrine concerning the Sacrament of the Altar, by believing that we receive the Body and the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ under the species of bread and wine.

The Eucharistic celebration in the Church is neither a continual repetition nor a renewal of the expiatory sacrifice which Jesus offered once for all upon the Cross; but it is a sacrifice because it is the perpetual commemoration of the sacrifice offered upon the Cross, and it is the act by which we represent upon earth and appropriate to ourselves the one offering which Jesus Christ makes in Heaven, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews ix. 11, 12, for the salvation of redeemed humanity, by appearing for us in the presence of God (Heb. ix. 24).

The character of the Holy Eucharist being thus understood, it is, at the same time, a sacrificial feast, by means of which the faithful, in receiving the Body and Blood of our Saviour, enter into communion with one another (1 Cor. x. 17).

7.

We hope that Catholic theologians, in maintaining the faith of the undivided Church, will succeed in establishing an agreement upon questions which have been controverted [i.e. in controversy - Ed.] ever since the divisions which have arisen between the Churches.

We exhort the priests under our jurisdiction to teach, both by preaching and by the instruction of the young, especially the essential Christian truths professed by all the Christian confessions, to avoid, in discussing controverted doctrines, any violation of truth or charity, and in word and deed to set an example to the members of our churches in accordance with the spirit of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

8.

By maintaining and professing faithfully the doctrine of Jesus Christ, by refusing to admit those errors which by the fault of men have crept into the Catholic Church, by laying aside the abuses in ecclesiastical matters, together with the worldly tendencies of the hierarchy, we believe that we shall be able to combat efficaciously the great evils of our day, which are unbelief and indifference in matters of religion.

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