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Episcopalians attend Old Catholic Congress in Prague
2002-208-1
9/12/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
Representatives of the Episcopal Church attended the 28th International Old Catholic Congress in Prague, Czech Republic, in mid-August, nurturing a very special ecumenical relationship. The Episcopal Church has been in full communion with the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht since 1934. The Union includes about 100,000 members of the Old Catholic Churches in the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and Germany, and the Polish National Catholic Church, which also has 100,000 members in the United States. The Old Catholics split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1871 over issues of papal authority.
The Congress brought together over 400 participants, including significant representation by Anglicans from the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, and the Episcopal Church. Attending for the Episcopal Church were Bishop Keith Whitmore and Susanne Whitmore of Eau Claire; Bishop David Joslin of New Jersey; Prof. J. Robert Wright of the General Theological Seminary in New York; and Dr. Thomas Ferguson, associate deputy for Ecumenical Relations.
The Congress is usually held in Germany or the Netherlands. 'It was important to hold the Congress in Prague,' said Ferguson, because 'the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic has suffered tremendously in the last century. First, they were suspected of being German collaborators. Then, when Czechoslovakia expelled thousands of Germans after World War II, many were Old Catholics. Then in 1948 the Communists took control and the church suffered more persecution,' he said.
Ferguson reported that there are new signs of life. The Czech church now has its own bishop for the first time in 30 years. 'The Congress was also an important show of solidarity for the Czech people,' he added. 'With the devastation of the recent floods, the Congress was one of the few events that was not cancelled.'
The Congress meets every four years and has no legislative authority but is an important forum for addressing common issues. The Society of St. Willibrord, which promotes relations between Anglicans and Old Catholics, met during the Congress to discuss ways of practical cooperation in Europe.
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