Full Communion Partner: Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht

In 1934, The Episcopal Church entered full communion with the Old Catholic Churches in communion with the See of Utrecht during the ratification of the Bonn Agreement of 1931, which stipulated that:

  • Each Communion recognizes the catholicity of the other and maintains its own.
  • Each Communion agrees to admit members of the other communion to participate in the sacraments.
  • Intercommunion does not require from either communion the acceptance of all doctrinal opinion, sacramental devotion, or liturgical practice characteristic of the other, but implies that each believes the other to hold all the essentials of the Christian faith.

The Polish National Catholic Church
The Episcopal Church was in a relationship of full communion with the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) on the basis of the Bonn Agreement and a supplemental concordat of intercommunion by the 1946 General Convention. In 1978, the PNCC terminated this full communion agreement after the ordination of women in the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church did not take a similar action. In 2003, the bishops of the PNCC left the International Bishops Conference (IBC); the PNCC is therefore no longer a member of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht. The PNCC is a member of the World Council of Churches.

From Episcopal News Service

“One Church in Europe” (Oct. 23, 2013)