The finest definition of the Catholic Church and it’s Faith, was written by one of the Early Church Fathers: St. Vincent of Lerin, (AD 450) who defines it thus: ‘Moreover, in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always and by everyone:' this is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Church of the first millennium; and those who hold the faith of the Catholic Church before the Great Schism of 1054, with nothing added and nothing taken away, are Old Catholic. The Society of Traditional Old Catholics stands firmly and immovably on this Rock, which is Christ’s Body on earth: The Church.

Pentecost: Jerusalem: The Church, Christ’s Body on earth, is born.

325 Council of Nicaea I Repudiates Arianism and declares that Christ is homoousios (of the same substance) with the Father. Produces the Nicaean Creed.

330 The Roman Emperor Constantine relocates the centre of the Christian Church from Rome to Byzantium and re-names it Constantinople.

381 Council of Constantinople I Repudiates Arianism and Macedonianism, declares that Christ is ‘born of the Father before all time’, revised the NiceneCreed in regard to the Holy Spirit: promulgates the Nicaeo Constantinopolitan Creed.

431 Council of Ephesus Repudiates Nestorianism, proclaims the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (God-bearer) as Mother of God, repudiates Pelagianism, and reaffirmed the Nicene Creed.

449 Council of Ephesus II Christological decrees (on the natures of Christ).

450 St. Vincent of Lerins, one of the Early Fathers of the Church dies.

451 Council of Chalcedon The Hypostatic union of the two natures of Christ.

400’s Feast in the Eastern Church of ‘The Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God’.

476 The Western part of the Roman Empire falls. The Bishop of Rome and his officials fill the vacuum of administration.

553 Council of Constantinople II Repudiated Nestorianism.

Late 500’s The Pope defies the infallibility of an Ecumenical Council and startsusing the Filioque clause, thereby placing himself above an Ecumenical Council.

695 St. Willibrord is consecrated and appointed as missionary Bishop to the Frisians by Pope Sergius I where he evangelises the northern parts of the Netherlands above the Rhine.

756 The Donation of Pepin. Pepin the Short (baptised by St. Willibrord), king of the Franks (and the father of Charlemagne), and the Pope strike a deal and the Papal states are created thus extending the temporal rule of the Popes beyondthe Rome, and making the Pope the head of the entire Church in Pepin’sempire. In return the Pope anoints and crowns Pepin as the Emperor. As the centre of the Church was still in Constantinople, tensions now arise betweenRome and Constantinople (once named ‘The New Rome’.

661 Muslim Arabs take the territories assigned to the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, which thereafter are never more than partially and temporarily recovered.

787 Council of Nicaea II Repudiated Iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons and sacred images.

793 St. Willibrord the Apostle of the Frisians dies.

1014 Rome officially adds Filioque into the Creed. The primary causes of the schism were disputes over conflicting claims of jurisdiction, in particular over papal authority -Pope Leo IX claims he holds authority over the four Eastern patriarchs, and over the insertion of the Filioque clause into the Nicene Creed. Eastern Orthodox state that the Council of Chalcedon canon 28 explicitly proclaimed the equality of the Bishops of Rome and Constantinople and that it established the highest court of ecclesiastical appeal in Constantinople. Furthermore, that Council of Ephesus canon 7 declares that anyone who alters, or attempts to alter anything that is set forth from an Ecumenical Council must be deposed.

1054 A papal legate, Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, is sent by Pope Leo IX to Constantinople to withdraw from Cerularius the title of Ecumenical Patriarch and to force him to publicly recognize the Pope's claim to be the head of all churches.

1054 The Great Schism: caused by the Pope’s insistence that he is above any Council as he alters the Nicaea/Constantinople Creed and by the Latin West’s usage of the Filioque clause. The Roman Church breaks away from the definition of the Catholic Church and its Faith of St. Vincent of Lerins as: ‘That which has been believed everywhere, always and by everyone’. The RomanChurch is now an apostate Church.

1054 Mutual excommunication of East and West Churches.

1145 Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III and Pope Eugene III grants the Chapter of Utrecht the right to elect and consecrate their own Bishops.

1215 The Fourth Lateran Council confirms the decision of 1125 by Rome to grant independence to the Utrecht Church.

1517 Luther’s 95 theses published.

1517 The Reformation The movement within Western Christianity in Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Roman Church and in particular to papal authority. Period: 1517 – 1648.

1520 Pope Leo X confirms and defends the rights of independence of the See of Utrecht.

1545 The Council of Trent, under Pope Pius V, is held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent, was the council of the Roman Church prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it was a Counter Reformation council.

1552 Utrecht Bishop becomes Pope Adrian VI.

1554 The Church of England establishes itself and breaks with Rome.

1559 The See of Utrecht is raised to Metropolitan status as Philip II of Spain attempts to reorganise the Church of the Netherlands after the effects of the Reformation leaves the Netherlands short of Bishops. 5 new Sees are established: Haarlem, Deventer, Groningen, Leeuwarded and Middelburg under it.

1568 Pope Pius V adds the Feast of the Immaculate Conception to the Roman calendar.

1568 – 1648 Dutch War of Independence is triggered by Philip II of Spain as he launches the Spanish Inquisition.

1592 As part of the Counter Reformation, Jesuits begin to attempt to win back the Independent Church of the Netherlands even though Rome has told them to submit themselves to the Archbishop of Utrecht.

1648 The war ended, the whole region becomes a Republic and Reformers (Calvinists) set themselves up as the national Church.

1691 The Jesuits falsely accuse the Archbishop Petrus Codde of favouring the so-called Jansenist heresy. The Utrecht Church is investigated by a delegate of Cardinals from Rome. 1700 The Utrecht Church is acquitted by Rome.

1700 Archbishop Codde is invited to Rome to take part in the Jubilee. He received a most cordial welcome at the hands of Pope Clement XI (1700-1721) and the Cardinals. But soon after his arrival another congregation of Cardinals, assisted by theological consultors, carefully selected on account of their known favourable disposition towards the Jesuits, is instituted to try the charges of Jansenism which, the Jesuits continued to bring against the Archbishop. Again, he is found not guilty, however, influence of the Jesuits is such as to force the Pope to issue a secret brief suspending and deposing the Archbishop of Utrecht and appointing a Pro-Vicar Apostolic in his place. Utrecht rejects the Vicar Apostolic and the breach between Rome and Utrecht begins.

1724 Netherlands: Old Catholicism's formal separation from Roman Catholicism occurred over the issue of papal authority. This separation creates the first Old Catholic Church.

1708 Pope Clement XI mandated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as a Holy Day of Obligation.

1774 Pope Clement XIV dies, and the new Pope is not as favourably disposed towards Utrecht. Continued Jesuit pressure force Rome to declare that the See of Utrecht ended at the Reformation, and Utrecht is forced to end communion with Rome. For the next 260 years Rome continues to condemn the Utrecht hierarchy and accuse them unjustly of Jansenism.

1796 Napoléon a determined opponent of the church's civic authority, invades and disbanded the Papal States, which were restored for a last time in 1815 by Mussolini: a small enclave in Rome that is the seat of the modern Catholic Church.

1852 Arnold Harris Mathew is born. France.

1850’s The Old Catholic Church The term was first used for groups which had separated from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, primarily concerned with papal authority. Some of these groups, especially in the Netherlands, had already existed long before the term was coined.

1853 Pope Pius IX received guarantees of religious freedom from King William II of the Netherlands and re-establishes the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Netherlands. This existed alongside that of the Old Catholic See of Utrecht. Thereafter in the Netherlands the Utrecht hierarchy was referred to as the Old Catholic Church to distinguish it from those in union with the pope. According to Roman Catholic Church interpretation, the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht maintained Apostolic succession and its clergy celebrated valid sacraments. The Old Catholic Diocese of Utrecht is considered as the continuation of the Episcopal See founded in the 7th century.

1853 Pope Pius IX establishes a rival Hierarchy in the Netherlands. Pope Pius IX, whose attempt to strengthen and centralise his authority was carried out in three stages:

1854 the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady which must be believed for salvation. The Bishops of the whole Church had not been consulted; therefore, it was a new doctrine and, therefore, according to Tertullian and St. Vincent of Lerins, a false one.

1864 Syllabus of Errors is promulgated. 1869 Vatican Council I is summoned.

1870, the second (dogmatic) constitution on the Church, in four chapters, was introduced. The first defined the institution of the apostolic primacy of St Peter, a primacy of true and proper jurisdiction, not merely of honour; the second the perpetuity of this primacy of jurisdiction in the Roman Pontiffs; the third the universal ordinary jurisdiction of the Pope over all churches, together and separately and all and each of the pastors and the faithful; the fourth that the Pope, when he speaks ex cathedra, is infallible and his decisions are non- reformable. Once again, the Roman Church breaks away from the definition of sacred Tradition of St. Vincent of Lerins as: ‘That which has been believed everywhere, always and by everyone’, by defining Tradition as, ‘I am Tradition’. Many of the Bishops present were Italian Titular Bishops with no diocese, upon who’s vote Pius IX could rely. Other Bishops were bribed or threatened in order to get them to vote for Infallibility. 60 Bishops walk out due to this dogmatic statement and join the independent Catholic Church of Utrecht.

1870 The Old Catholic Communion is formed by Bishops from Germany, Austria and Switzerland begins at a public meeting held in Nuremberg under the leadership of Ignaz von Döllinger, following the First Vatican Council. They refuse to accept the definition of the dogmas of the infallibility and of the universal jurisdiction of the Pope. They come to be known as ‘Old Catholics’, because of their rejection of the ‘New Catholicism’ of the papal dogmas, and their appeal in matters of faith was to the primitive Church. In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, those who could not accept the decisions of the First Vatican Council were excommunicated by the Pope and became separate.

1873 the Church of Utrecht was prevailed upon to provide the German Old Catholics with a Bishop.

1874 Episcopal succession is established with the consecration of an Old Catholic German bishop by a prelate of the Church of Utrecht.

1889 The ‘Declaration of Utrecht’, The Old Catholic accepts the first seven ecumenical councils and doctrine formulated before the East–West Schism of 1054, but reject communion with the Pope and a number of other Catholic doctrines and practices.

1906 England: The Royal Commission appointed in 1904 to enquire into Ecclesiastical Disorders, afterwards known as the Ritual Commission, presented its report and this was followed by the issue of Letters of Business. At the time it was confidently expected that the catholic-minded Clergy, together with their congregations, would be cut adrift from the Anglican Communion and isolated by Act of Parliament. This led to negotiations with the Old Catholic Church at Utrecht and, finally, to the election to the episcopate of Arnold Harris Mathew.

1908 Arnold Harris Mathew Consecration: 28 April 1908 by Gerardus Gul, Utrecht.

1908 – 1919 Archbishop Mathew’s English Mission.

1909 Abp Mathew issues The Old Catholic Missal and Ritual, prepared for the use of English-speaking congregations of Old Catholics.

1909 Abp Mathew attends the Old Catholic Congress in Vienna.

1910 Abp Mathew leaves the Union of Utrecht, accusing it of becoming too Protestant and too liberal. He calls his Old Catholic Church the true Old Catholic Church.

1910 9th December Abp Mathew issues a Pastoral Letter: ‘A Declaration of Autonomy and Independence’. Declares the points of difference between the Old Catholics on the Continent and the Old Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland.

1911 Abp Mathew consecrates 4 Bishops to ensure the continuation of the Old Catholic Church in Britain as a pure Church, as the Utrecht Church is now considered to be an apostate Church. Consecrated: Archdeacon Francis Herbert Bacon, Canon Cuthbert Francis Hinton, Fr William Edmond Scott-Hall and Fr Frederick Clement Christie Egerton.

1911 Episcopal Synod: Bishop Mathew is unanimously elected Old Catholic Archbishop of Great Britain and Ireland, to bear the title of the Metropolitan Archbishop (of London).

1911 Pope Pius X issues a Bull of Excommunication against Abp Mathew for conferring the Episcopate without first having obtained the permission of the Holy See.

1912 Mgr Gerassimos Messarra, Prince Archbishop of Beirut, Legate of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, and Abp Mathew meet to discuss union. After long and full discussions, it is agreed that the faith of the Old Catholic body under Archbishop Mathew was in full accord with that of the Eastern Orthodox Church. That being so, the Prince-Archbishop solemnly received Abp Mathew and his rite into union with the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and Abp Mathew took an oath of Fidelity to the Patriarch. On 26th February 1912, His Holiness Photos, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, also accepted this union. These Acts of Union have never been repudiated either by the Eastern Orthodox Churches or The Old Catholic Church of Britain.

1913 Movement makes headway in Scotland and so Abp Mathew consecrates the Prince de Landas Berghes et de Rache, to the Episcopate as Bishop for Scotland.

1916 To safeguard succession Abp Mathew consecrates Canon Bernard Mary Williams.

1919 Abp Arnold Harris Mathew Dies 20th December. Aged 67. South Mimms.

1965 Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople of the Catholic– Orthodox proclaim a joint declaration of the lifting of the reciprocal excommunications dating from the 11th century, however, this act does not result in a restoration of communion. 

2010 The Old Catholic Church in the United Kingdom is restored led by bishop's Doughty and Lycett. 

2020 Adherents faithful to Holy Tradition and to St. Vincent of Lerin’s definition of the true Catholic Church, and being committed to continuing the mission and work of Archbishop Mathew; and most of all, being desirous of serving the Lord and His people and of labouring solely for the greater glory of God, come together under the leadership of Archbishop John Lycett to establish The Society of Traditional Old Catholics. 

14th October 2024 The Society of Traditional Old Catholics was duly received into full membership/Incardination into the United Episcopal Catholic Communion.