Arnold Harris Matthew (1852–1919)

 The first Old Catholic Bishop in the United Kingdom.

Before you read about the positives born out of the Old Catholic Church in England, we must point out that there is one less positive result from Matthew's endeavours - and one we and others like us have suffered the consequences of - although things are greatly improved for us as we work more and more in unity with the Established Churches. The problem is that there are a number of disparate organisations whose members are now defining themselves as Ecumenical and from the Old Catholic Line but they also identify with being 'Independent' and 'Inclusive' and they tend to talk a great deal about their validity. The fact is that no one challenges their validity - it is their behaviour people question. These ministers can also have little, if any, Mission or Ministerial training as well as a lack of academic qualifications, and in some cases, a total lack of basic education. These people bring the world of the smaller Church into disrepute. This is terribly sad but the most tragic part is that we can do little about their existence other than clearly distance ourselves from them. As driven Christians wanting to work in an ecumenical  environment of love and mutual respect, this is hard to for any of us to do, but do this, we must. Dignity of the minister, their professionalism and their ability to work with the public with integrity and selfless compassion; is paramount. 

Both the Anglican and the Roman Church tried their best to discredit Matthew - and sadly some still do - mainly because of these less reputable faith groups. The Anglican Church's problem at the time, was because Matthew had a mission to reintroduce the original Apostolic Succession back into English priesthood that Henry the VIII destroyed (something some corners of the CofE is still very touchy about) and the Roman Church loathed him because Matthew had them sussed. These organisations may well have tried the hardest to demonise him - but there is little they can do to dismiss his lineage wich is wholly accepted by the Roman and Anglican Churches - however the many women ordained via the Matthew line are deemed valid by the Roman Catholic Church - but illicit in their eyes!

Matthew was a Roman Catholic priest before joining the Old Catholic movement. Matthew formally established the Old Roman Catholic Church of Great Britain, which was part of the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht. Matthew eventually raised a number of RC priests to the episcopacy by himself without notifying the Union of Utrecht which went down rather badly. He then sent documents to Pope Pius X attesting to the episcopal consecrations. Upon receipt of these documents, Pope Pius X published the Gravi Iamdiu Scandalo in which he excommunicated Matthew and condemned him as without papal recognition and declared him vitandus, a term in church law which meant that Roman Catholics were subject to censure if they had anything to do with Matthew. Pius X extended his sentence of excommunication to include those who had been consecrated by Bishop Matthew - most of whom were disenchanted Roman Catholic Priests.  

 This all counts for nothing today as the Old Catholic Line is accepted by the established Churches, albeit in some cases, reluctantly. However, as is the case with many Christians who challenge the 'establishment,' it has been a tough journey and sometimes still is. It is far too easy for any big organisation to discredit groups of people if what they have done is perceived as a threat to their dominance - although we wholly accept that there are these small faith groups who lack much needed professionalism and who regularly align with different (wandering) bishops.

 On December 29, 1910, Matthew declared his autonomy from the Continental Old Catholics and eventually (after years of fighting with both the Roman and Anglican Churches) retired to a village in the English countryside and contented himself with assisting at services in an Anglican parish church - but the Anglicans would only accept him as a lay minister.

By this time he had been deserted by his wife (he had married after his suspension as Roman Catholic priest) and because of the appalling way he was black-balled by the Roman Church, he had been abandoned by virtually all the priests and bishops he had ordained. Matthew died suddenly in December 1919 and was buried as an Anglican layman in the Parish of Saint Giles, South Mimms, Hertfordshire. He must have felt so defeated - but little did he know that his legacy was immense.

The significance of Matthew's actions today.

Matthew's activities as a bishop gave birth to the Liberal Catholic Church, founded by two priests he consecrated to the episcopacy, and the more conservative Old Catholic Churches who rejected the dogmas of the First Vatican Council. These breakaway Catholic Churches illuminated the path for the more liberal and open Ecumenical Catholic Churches to evolve in the latter part of the 20th Century. There are literally hundreds of Churches, 'rites' and ecclesiastical bodies in the English speaking world and some in Continental Europe from the Matthew line. This makes Matthew a significant figure in Catholic history and one to be honoured. Most of the Catholic Provinces and Jurisdictions outside of Roman rule - as the ECC+C is - owe a debt of gratitude to Arnold Harris Matthew however it is not all positive as documented below. No one however can criticise his bravery and stance against despots of the Roman Church as it forged a path for a significant number of Catholic married men and women all over the world to pursue their calling to Holy Orders and build strong Catholic Church Communities outside the rule of Rome and its Bishop (the pope), that would have otherwise been categorically denied them.

It must be born in mind that a few Provinces from the Old Catholic 'stable' of Matthew do not ordain women to the priesthood but this is changing and for some churches with their roots firmly placed within the Church of the Netherlands - it has changed already. The more progressive groups, of which we are one, are waiting with excitment for the result of these debated changes that have happened over the last 80 or so years, and indeed, they are still being debated today. If these bishops cannot move with the times following intercommunion between the Old Catholic and Anglican Churches, (namely the Church of England who do ordain women), their official 'respect' for one another via the Bonn Agreement will have to be renounced. We think the expression is... this an ecumenical problem!

While they all scrap over women in Holy Orders, the men and women of the ECC+C, as so many other churches with an Old Catholic heritage, will just get on with their ministries. After all, we owe it to Matthew to positively continue what he started in England. We are certain that he would have prayed hard that his aims and objectives of his vision became a reality. Surely, like all of us, that vision he had was to perpetuate our Christian faith within current generations and beyond?