Editing Independent Catholicism (section)

==History==
===Early episcopal consecrations without papal approval===
The consecration of bishops without the approval of the wider church or papal mandate appears to be an ancient phenomenon, which led to Canon VI of the [[Council of Chalcedon]]'s assertion that any potential sacramental validity of such consecrations is valueless without the church's endorsement.{{Sfn | Jarvis | 2018 | pp = 206}} The resurgence of the phenomenon in the modern era seems to have coincided with the spread of [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] values. Beginning in 1724, [[Dominique Marie Varlet]] (1678–1742), the [[Latin Catholic]] Bishop of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baghdad|Babylon]], consecrated four men successively as [[Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht|Archbishop of Utrecht]] without [[papal]] approval.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dominique Marie Varlet|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG243536|access-date=2020-09-06|website=www.britishmuseum.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Varlet|first=Dominique-Marie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpwfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP13|title=Domestic Correspondence of Dominique-Marie Varlet: Bishop of Babylon 1678–1742|date=1986-01-01|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-07671-6|language=fr}}</ref>

This consecration by Varlet caused a theological controversy and [[schism]] within the Catholic Church, which now possessed bishops who were validly consecrated without the permission of the pope. This [[schism]] marked the birth of the movement that would later be known as the [[Old Catholic Church]] (a term coined in 1853 for the Catholics of [[Utrecht]]).

===First departure from the Catholic Church===
The sharing of apostolic succession in the west outside the Catholic Church was largely confined to the [[Church of Utrecht]] for over a century. After the (First) [[First Vatican Council|Vatican Council]] in 1870, many [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]], [[Imperial Germany|German]] and [[Switzerland|Swiss]] Catholics rejected assertions of universal jurisdiction of the pope and the declaration of [[papal infallibility]], and their bishops, inspired by earlier acts in [[Utrecht]], decided to leave the Catholic Church to form their own churches, independent of Rome. Now independent of the [[Pope]], these bishops were sometimes referred to as autocephalous (or self-governing) bishops from within their circles or ''[[Episcopi vagantes|episcopi vaganti]]'' (wandering bishops) from outside of their circles. These validly-consecrated bishops could claim apostolic succession, and they continued to share valid lines of apostolic succession with the [[Priest (Catholic)|priests]] and [[Deacon (Catholic Church)|deacons]] they ordained. In 1889, they formally united as part of the [[Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic)|Utrecht Union of Churches]] (UU).<ref name="Kemp">{{cite web|publisher=Ascension Alliance|website=concentric.net|editor-last=Kemp|editor-first=Alan R.|title=A Brief History of Independent Catholicism in North America|url=http://www.concentric.net/~Cosmas/indcath.htm|access-date=2014-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928173447/http://www.concentric.net/~cosmas/indcath.htm|archive-date=28 September 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Arnold Harris Mathew===

[[File:Arnold_Mathew.jpg|thumb|Bishop [[Arnold Harris Mathew]] (1852–1919)]]

In 1908, the movement that would become Independent Catholicism left [[continental Europe]] when [[Arnold Harris Mathew]] (1852–1919), a former Catholic priest, was consecrated in [[Great Britain]] by Archbishop [[Gerardus Gul]] (1847–1920) of the [[Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands]]. Mathew believed that [[Old Catholicism]] might provide a home for disaffected [[Anglican]] clergy who reacted to [[Pope Leo XIII|Pope Leo XIII's]] declaration that [[Anglican orders]] were null and void, and Gul incorrectly believed that Mathew had a significant following in the [[United Kingdom]]. Two years later, in 1910, Mathew consecrated two priests to the [[episcopate]], without clear reasons and without consulting the [[Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands#Old Catholic Archbishops of Utrecht|Archbishop of Utrecht]], and, in response to the ensuing protest, declared his autonomy from the [[Old Catholic Church]].<ref>Moss, pp. 301–4. Peter F. Anson, ''Bishops at Large'', pp. 180–81.</ref> Mathew later consecrated several other bishops who spread through [[England]] and [[North America]]. Plummer writes that, as a result, "we begin to see the small, endlessly multiplying groups, with a high percentage of the membership in [[holy orders]], which came to characterize the independent movement."{{Sfn |Plummer | 2004 |pp =19–20}}

===Joseph René Vilatte===
[[Joseph René Vilatte]] (1854–1929),<ref name="Kemp"/> an [[Old Catholic]] [[priest]] ordained by Bishop [[Eduard Herzog]] (1841–1924) of the [[Old Catholic Church]] in [[Switzerland]],<ref>[http://sourcebook.oldcatholichistory.org/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=1&allpages=1&theme=Printer Old Catholic SourceBook – General info] {{Dead link|date=June 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> is credited with being the first person to bring to [[North America]] the movement that would result in Independent Catholicism. In 1892, Vilatte traveled to [[India]], where he was consecrated, as Mar Timotheos, by [[Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares|Mar Julius I]] (1836–1923) of the [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]. In 1915, Vilatte founded the [[American Catholic Church (1915)|American Catholic Church]] which no longer exists. During the following 28 years, Vilatte consecrated "a number of men who are the episcopal ancestors of an enormous variety of descendants" in North America.{{Sfn |Plummer | 2004 |p=29}}

===Subsequent departures===
The 20th century has seen a number of clergy and laity move into the Independent Catholic movement from the Catholic Church.

====Czechoslovak Hussite Church====
Perhaps the largest departure from the Catholic Church was the [[Czechoslovak Hussite Church]] (CHC), which organized on 8 January 1920, when several thousand priests and laypeople formed an independent church in response to their deep concerns over the Catholic Church's opposition to [[Modernism in the Catholic Church|modernism]].{{Sfn | Plummer | 2004 | p = 23}}  The church's first patriarch was [[Karel Farský]] (1880–1927), a modernist and former Catholic priest. The first bishops of the CHC were consecrated by priests through the laying on of hands. In 1931, [[:fr:Louis-Charles Winnaert|Louis-Charles Winnaert]] (1880–1937), who was consecrated by [[Liberal Catholic Church|Liberal Catholic]] bishop [[James Wedgwood]] (1883–1951), consecrated two CHC bishops, [[:cs:Gustav Adolf Procházka|Gustav Procházka]] (1872–1942) and [[:cs:Josef Rostislav Stejskal|Rostislav Stejskal]] (1894–1946), thus sharing [[apostolic succession]] with the CHC.{{Sfn | Plummer | 2004 | p = 23}}  The CHC ordained its first [[woman priest]] in 1947, and it consecrated its first [[Female bishops|woman bishop]] in 1999. According to the 2011 [[Czech Republic]] census, 39,276 people at that time self-identified as members of the CHC.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.czso.cz/sldb2011/eng/redakce.nsf/i/tab_7_2_population_by_religious_belief_and_by_regions/$File/PVCR072_ENG.pdf |title=Úvodní stránka | work = SLDB 2011 |publisher=Czso |date=2014-11-14 |access-date=2015-11-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104224923/http://www.czso.cz/sldb2011/eng/redakce.nsf/i/tab_7_2_population_by_religious_belief_and_by_regions/%24File/PVCR072_ENG.pdf |archive-date=2013-11-04}}</ref>

====Carlos Duarte Costa====
[[File:Mons. Carlos Duarte Costa y Mons. Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez durante la consagración episcopal en el canal de Panamá.jpg|thumb|right|Catholic bishop Carlos Duarte (left) at the episcopal consecration of Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez, at the Panama Canal]]
[[Carlos Duarte Costa]] (1888–1961) was a [[Catholic]] bishop in [[Brazil]] for twenty years before distancing himself, and being excommunicated by the Catholic Church over his opposition to its position on [[clerical celibacy]], [[divorce]], [[vernacular]] liturgy, and accused the Catholic Church of [[fascist]] sympathies.{{Sfn | Jarvis | 2019 | pp = 69–78}} In 1945, Duarte Costa founded the [[Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church]] and began consecrating numerous bishops in the [[apostolic succession]]. He is known as "St. Charles of Brazil" by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, which had grown to 560,781 members by 2010.<ref>"Tabela 2103 – População residente, por situação do domicílio, sexo, grupos de idade e religião: Religião = Católica Apostólica Brasileira".  [http://sidra.ibge.gov.br/  Censo Demográfico] 2010 (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro, BR: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. 2010. Retrieved 2015-10-09.</ref>

====Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc====

From 1975 until his death in 1984, exiled Catholic archbishop [[Ngô Đình Thục]] (1897–1984) of [[Huế]], Vietnam, an older brother of [[Ngo Dinh Diem]], the first president of [[South Vietnam]], consecrated a number of bishops, first for the [[Palmarian Catholic Church]], then for the [[sedevacantists]] of the Tridentine Latin Rite Catholic Church.{{Sfn | Jarvis | 2018}}

==== Emmanuel Milingo ====
[[Emmanuel Milingo]] served as Catholic archbishop of [[Lusaka, Zambia]] from 1969 to 1982.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Washington |first=Tracy Wilkinson Former staff writer Tracy Wilkinson covered foreign affairs from the Los Angeles Times’ |last2=D.C. |last3=bureau. |date=2006-09-27 |title=Pope Excommunicates African Prelate With History of Defiance |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-sep-27-fg-milingo27-story.html |access-date=2025-12-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> He resigned in 1982 over the issues of [[faith healing]] and exorcism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vatican ousts rogue African archbishop: Milingo excommunicated after installing married bishops |url=https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2006-10/vatican-ousts-rogue-african-archbishop |access-date=2025-12-17 |website=The Christian Century |language=en}}</ref> After marrying, Milingo formed [[Married Priests Now!]], and ordained married priests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Milingo: God approved my decision to ordain married priests {{!}} News Headlines |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=6515 |access-date=2025-12-17 |website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref> He also consecrated four married priests as bishops, including [[George A. Stallings, Jr.|George Stallings]] of [[Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation]] and [[Peter Paul Brennan]] of the Old Catholic Confederation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Holy See Press Communiqué {{!}} EWTN |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/holy-see-press-communiqu-2598 |access-date=2025-12-17 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}}</ref>

==== Telesphore George Mpundu ====
In 2024 the former Catholic archbishop of Lusaka, [[Telesphore George Mpundu]], secretly consecrated Anthony Ward for the [[Servants of the Holy Family]]; and by November 2025, Mpundu and Ward "received notice" from Cardinal [[Víctor Manuel Fernández|Victor Manuel Fernandez]], that they had incurred [[Latae sententiae and ferendae sententiae|''latae sententiae'']] excommunication.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Servants of the Holy Family founder breaks silence on excommunication after covert consecration |url=https://thecatholicherald.com/article/servants-of-the-holy-family-founder-breaks-silence-on-covert-consecration-and-excommunication |access-date=2025-12-17 |website=thecatholicherald.com |language=en}}</ref> The excommunication has been disregarded by the group.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leader of schismatic Colorado Springs group disregards excommunication |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/268311/leader-of-schismatic-colorado-springs-group-disregards-excommunication |access-date=2025-12-17 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref>