Editing Independent Catholicism (section)

===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}}