Are you schismatic Roman Catholics?

When first coming into contact with the Old Roman Catholic Church many devout Catholics immediately inquire, "Are you schismatic Catholics?

Old Roman Catholicism is neither a sect nor schism as some of its self-constituted enemies may claim. Old Roman Catholics acknowledge the Bishop of Rome historically and spiritually as the Patriarch of the West and our priests pray for the Pope in the Canon of their Masses to express the desire for unity which should exist amongst all Western Catholics. A thorough reading of history clearly indicates that the Old Roman Catholics did nothing of a schismatic nature to warrant Pope Pius IX's uncanonical institution of a new hierarchy in the See of Utrecht in 1853, in opposition to the historic hierarchy of the existing Old Roman Catholic Church, which was an act in flagrant violation of the ancient historic canons of the undivided Church, nor had the Old Roman Catholics taught anything that had not always been considered to be totally Catholic in either Faith or practice.

 In 1145 Blessed Pope Eugene III granted to the Cathedral Chapter of Utrecht the right to elect successors to the See in times of vacancy. This meant that, unlike most other Sees in the Roman Catholic Church, the Cathedral Chapter of Utrecht could elect their own bishops without permission or approval from the Pope. This had been the universal practice in the early Church. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council (Canons 23 and 24) confirmed this privilege.

 Another significant right granted to the Church of The Netherlands was the privilege of hearing and adjudicating all of its canonical issues and matters within its own ecclesiastical courts without the necessity of referring them to Rome or any other court of canon law constituted outside of the Metropolitan See of Utrecht, either for an initial adjudication nor for any subsequent appeals. In 1520, Pope Leo X decreed in the papal bull Debitum Pastoralis that the Bishop of Utrecht, his successors, his clergy, and his laity should never be tried by an external tribunal of canon law. If any such proceedings did take place they were null and void. This extraordinary right had been granted by Pope Leo X at the request of Philip of Burgundy, who was the reigning prince-bishop of Utrecht at the time.

 In 1691, the Jesuits falsely accused Archbishop Peter Codde, the occupant of of the See of Utrecht, of favoring the so-called Jansenist heresy. We say so-called Jansenist heresy because no one has ever yet succeeded in finding the repudiated heretical statements, either in substance or in form, in The Augustinus of Bishop Cornelius Jansenius, where the Jesuits pretended to have discovered them. Archbishop Codde was ordered to stand trial in Rome despite the special privilege and Papal dispensation from such a trial (see above re: Debitum Pastoralis). Despite the Archbishop's proved innocence of heresy, the influence of the Jesuits was so great that they persuaded the Pope to issue a secret brief suspending and deposing Archbishop Codde. Neither the names of his accusers, nor the charges made against him, were ever made known to him, nor was he permitted to offer any defense, all of these actions being contrary to the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. This created a breach which was never healed, though Pope Clement XIV was favorably disposed towards the grievously wronged Church of Utrecht.

 We believe and maintain, as we have always done since 1691, that these irregular proceedings against the Church of Utrecht, based, as they were, upon charges which were proved at the time to have been groundless, were null and void and in direct contravention of the privileged rights of the See of Utrecht for immunity from prosecution outside her territory. Add to all of this the uncanonical actions of Pope Pius IX in 1853, again contravening the ancient historic canons, as well as the privilege granted the See of Utrecht in 1145 regarding the election and appointment of her own Bishops and despite the majority opinion of the vast number of Catholic canon lawyers and academics being in favor of the Church of Utrecht, the actions of the See of Rome can be viewed in no other light than to declare them unjust, uncanonical and utterly null and void. Thus it is that we have remained, and are still in actual technical canonical fact, and not according to any fanciful or far-fetched theory, part and parcel of the Roman Catholic Church, despite her refusal to acknowledge or honor our historic and proven position as true Roman Catholics.