History

696—Consecration of St. Willibrord as missionary to what would later become the Netherlands.

1145—The right to elect bishops granted to the Church of Utrecht by Pope Eugene III.

1215—Fourth Lateran Council confirms the right to elect bishops.

1520—Pope Leo X issues Debitum Pastoralis removing external control of the Church of Utrecht.

1692—Archbishop Petrus Codde accused of Jansenism by the Jesuits.

1701—Pope Clement XI suspends Archbishop Codde, which the canons and the majority of the clergy refuse to accept. 

1703—Archbishop Codde resigns and the clergy refuse to accept a bishop appointed by the Pope.

1723—The clergy elected Cornelius van Steenoven as bishop and he is consecrated by Bishop Dominique Marie Varlet as Archbishop of Utrecht. The church begins to be called the Church of Utrecht or the Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order, among other names.

1725—Archbishop Steenoven dies and Archbishop Johannes Wuytiers is consecrated by Bishop Varlet.

1734—Archbishop Wutyiers dies and Archbishop Croon is consecrated by Bishop Varlet.

1739—Archbishop Croon dies and Archbishop Petrus Meindaerts is the last bishop consecrated by Bishop Varlet.

1853—Pope Pius IX reappoints Bishops for the Netherlands after being served by Vicars Apostolic since the year 1701.

1870—The First Vatican Council declares Papal Infallibility. Groups throughout Europe approach the Church of Utrecht for apostolic succession and begin calling themselves Old Catholics.

1873—The German Old Catholic Church is founded under Bishop Reinkens.

1875—The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is formed under Archbishop Herzog in response to the First Vatican Council.

1877—The Old Catholic Church of Austria is founded.

1889—The Union of Utrecht is founded to bring together the Old Catholic Churches of Utrecht, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.

1908—Arnold Harris Mathew, a former Roman Catholic priest, is consecrated Old Catholic Bishop of England.

1910—Archbishop Mathew separates from the Old Catholics for what he perceives to be a move towards Protestantism by the Church. He names his faction the "Old Roman Catholic Church" to distinguish it from the Old Catholics.

1913—Archbishop Mathew consecrates Prince-Archbishop Rudolph de Landes-Berghes as Missionary Bishop of Scotland.

1914—Prince Archbishop de Landes-Berghes moves to the United States of America and establishes the North American Old Roman Catholic Church.

1919—Archbishop Mathew dies and is succeeded by Archbishop Bernard Mary Williams as 2nd Archbishop.

1952—Archbishop Bernard Mary Williams dies without designating a successor. Archbishop George Gerard Shelley is elected his successor as 3rd Archbishop.

1960—Archbishop Shelley consecrates Bishop Geoffrey Peter Paget King.

1962—Archbishop Shelley resigned as head of the Old Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain and Bishop Paget King became 4th Archbishop.

1965—Archbishop Paget King and Archbishop Wilfred Barrington-Evans of the Old Roman Catholic Church (English Rite) combine their jurisdictions and Barrington-Evans was named as honorary primate.

1971—Archbishop Barrington-Evans dies.

1991—Archbishop Paget King dies and is succeeded by Archbishop James Charles Headley-Thatcher as 5th Archbishop.

1993—Archbishop Dennis St. Pierre dies and is succeeded by Archbishop Douglas Lewins as 7th Archbishop.

2021—Archbishop Douglas Lewins retires and is succeeded by Bishop William Myers as current head.