The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches, or Old Catholic movement, designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivided church but who separated from the see of Rome after the First Vatican council of 1869–70". The expression Old Catholic has been used from the 1850s by communions separated from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, primarily concerned with papal authority and infallibility. Some of these groups, especially in the Netherlands, had already existed long before the term. The Old Catholic Church is separate and distinct from Traditionalist Catholicism.
The Continuing Anglican movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
The Polish National Catholic Church is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The Diocese of Scranton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established on March 3, 1868.
Robert M. Nemkovich is an American prelate and was the sixth Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, elected by the twenty-first General Synod of this denomination in 2002 and serving until 2010.
Bishop Franciszek "Francis" Hodur was the founder and first Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC). Ordained by the Roman Catholic church in 1893, Hodur served two parishes in the Scranton diocese before he was excommunicated five years later in 1898 for his release of a National Church program, which called for reformation to canon laws of temporal goods. His excommunication was also a result of his rejection of the dogmas of papal infallibility and supremacy after the Council of Trent. With a congregation of approximately 200 families, he founded the St. Stanislaus Parish in Scranton and celebrated Mass in the Polish vernacular of the congregation, instead of Latin, as was common in the Roman Catholic church. Hodur was consecrated a bishop in 1907 with apostolic succession by the bishops of Old Catholic Church and went on to expand the episcopate of the PNCC to manage diocesan affairs and ordain priests therein. Under Hodur, the church expanded to 245 parishes across the United States and Poland. After his death in 1953, he was succeeded by Leon Growchowski, whom he had consecrated in 1924.
Joseph Francis Martino is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2009. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1996 to 2003.
Casimir J. Grotnik (1935–2005) was a priest and bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC).
The Nordic Catholic Church, formerly known as the Lutheran Free Synod of Norway, is an Old Catholic church body based in Norway, of high church Lutheran patrimony. The Nordic Catholic Church is a member of the Union of Scranton.
The Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church is a diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church that includes New Jersey, part of New York, eastern Pennsylvania, and parishes in California, Colorado, and Maryland. The cathedral of the Central Diocese is St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The diocese comprises 41 parishes divided into five seniorates: Scranton, Plymouth, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, and Mohawk Valley. For each seniorate, there is appointed an Administrative Senior, who is a priest of the diocese charged with responsibilities throughout the area of the seniorate.
John Martin Dougherty was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Dougherty served as the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2009.
James Clifford Timlin was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 1984 to 2003. Timlin was accused in a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report of covering up sexual abuse crimes by priests in his diocese during his tenure as bishop.
William O'Hara was an Irish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania, serving from 1868 until his death in 1899. He founded St. Thomas College in 1888.
Michael John Hoban was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 1899 until his death in 1926.
Anthony Mikovsky is an American Polish National Catholic bishop. He is Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, having been elected at the General Synod of the church in October 2010 and his installation at 21 November 2010, at St. Stanislaus Cathedral, in South Scranton. Mikovsky was previously the bishop ordinary of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. Mikovsky holds a PhD in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Union of Scranton is a communion of Old Catholic churches established in 2008 by the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) of the United States, after the Union of Utrecht began ordaining women and blessing same-sex unions.
Joseph Richard Kopacz is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Jackson in Mississippi since 2014.
Thomas J. Gnat was a bishop of the Eastern Diocese of Polish National Catholic Church. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Gnat was ordained a priest on September 18, 1958 by Bishop Leon Grochowski in the historic cathedral of St. Saint Stanislaus in Scranton, PA, and from 1958 to 1959 he was a pastor in Scranton. From 1959, he was the parish priest of the Holy Trinity Parish in Washington, PA, where, in addition to his clerical duties, he represented the Polish National Catholic Church in contacts with state administration offices. In 1970, he was appointed as Administrative Senior for a deanery within the Polish National Catholic Church.
Joseph Ignatius Nieminski was the first bishop of the Toronto-based Canadian Diocese of Polish National Catholic Church. He was born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and ordained to the priesthood in 1946 after studies at Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton. He was consecrated in 1968, and served on the Polish National Catholic Church's dialogue commission with the Roman Catholic Church. While in Toronto with oversight for Canadian PNCC parishes, he also organized a Croatian National Catholic Church. Nieminski died in Toronto.
