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The Nordic Catholic Church (NCC; Norwegian: den nordisk-katolske kirke), formerly known as the Lutheran Free Synod of Norway, is an Old Catholic church body based in Norway, of high church Lutheran patrimony. The church is a member of the Union of Scranton.

History

The Nordic Catholic Church was founded in 1999 by a group of traditional-minded people belonging to the "orthodox opposition" in the Lutheran state Church of Norway when they left the state church due to, for example, the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. During the process both the Free Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Anglican Forward in Faith organisation were kept fully informed. In Sweden it was paralleled by the foundation of the Mission Province of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden. Bishop Roald Nikolai, with respect to the name of the denomination, emphasized that Lutherans have historically referred to themselves as "catholic":

Luther himself maintained that his faith was catholic, and that he confessed the credal article of faith concerning the "Catholic" Church (WA 8. 96). Melanchton likewise emphasized that "we must all be catholic" (CR 24.399). In the Augsburg Confession of 1530 we also read that the doctrine of the Reformation "does not deviate from that of the Catholic Church (ecclesia catholica) in any article of faith, but only renounces a few misuses, that are new and have erroneously been included against the intention of church law". When discussing papal innovations, Reformation theologians claimed to hold a doctrinal standpoint that "neither deviates from Holy Scripture nor the Universal Church nor the Roman Church as we know it from the Fathers". (CA XXI:1)

The "Statement of Faith" of the Nordic Catholic Church states that it adheres to its Lutheran heritage to the extent that it has embraced and transmitted the orthodox and catholic faith of the undivided church, therefore also embracing the Old Catholic faith as taught by the Polish National Catholic Church.

Along with the Polish National Catholic Church, the NCC is a member church of the Union of Scranton.

Old Catholic Church in Italy (Nordic Catholic Church vicariate)

In 2011, a fraction of the Orthodox Church in Italy was organized as an association in memory of its deceased primate, Antonio De Rosso, under the name Association of Metropolitan Antonio (Italian: Associazione "Metropolita Antonio"). In 2013, the association was reorganized as the Old Catholic Church in Italy and in 2015 it became a vicariate of the Nordic Catholic Church.

Ecumenical relationships

Dialogue with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the approval of the Holy See, led in 1996 to an arrangement that Laurence J. Orzell has called "limited inter-communion". What this means is that the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the sacraments of the Union of Scranton, and allows members of the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic Churches in particular exceptional circumstances, defined in canon 844 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church and the parallel canon 671 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, that are regulated by the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, to receive three sacraments from Union of Scranton ministers. Canon 844 allows those Catholics who can avoid error and indifferentism and are unable to approach a Catholic minister to receive, under certain conditions, the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Anointing of the Sick from "non-Catholic ministers, ministers in whose churches these sacraments are valid". This canon declares it licit for Catholic priests to administer the same three sacraments to members of churches which the Holy See judges to be in the same condition in regard to the sacraments as the Eastern churches, if they ask for the sacraments of their own accord and are properly disposed. Obstacles to full communion include different understandings about papal primacy, the level of involvement of the laity in church governance, and the Union of Scranton reception of some former Roman Catholic clergy, most of whom subsequently married.

The Union of Scranton has been also in ecumenical dialogue since 2018 with numerous jurisdictions from the continuing Anglican movement: the Anglican Catholic Church, the Anglican Province of America, and the Anglican Church in America—commonly referred to as the G-3. Progress has been steady, and the potential for full communion is on the horizon and nearing quickly.

Since 2012, the Union of Scranton has been in dialogue with the Free Church of England.

See also

• Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway
• Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland
• Missionsprovinsen

References

1. ^ "Statement of Faith: Doctrinal agreement of 8 April 1999 between the PNCC and the delegation to Scranton from the Lutheran Free Synod of Norway" (PDF). Nordic Catholic Church. 8 April 1999. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
2. ^ "About us". Nordic Catholic Church. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2023. We are an Old Catholic Church and, since July 2011, Member Church of the Union of Scranton.
3. "About us". Nordic Catholic Church. 26 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021. Furthermore, the Nordic Catholic Church emphasises in its Statement of Faith that it adheres to its Scandinavian Lutheran heritage to the extent that it has embraced and transmitted the orthodox and catholic faith of the undivided church.
4. ^ "Scandinavian Lutherans form "Continuing" Church". Anglican Catholic Church. Archived from the original on 2006-06-01. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
5. ^ Nikolai, Roald (18 January 2014). "What is the meaning of the word "Catholic"?". Nordic Catholic Church. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
6. "The Union of Scranton: a union of churches in communion with the Polish National Catholic Church". unionofscranton.org. Scranton, PA: Union of Scranton. Archived from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
7. "Comunicato stampa" (Press release) (in Italian). Chiesa Ortodossa in Italia, Associazione "Metropolita Antonio". 2013-11-20. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22 – via comunicati.net.
8. "Un giorno importante per la Chiesa" [An important day for the church]. www.chiesavecchiocattolica.it (in Italian). Rome, IT: Chiesa Vecchio-Cattolica in Italia. 2015-02-28. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
9. "Clergy directory". nordiccatholic.com. Nordic Catholic Church. November 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24.
10. Orzell, Laurence J. (May 2004). "Disunion of Utrecht". Touchstone Magazine. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
11. "Joint Declaration on Unity". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
12. "G-3 and PNCC Continue Ecumenical Dialogue".
13. "ECUMENICAL CONVERSATIONS | The Bishop's Blog". nordiccatholic.org. Retrieved 2023-11-27.

Further reading

• Scandinavian Lutherans form "Continuing" church
• Out on a Limb in Norway by William J. Tighe (Touchstone July/August, 2002)
• Report from Norway by Fr Roald Flemestad - The National Assembly of Forward in Faith UK on 6 and 7 October 2006

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Official website (in Italian) (Nordic Catholic Church vicariate)

• Catholicism in Norway
• Christian denominations established in the 20th century
• Christian organizations established in 1999
• Lutheranism in Norway
• Union of Scranton