Arnold Matthew

Arnold Harris Matthew (1852-1919) is the origin of the many of the episcopi vagantes in the United States. He convinced the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht to ordain him as a bishop, claiming he had many followers in England, though in fact he had very few at the time. Upon return to England, he founded the Old Catholic Church in America, and then proceeded to ordain as bishop a very large number of people.

(whoever wrote this origianl piece has Matthews confused with Villatte, and should check their sources better. Matthews never set foot in the United States.

Archbishop Matthew was not an episcopi vagante, as he was designated Bishop for England by Utrecht, as approved by Archbishop Gul. In addition, he did not travel to the U.S. at all. This is, unfortunately, a very poor piece of information. Archbishop broke from the Utrecht Union of Churches,as stated but that is no more controversial than the Church of England's split from the Roman Catholic Church, nor the East/West split between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church, or the split of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and certainly makes the validity of those ordained and consecrated no less valid than any of the others, all things being equal. Licitness, in any case is no more of an issue for the Old Catholic Church Movement in the U.S. than for any other Church which split from Rome, which also, if maintaining valid lines, would be "valid but irregular". For more information go to: www.oldcatholic.com.