Old Catholic Church of Canada

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The Old Catholic Church of Canada is an Old Catholic and Independent Catholic denomination in Canada. It grew out of the Old Catholic Diocese of Hamilton founded in 1949 by Fr. William Henry Daw. Daw also founded at other points in his ministry the Independent Anglican Church, Canada Synod and the Liberal Catholic Church of Ontario.

The OCCC was organized in 1960. It is socially liberal, ordaining women to all orders and extending the sacrament of matrimony to same-sex couples. It recongises seven sacraments, practices open communion, and maintains the threefold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons, as well as the subdiaconate which it views as a minor order. The orders of cleric, porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte were abolished at the turn of the 21st century.

The Archbishop of the Old Catholic Church of Canada is the Most Rev. Patricia Davies, also the first woman ordained in the OCCC.

Early in its history, some clergy left the OCCC to found the Ontario Old Roman Catholic Church. One of the OCCC's priests also went on to become Bishop of the Eucharistic Catholic Church in Canada.

[edit] External links

• The Old Catholic Church of Canada official site.
• Old site