The Bonn Agreement of July 2, 1931 is a formal affirmation which established

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

between the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and the

Old Catholic 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 Great C ...

churches of the

Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht () was an alliance based on an agreement concluded on 23 January 1579 between a number of Habsburg Netherlands, Dutch provinces and cities, to reach a joint commitment against the king, Philip II of Spain. By joining forces ...

, including the

Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands (), sometimes Jansenist Church of Holland, is an Old Catholic jurisdiction originating from the Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580). The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands is the mother church of t ...

. While it allowed bilateral participation in

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

, it does not require from either the acceptance of all doctrinal opinions. This communion has since been extended to all churches of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

through their

synods A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

Principles

The agreement expresses three principles: # Each communion recognizes the catholicity and independence of the other and maintains its own. # Each communion agrees to admit members of the other communion to participate in the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

s. # Full communion does not require from either communion the acceptance of all

doctrinal Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymolog ...

opinion, sacramental devotion or

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

practice characteristic of the other, but implies that each believes the other to hold all the essentials of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith. To monitor the progressive growing together of the two communions, the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council was established by the

International Bishops' Conference The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference or simply International Bishops' Conference (IBC) is the synod of bishops of Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches (UU) member churches. Background The International Old Catholic Bishops' ...

and the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867. As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...

. Its first official meeting took place in 1999.

Bibliography

* Bonn Agreement.
Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism: Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series
'. Author: Colin Buchanan. Edition: 2. Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Pages 105-106. . * Caruso, Robert W. Celebrating Communion: An Old Catholic and Episcopal Paradigm of the Local Church in North America. 2012. * Commission of the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches. Report of the Meeting of the Commission of the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches Held at Bonn on Thursday, July 2, 1931. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1931. * Emhardt, William Chauncey. Old Catholics Are Essential to Reunion. New York, N.Y.: National Council, Protestant Episcopal Church, 1931. * Emhardt, William Chauncey. Thoughts on the Anglican Communion and Reunion: Four Articles. New York: National Council f theProtestant Episcopal Church, 1930. Contents: I. Strides toward reunion at Lambeth.--Old Catholics are essential to reunion.--III. The nature of the Anglican Communion.--IV. The enlarging horizon of our Communion. * Gauthier, L. Pour le 25e anniversaire de l'intercommunion anglicane et vieille-catholique. lace of publication not identified ublisher not identified 1956. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60492752 * Huelin, Gordon. ''Old Catholics and Anglicans, 1931-1981''. Oxford University Press, 1983. "To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of intercommunion." * Richard J. Mammana Jr. (editor), ''Intercommunion between the Episcopal Church and the Polish National Catholic Church: An Introduction and Sourcebook'' (Resica Falls:

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ...

, 2022) * Maan, P. J., and J. Visser. 1931-1981: vijftig jaren full communion tussen de Anglikaanse en Oud-Katholieke Kerken. Amersfoort: Oud-Katholiek Seminarie, 1982. * Neuhoff, Klaus Heinrich. Building on the Bonn Agreement: An Historical Study of Anglican-Old Catholic Relations Before and After the 1931 Bonn Agreement with Special Reference to the Anglican-Old Catholic Theologians' Conferences 1957-2005. Amersfoort: Stichting Oud-Katholiek Seminarie, 2010. Contents: Introduction—History of the Bonn Agreement—Text and ratification of the Bonn Agreement --'Pre-history': the Church of England and the See of Utrecht—Since Vatican I : the establishment of further Old Catholic Churches—The Bonn Agreement (1931) --Problems relating to the Bonn Agreement—Anglican-Old Catholic theologians' conferences—Introduction—Overlapping jurisdictions—Ecumenical dialogues—Full doctrinal agreement? Orthodox churches—Universal jurisdiction iure divino? Roman Catholic Church—Eucharistic hospitality? Protestant churches—Ordination of women—Considerations for today. * Rein, Harald. Kirchengemeinschaft: die anglikanisch-altkatholisch-orthodoxen Beziehungen von 1870 bis 1990 und ihre ökumenische Relevanz. Bern: P. Lang, 1993. Bd. 1. Allgemeine Einführung: die anglikanisch-altkatholischen Beziehungen.-- Bd. 2. Die anglikanisch-orthodoxen Beziehungen, Die orthodox-altkatholischen Beziehungen, Das ekklesiologische Selbstverstä̇ndnis und die Beziehungen dieser drei zu anderen Kirchen. * Reunion Conference, and F. H. Reusch. Bericht über die am 14., 15. und 16. September zu Bonn gehaltenen Unions-Conferenzen, im Auftrage des Vorsitzenden Dr. von Döllinger. Bonn: P. Neusser, 1874. * Rodzina tygodnik katolicki: numer specialny : nr 44 (1106). Warszawa: ublisher not identified 1981. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonn Agreement (Religion) Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches Anglican ecumenism 1931 in Christianity 20th century in Bonn July 1931 1931 in Germany 1930s in Prussia 1931 documents

Principles

See also

Bibliography

References