Religious Life in Old Catholicism/ Feast of Bl. Charles de Foucauld

(Providence) The pre-Old Catholic and Old Catholic church has not accepted many forms of Religious Life in the last three centuries although there have been notable exceptions.

One significant event which affected pre-Old Catholicism was when the Cistercian woman's monastery of Port Royal, France. In 1634, Fr. Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, Abbot of the monastery of St. Cyran became spiritual director for the convent of Port Royal. Fr. Jean, a companion and patron of Fr. Cornelius Jansen promoted Jansenist theology at the convent. This school of thought became widely associated with the Little School of Port Royal, their famous monastery school. In 1660, the school was closed for heresy by King Louis XIV, whose spiritual director was a Jesuit, the opponents to Jansen. In 1662, Abbess Antoine Arnauld and Blaise Pascal published the book, Logic, or the art of thinking: The Logic of Port-Royal.  In 1708, Pope Clement XI abolished the convent and had the nuns forcibly removed and many of the buildings destroyed. Beginning in 1992 in Germany, a small group of men and women had been meeting regularly to pray, share the Eucharist, and encourage one another in the spiritual life. In 1999, this small nucleus developed into a religious community called, St. Severin's priory of the Order of Port Royal. In a letter dated 25 October 2010, Bishop Matthias Ring withdrew Old Catholic affiliation with the Order of Ecumenical Cistercian Abbey of St. Severin.


In the Netherlands, during and after the time of the Protestant Reformation, numerous religious who were persecuted as heretics hid in the Netherlands from Jesuit and Papal authorities. Since the Netherlands was a Protestant nation, the Religious were not recognize and could have been persecuted for practicing Catholicism, however, there was no civil authority in the state to enforce the stricter Ecclesiastical mandates from Rome, which made the Netherlands a lesser of two evils. Cistercian and Cathusian communities hid in the Netherlands but eventually died off since they were not allowed to publicly practice their faith. Catholic Priests in the Netherlands would say Mass in hidden churches and would identify themselves by not wearing wigs, colored clothing, and by wearing the simplest Dutch collar. Although the dress of the Priest in public was secular, its distinctive simplicity allowed people to identify them. The Dutch government tolerated this unspoken compromise. There were also communities of Sisters although they also were not allowed to live a traditional religious life. They were unmarried and wore very simple uniform clothing. They would go out into the community to perform corporal works of mercy and would spend much of the day praying.

The Croatian Old Catholics are in the process of building a traditional monastery for religious life. The building project is in its infancy, but hopefully some day, Old Catholic Monasticism may return to Europe. 

In the present day, there are no officially recognized communities of religious although many Old Catholics in the movement have become involved with the Ecumenical Taize community. Taize services are held in parishes all over Europe and the USA. There is also an Old Catholic Little Brother of Jesus Caritas in Germany, Fr. Michael Edenhofer. The Ecumenical Little Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Caritas in the USA are also in the process of admittance into the national ecumenical fraternity, founded by the Roman Catholic Church. Today is the Feast Day of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, the inspiration for the Caritas movement.