THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
also among Bohemians and others of Slavic race in America. A number of independent congregations nucleated in several cities. It was felt that these should be united under episcopal ad- 2. National ministration, and as the Independent Catholic (Polish) Catholic Church desired to re- Church, strict its work to Poles, a separate organization seemed necessary. The advice of the Old Catholic bishops of Utrecht and Switzerland was asked, and in consequence of their advice, taking into account the largeness of the country and the possibility of three or four Old Catholic dioceses, the National Catholic Church was organized, with Jan F. Tichy as episcopal administrator (appointed by the bishop of Utrecht). This Church " is formed upon the same basis as the mother Church in Switzerland," this including theoretical as well as practical matters. Its attitude is avowedly friendly toward the Polish organization and to the Protestant Episcopal Church. It derives its apostolic succession from the Church in Holland. It reported in 1906 9 churches and 11 missions in the United States and Canada, 7 priests, and about 15,000 members. It is incorporated in Ohio, and has a cathedral and other buildings in Cleveland with property valued at about $20,000. Bulletin 103 of the United States Census (Religious Bodies) gives the Polish National Church in America 24 priests, 24 ministers, 15,473 communicants, and church property valued at $494,700.
IV. Statistics and the Congresses: In 1900 there were reported 57 active clergy and 13,079 communicants in Germany; approximately 40 parishes in Switzerland; 24 parishes and 16,885 members in Austria; and 21 parishes in Holland, where it possessed also the Amersfoort theological seminary; a few churches existed in Italy, the movement was represented in France, and attempts had been made in Portugal and Spain. In 1904 the German states of Prussia, Bavaria, Baden, and Hesse had 65 clergy, 11,201 communicants, and 1,946 children receiving instruction in the schools. In 1878 the Old Catholics of Europe began holding their synods (for business) and their general congresses (for discussion) in different years. Congresses have been held at Cologne 1891, Lucerne 1892, Rotterdam 1894, Vienna 1897, and Bonn 1902. At these meetings representatives have at different times been present from the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, the Russian Church, the Petite figlise of France, the Church of England. The subjects for discussion have taken a wide range, including the matter of international churches and the establishment of an international theological faculty, the dissemination of Old Catholic literature, the propaganda among the Slavic populations, the formation of societies for religious, educational, and social objects, practical matters such as the establishment of a fund for the support of priests joining the movement until they can be settled at work, and the Los von Rom movement (q.v.).
W. H. Larrabee. Bibliography: J. F. von Schulte, Die Stellung der Concilien, Papste und Bischbfe, Prague, 1871; idem, Der Altkatholizismus, Geschichte seiner Entwickelung . in Deutschland, Giessen, 1887; J. L. Whittle, Catholicism and tht Vatican. With a Narrative of the Old Catholic Congress at
Munich, London, 1872; C. J. Loyson, Catholic Reform, London 1874; [J. B. Mullinger], The New Reformation: Narrative of the Old Catholic Movement, London, 1875; E. Friedberg, Sammlung der Aktenstucke zum ersten vatikanischen Condi, Tubingen, 1872; idem, Aktenstucke der altkatholischen Bewegung, ib. 1876; F. Meyrick, The Old Catholic Movement, London, 1877; Sammlung der kirchlichen und staatlichen Vorschriften fur die altkatholischen Kirchengemeinschaft, Bonn, 1878; W. Beyschlag, Der Altkatholizismus, Halle, 1883; idem, in AJT, vol. ii., 1898; J. Rieks, Der Altkatholizismus in Baden, Heidelberg, 1883; A. M. E. Scarth, The Story of the Old Catholic and Kindred Movements, London, 1883; F. Rotert, Bischof Reinkens und seine Heifer, Leipsic, 1888; The Old Catholic Reform, in Modern Church History Papers, nos. 1-7, London, 1889; L. K. Goetz, Die geschichtliche Stellung und Aufgabe des deutschen Altkatholizismus, Leipsic, 1896; E. Herzog, Beitrage zur Vorgeschichte der christkatholischen Kirche der Schweiz, Bern, 18&6; idem, Eglise catholique nationale, Paris, 1900; F. Nippold, Die Anfange der christkatholischen Bewegung in der Schweiz und der Los-von-Rom Bewegung in Oesterreich, Bern, 1901; C. C. Grafton, Autobiography of the Bishop of Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, 1910; the official journal .is Amtliches altkatholisches Kirchenblatt, Bonn, 1878 sqq.
OLD LIGHT ANTIBURGHERS. See Presbyterians.
OLD LIGHTS. See Presbyterians, I., 2. OLD LUTHERANS. See Lutherans, II. OLD ORDER BRETHREN: See Dunkers, III. OLD TWO-SEED-IN-THE-SPIRIT PREDES- TINARIAN BAPTISTS. See Baptists, II., 4 (i).
OLDCASTLE, SIR JOHN (LORD COBHAM): English Lollard; b. probably in the manor of Almeley (13 m. n.w. of Hereford) about 1378; d. a martyr at London Dec. 14, 1417. He married for his third wife, in 1408, Joanne, the grand-daughter of Baron Cobham and, by right of his wife's title, sat in the House of Lords. He approved himself a valiant soldier in the service of King Henry IV. in Burgundy and Wales, and was a personal friend of the prince, who became, in 1413, King Henry V. Herefordshire, and especially that part in which Almeley lay, was a hotbed of Lollardy. The first that is known of his connection with the Lollards was his effort to reform the clergy and to diffuse Wyclif's writings. Upon the discovery of Lollard tracts in his possession, he was summoned by the king (1413) and, his obstinacy defeating a conciliation, he further refused to heed three citations to appear before the archbishop's court at Leed's Castle, and was excommunicated. Arrested by royal writ and thrown into the Tower, he was tried by the archbishop's court at St. Paul's, Sept. 23, declared a heretic, and handed over to the secular arm with a respite of forty days to recant. Henry's chaplain wrote, in 1418, that Oldcastle was released on the promise to recant and abide by the judgment of the convention which was to meet the following November; but one William Fisher, a parchments maker, was hanged in 1416, on the charge of arranging his escape, which is said to have been effected on or before Oct. 19. The proposed meeting of 20,000 armed Lollards in the field of St. Giles in Jan., 1414, shows that an uprising in his behalf and against the king was imminent; and Oldcastle escaped apprehension for four years, during most of which time he was concealed. A reward of 1,000 marks was placed on his head and he was formally