The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference or International Bishops' Conference (IBC) is the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

of bishops of

Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches The Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches, most commonly referred to by the short form Union of Utrecht, is a federation of Old Catholic churches, nationally organized from schisms which rejected Roman Catholic doctrines of the First Va ...

(UU) member churches.

Background

The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference was founded in 1889 by the bishops of the

Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands ( nl, Oud-Katholieke Kerk van Nederland), sometimes known as the Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order, the Church of Utrecht (Ultrajectine Church), or Jansenist Church of Holland, is an ...

, the

Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany The Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany is the German member body of the Union of Utrecht of Old Catholic Churches, which follow Ultrajectine theology. It is permitted to levy the German church tax on its members. Its episcopal see is ...

, and the

Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is an Old Catholic denomination in Switzerland. This denomination is part of the Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic). Recent developments In 1871 the Zürich Catholic community planned to build a chu ...

. It is analogous to but not a metropolia. It is similar to the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...

of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. Like the Lambeth Conference, it is not a legislative body. According to the UU, the responsibilities of the IBC include: * maintaining community between member churches of the UU *"tak nga stand in controversial questions of faith and related ethical behaviours as well as in church order" *making formal authoritative UU statements about faith and principles *regulating ecumenical "relationships with other churches and religious communities" *accepting churches into the UU *accepting bishops into the IBC The archbishop of the

Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht The Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht is an archdiocese within the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands which split from the Archdiocese of Utrecht officially in 1723 because of the illicit consecration of Cornelius van Steenoven to the epi ...

is ' president of the IBC. The bishops of UU member churches meet yearly.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference Episcopacy Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches Religious organizations established in 1889 Christian organizations established in the 19th century