OLD CATHOLIC CONFEDERATION

The Old Catholic Church in the United States® is the official National Old Catholic Church under the canonical authority of the Old Catholic Confederation, recognized as a 501 (c) (3) under § 170 (b) (a) (A) (i) Church and public charity by the Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. All contributions to the Old Catholic Confederation are tax deductible under U.S. federal law.

The Old Catholic Confederation® is a registered Trademark on file with U.S. Office of Patent and Trademark and protected by federal law of the United States. The Old Catholic Church in the United States® is also a registered Trademark of the Old Catholic Confederation, which has full and exclusive rights to use of the these marks including the use of the term Old Catholic Church™ and Archdiocese of the United States™ and U.S. Prelature for Old-Catholics.™ All Rights Reserved.

All of the ecclesiastical and diocesan heraldry, rhetoric and images of the OCC website and published documents have been filed with the U.S. Office of Copyright and are protected by federal law of the United States. All Rights Reserved.  

There are many incredulous groups in the United States that fraudulently make use of the term "Old Catholic" that do not have lawful or canonical permission to use this term. In most cases, these groups do not have an Old Catholic theological understanding of the Church, and they usually promote an unlawful semblance of the doctrine, devotions and liturgical practice of the Roman Catholic Church in order to confuse the faithful.

The Old Catholic Confederation affirms and claims the natural and constitutional right and sacred duty to defend and preserve the ecclesial and theological identity of the Old Catholic Church in the United States as having a distinct Christian patrimony and religious tradition. Further, the Synod of Bishops of the Old Catholic Confederation condemns any attempt to distort our Old Catholic faith and tradition by the abuse of the term “Old Catholic” and thereby demean the distinctiveness of our Church by fraudulently and unlawfully confusing it with other religious communities, which is tantamount to religious discrimination.

Aside from the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, the Old Catholic Confederation only recognizes the Old Catholic Churches, Dioceses, Vicariates, Religious Orders and Parishes that are mentioned in this official website and those under the canonical authority of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Anglican Communion and its Continuum.

All other such groups and organizations, especially those that have been formed after February of 2015, that use the term "Old Catholic" without the explicit permission or licensure from the Old Catholic Confederation, are herewith informed that such persistent and unlawful use of this term "Old Catholic" is a violation of U.S. Federal law concerning Trademarks and its international agreements; and the Old Catholic Confederation fully intends to protect our registered Trademarks to the fullest extent of the law. Thus, such groups and organizations using this term unlawfully and without permission, are herewith addressed to cease and desist, otherwise, such matters will result in the filing of a civil lawsuit for unlawful use of a protected Trademark and damages.