The Nordic Catholic Church has strong bonds with Anglicans. However, the liberalising innovations in the Church of England have complicated our ecumenical relations with them and at the same time made many Anglicans who cherish the Catholic heritage look for a new home.
In response, the Nordic Catholic Church has, together with our Mother Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, explored ways which could provide a new realignment for non-Roman Catholics, using the Union of Scranton as a means of achieving this. In this endeavour, we were encouraged by our affinity with the Free Church of England and conversations were initiated during 2012.
These talks have proved to be constructive and the following statement has been issued:
“Official Statement from the International Catholic Bishops Conference of the Union of Scranton On September 15, 2012 the International Catholic Bishops Conference (ICBC) of the Union of Scranton made the following motion:
The ICBC authorizes Bishop Flemestad to begin a dialogue with the Free Church of England on behalf of the Union of Scranton based upon the ‘Requirements for Communion with the Polish National Catholic Church’ (October, 2010) with the eventual goal of membership in the Union of Scranton.
Since then Bishop Flemestad has met on several occasions with representatives of the Free Church of England. At a meeting in Scranton, Pennsylvania on 11-12 February, 2013, Bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church, the Nordic Catholic Church and the Free Church of England met and had a very fruitful discussion during which documentation was presented and discussed. In light of this meeting the International Catholic Bishops Conference anticipates being able to work with the Free Church of England to build up a Catholic jurisdiction in the United Kingdom.”
The next stage is for the conversations to be reported to the International Catholic Bishops Conference in April and to Convocation of The free Church of England at its meeting in May.
