Born as Arnold Harris Ochterlony Matthews in Montpellier, Hérault, France. The first Old Catholic Bishop in the United Kingdom, the founder of the Old Roman Catholic Church of Great Britain, and a noted author on ecclesiastic subjects.
Baptized and raised a Roman Catholic, +Mathew became a priest in 1877, but left the Church twelve years later when he expressed doubts about Papal infallibility. After flirting with Unitarianism, he joined the Church of England in 1892, became a curate, assumed an Irish earldom, and married (the latter union produced three children, and broke up around 1910).
In 1899 he returned to the Roman Catholic Church as a layman, writing extensively on Catholic topics and helping to establish Brighton's Zoological Gardens.
Nine years later, he joined the (non-Papal) Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, and was consecrated as a Bishop, in charge of the European sect's British missionary work. +Mathew eventually split with their leadership, but not before producing an English translation of the Old Catholic Missal and Ritual that is still used today.
In his last years he variously tried to make a go of his independent British church, reunite with Rome, and/or bring his flock into Anglican jurisdiction -- all unsuccessfully. +Mathew also consecrated many other independent Catholic bishops, helping to form a vast "episcopal underground" in the Christian world that exists today. He died in poverty, as a practicing Anglican layman, and is remembered today as a key figure in the English-speaking Old Catholic movement.
Baptized and raised a Roman Catholic, +Mathew became a priest in 1877, but left the Church twelve years later when he expressed doubts about Papal infallibility. After flirting with Unitarianism, he joined the Church of England in 1892, became a curate, assumed an Irish earldom, and married (the latter union produced three children, and broke up around 1910).
In 1899 he returned to the Roman Catholic Church as a layman, writing extensively on Catholic topics and helping to establish Brighton's Zoological Gardens.
Nine years later, he joined the (non-Papal) Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, and was consecrated as a Bishop, in charge of the European sect's British missionary work. +Mathew eventually split with their leadership, but not before producing an English translation of the Old Catholic Missal and Ritual that is still used today.
In his last years he variously tried to make a go of his independent British church, reunite with Rome, and/or bring his flock into Anglican jurisdiction -- all unsuccessfully. +Mathew also consecrated many other independent Catholic bishops, helping to form a vast "episcopal underground" in the Christian world that exists today. He died in poverty, as a practicing Anglican layman, and is remembered today as a key figure in the English-speaking Old Catholic movement.
Born as Arnold Harris Ochterlony Matthews in Montpellier, Hérault, France. The first Old Catholic Bishop in the United Kingdom, the founder of the Old Roman Catholic Church of Great Britain, and a noted author on ecclesiastic subjects.
Baptized and raised a Roman Catholic, +Mathew became a priest in 1877, but left the Church twelve years later when he expressed doubts about Papal infallibility. After flirting with Unitarianism, he joined the Church of England in 1892, became a curate, assumed an Irish earldom, and married (the latter union produced three children, and broke up around 1910).
In 1899 he returned to the Roman Catholic Church as a layman, writing extensively on Catholic topics and helping to establish Brighton's Zoological Gardens.
Nine years later, he joined the (non-Papal) Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, and was consecrated as a Bishop, in charge of the European sect's British missionary work. +Mathew eventually split with their leadership, but not before producing an English translation of the Old Catholic Missal and Ritual that is still used today.
In his last years he variously tried to make a go of his independent British church, reunite with Rome, and/or bring his flock into Anglican jurisdiction -- all unsuccessfully. +Mathew also consecrated many other independent Catholic bishops, helping to form a vast "episcopal underground" in the Christian world that exists today. He died in poverty, as a practicing Anglican layman, and is remembered today as a key figure in the English-speaking Old Catholic movement.
Baptized and raised a Roman Catholic, +Mathew became a priest in 1877, but left the Church twelve years later when he expressed doubts about Papal infallibility. After flirting with Unitarianism, he joined the Church of England in 1892, became a curate, assumed an Irish earldom, and married (the latter union produced three children, and broke up around 1910).
In 1899 he returned to the Roman Catholic Church as a layman, writing extensively on Catholic topics and helping to establish Brighton's Zoological Gardens.
Nine years later, he joined the (non-Papal) Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, and was consecrated as a Bishop, in charge of the European sect's British missionary work. +Mathew eventually split with their leadership, but not before producing an English translation of the Old Catholic Missal and Ritual that is still used today.
In his last years he variously tried to make a go of his independent British church, reunite with Rome, and/or bring his flock into Anglican jurisdiction -- all unsuccessfully. +Mathew also consecrated many other independent Catholic bishops, helping to form a vast "episcopal underground" in the Christian world that exists today. He died in poverty, as a practicing Anglican layman, and is remembered today as a key figure in the English-speaking Old Catholic movement.
Inscription
Of your charity pray for the good estate of
ARNOLD HARRIS MATHEW, D.D.,
Bishop of the Old Catholic Church.
De Jure Earl of Landaff of Thomastown, Co. Tipperary,
who entered into rest 20th December, 1919.
"Behold a great priest who in his days
pleased God and was found just."
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