Catholic Orthodox Union of Saints Peter and Paul

The Catholic Orthodox Union of Saints Peter and Paul or COUSPP is an organisation of traditional English-speaking Old Catholic bishops in the United Kingdom designed to promote cooperation between Old Catholic denominations. COUSPP is centred around the Ecumenical Society of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, the Arch-Confraternity of Our Lady of Victories and the Old Holy Catholic Church.

Reasons for the formation of COUSPP

Old Catholic Ministry in the United Kingdom is very small in scale compared to the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. Old Catholicism in England has sometimes been associated with disputes between like minded denominations who often share doctrinal points in common and share a common apostolic succession. Disputes between English-speaking Old Catholics have split the movement, been divisive and prevented partnership working.

In July 2007 a mutually agreed move towards coordination was initiated between three Old Catholic denominations which see themselves as traditional and Orthodox, to form a coordinating council that would coordinate development and be a forum for joint discussion and debate.

COUSPP continues its work, along with AOLV, and was joined in November 2008 by the Ecumenical Society of Saint Augustine of Canterbury which was formed by Bishop Robert McBride in early November 2008.

The London Agreement

The foundation of the COUSPP, was agreed and formed by Metropolitan bishop Robert McBride & Anthony Earl-Williams. Two other signatories included bishops Alan Munday and Thomas Bodkin. These additional signatories later claimed to withdraw their consent prior to the final ratification of the COUSPP. The COUSPP's governing document is the London agreement compiled by Thomas Bodkin and signed by participants on 31 March 2007.^[1] Today Munday is no longer linked to the COUSPP although Bodkin is still an additional signatory and has amended much detail of the original COUSPP. Bodkin is also Metropolitan Bishop of the Old Holy Catholic Church and continues to work closely with the signatories of the COUSPP.

The work of COUSPP

This agreement of Union provides a formal forum whereby the bishops from three related churches with much in common can share experience and Old Catholic Ministry. The Union draws the Old Catholic Church in Europe Arch-Confraternity of Our Lady of Victories; and the Old Holy Catholic Church closer together.

The founders of COUSPP have committed to ensure that there is a fraternal environment to discuss opportunities for a shared mission and for developing ministries. The bishop signatories also participated in a joint Ecumenical Mass service on Palm Sunday 2009.

References

1. ^ Bodkin, Thomas (2007-03-31). "The London Agreement". COUSPP. http://www.occe.co.uk/The%20Catholic%20Orthodox%20Union%20of%20St.%20Peter%20&%20Paul.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-28. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• The Revised Mandate of the COUSPP
• The Ecumenical Orthodox Catholic Communion
• Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Victories A participant in COUSPP
• The Ecumenical Society of St. Augustine of Canterbury (TESSAC) is a new member of COUSPP which continues its work along with AOLV. TESSAC was formed in November 2008 by Robert McBride