According to Catholic tradition, the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ. The New Testament records Jesus' activities and teaching, his appointment of the twelve Apostles, and his instructions to them to continue his work. The Catholic Church teaches that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, in an event known as Pentecost, signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Church. 

Catholics hold that Saint Peter was Rome's first bishop and the consecrator of Linus as its next bishop, thus starting the unbroken line which includes the current pontiff, Pope Francis. That is, the Catholic Church maintains the apostolic succession of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope – the successor to Saint Peter, “First among Equals.”

In 49 CE, The Council of Jerusalem was convened to resolve doctrinal differences among the competing factions. This council affirmed that Gentiles could become Christians without adopting all of the Mosaic Law. By 100 CE, Jesus's apostles founded over 40 Christian communities. 

  Beginning in the 2nd century, bishops often held regional synods to resolve doctrinal and policy issues. By the end of the 2nd century a more structured hierarchy developed with a central bishop having authority over the clergy in his city or region. By the 3rd century, the bishop of Rome began to act as a court of appeals for problems that other bishops could not resolve. Doctrine was further refined by a series of influential theologians and teachers, known collectively as the Church Fathers. 

  Persecutions although usually local and sporadic, were a defining feature of Christian self-understanding until Christianity was legalized in the 4th century. Estimates of the number of Christians who were executed ranges from a few hundred to 50,000. 

  When Constantine became emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 312 CE, he attributed his victory to the Christian God. Many soldiers in his army were Christians, and his army was his base of power. With Licinius, (Eastern Roman emperor), he issued the Edict of Milan (313 CE) which mandated toleration of all religions in the empire. 

Constantine feared that disunity within the faith would displease God and lead to trouble for the Empire, so he took military and judicial measures to eliminate some sects. To resolve other disputes, Constantine began the practice of calling ecumenical councils to determine binding interpretations of Church doctrine.

  Decisions made at the Council of Nicaea (325 CE) about the divinity of Christ led to a schism between Nicene and Arian Christianity which flourished outside the Roman Empire. Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians, Catholic devotion to Mary became more prominent. 

In 380 CE, western Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Council of Carthage (397 CE) finalized the Biblical canon as it is known today. The Council of Ephesus (431 CE) clarified the nature of Jesus' incarnation, declaring that he was both fully man and fully God. 

 In 530 CE, Saint Benedict wrote his Rule of St Benedict as a practical guide for monastic community life. Monasteries became major conduits of civilization, preserving scholarship, industry and spiritual life.

 The Synod of Whitby of (664 CE), reintegrated the Celtic Church of the British Isles into the Roman hierarchy and set the formula for the celebration of Easter. 

With the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III (800 CE), his new title as Patricius Romanorum, and the handing over of the keys to the Tomb of Saint Peter, the papacy had acquired a new protector in the West. This freed the pontiffs from the power of the emperor in Constantinople but also led to a schism between the East and West.

It seems appropriate to begin this discussion with a statement of what the Old Catholic Church is not. It is not a sect or a schism as some of its self-appointed critics may claim. The Old Catholic Church is a body of Christians committed to the Person of Jesus Christ and His teaching and forms an historic part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. 

The Old Catholic Church affirms its historic continuity with the Apostolic Church of the first century through the ancient See of Utrecht in Holland. St. Willibrord, the Apostle of the Netherlands was consecrated to the Episcopacy by Pope Sergius I in 696 CE at Rome. 

In 1145, Pope Eugene III granted the Cathedral Chapter of Utrecht the right to elect successors to the See in times of vacancy. This privilege was affirmed by the Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215.

Armed with the protection of the papal concessions, the Church in the Netherlands continued to minister even through the turbulence of the Reformation. In 1592, the Jesuits, began to invade the jurisdiction despite orders to submit to the Archbishop by the Pope. 

In 1691, the Jesuits falsely accused the Archbishop, Petter Codde, of favoring the Jansenist heresy. He was unconditionally exonerated. Another attempt was made in 1700 by Counter-Reformers. Codde was summoned to Rome and was again acquitted. Pope Clement XI suspended the Archbishop in 1701 and appointed a successor to the See of Utrecht. The church and civil officials refused to accept the successor citing their right to choose for Holland. In 1703, Codde restored order and a year later retired. 

Meanwhile, the oppressed Church continued its efforts to obtain a hearing for resolution of its grievances and presented their case at the University of Louvain in May of 1717. Its appeal to the next General Council of the Church was ignored. Thus the Church of Holland which had been autonomous now became an independent Catholic church. 

In 1723, Dr. Cornelius Steenoven (7th) was elected and consecrated in 1724 by Dominique Varlet, Bishop of Ascalon. Varlet was to be called upon to consecrate three other archbishops for Utrecht between 1724 and 1739. Archbishop Peter John Meindaerts (10th) consecrated by Varlet in 1739 then consecrated Jerome de Bock for the diocese of Haarlem thus assuring the episcopacy for the Church of Holland which now had three active bishops. In 1763, Meindaerts called a synod of the bishops and clergy with the hope that the breach between Rome and the church of Holland would be resolved, but continued in its forced state of isolation. 

Meanwhile, in 1853, Pope Pius IX had established a rival hierarchy named "Old Roman Catholic" and now there were two churches of Holland, both catholic, rivals, though not actually enemies. In 1870, Pope Pius IX convened Vatican Council I and the church of Holland hoped for a hearing on its grievances. Its bishops were refused seating and the right of appeal. 

Following the Vatican Council I considerable dissent occurred over the definition of papal infallibility as a dogma of the Church. The dissenters held the Church in General Council to be infallible, but were unwilling to accept the proposition that the Pope, acting alone in matters of faith and morals is infallible. 

Many of these Catholics formed independent communities known as Old Catholic adhering to the beliefs and practices of the post-apostolic era of the Catholic Church. Eventually under the leadership of the Church of Holland, the Old Catholic communities joined together to form the Utrecht Union of Churches.*

*The Old Catholic Church. The foregoing text file is a "reprint" of the first in a series of articles by Bishop Facione, Presiding Bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America, published originally in The Scroll by the Society of St. Mark, who has given its permission that it be freely distributed with attribution.

Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Independent Catholic) and form “micro-churches” claiming apostolic succession and valid sacraments,” in spite of not being affiliated to the historic Catholic churches such as the Roman Catholic and Utrecht Old Catholic churches. The term “Independent Catholic” derives from the fact that “these denominations affirm both their belonging to the Catholic tradition as well as their independence from Rome.” 

Independent Catholicism may be considered part of a larger independent sacramental movement, in which clergy and laity of various faith traditions have separated themselves from the institutions with which they previously identified. 

There are three pivotal figures in the development of the Independent Catholic Movement in relation to the church in the United States. In 1908, the movement that would become Independent Catholicism left continental Europe when Arnold Harris Mathew (1852–1919), a former Catholic priest, was consecrated in Great Britain by Archbishop Gerardus Gul (1847–1920) of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands. Mathew believed that Old Catholicism might provide a home for disaffected Anglican clergy who reacted to Pope Leo XIII's declaration that Anglican orders were null and void. 

Two years later, in 1910, Mathew consecrated two priests to the episcopate, without consulting the Archbishop of Utrecht, and, in response to the ensuing protest, declared his autonomy from the Old Catholic Church. He consecrated several bishops who spread through England and North America. 

The second came in the person of Joseph Rene Vilatte (1854–1929), an Old Catholic priest ordained by Bishop Eduard Herzog (1841-1924) of the Old Catholic Church in Switzerland, is credited with being the first person to bring to North America the movement that would result in Independent Catholicism. In 1915, Vilatte founded the American Catholic Church which still exists. 

The third, Carlos Duarte Costa (1888-1961) was a Roman Catholic bishop in Brazil for twenty years before distancing himself, and being excommunicated by the Roman Church over his opposition to its position on clerical celibacy, divorce, vernacular liturgy, and his suspicions of the Roman Church's fascist sympathies during World War II. In 1945, Duarte Costa founded the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church.  Bishops tracing their apostolic succession to Duarte Costa have formed numerous other independent Catholic denominations in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

The Diocese of St. Patrick was founded on 20 April 2018 by The Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Colin Richards (1963- ) upon its incorporation in the State of Ohio in the United States of America. Its roots stemmed from St. Thomas Retreat and Spiritual Formation Center (2005). In 2011, we began an international partnership with The Rev. Aloys Kamwithi, founder of Huruma Rescue Mission, Kenya. Supporting them with materials, education and prayer.

Abp. Richards was a practicing Roman Catholic until 1997, a member of the Episcopal Church until 2013, associate pastor of Peace Fellowship until his ordination as a deacon in the Reformed Catholic Church on 22 April 2016. 

On 23 April 2016, Dr. Richards and Dr. Felicia Williams-Jackson were ordained in the Corpus Christi Communion, in Apostolic Succession through the Reformed Catholic and Old Catholic Churches. An ecumenically based church which ministered to those disenfranchised members of other denominations were welcomed into full communion in the Reformed Catholic Church.

Richards changed jurisdictions in 2018 and served as Priest, Vicar General and Director of Spiritual Formation of the Clergy in the American Apostolic Old Catholic Church. During his tenure, he taught Church History, Leadership and Church Administration, and Hermeneutics at St. Hildegard Theological Seminary. 

On 4 May 2018, The Diocese of St. Patrick was incorporated and obtained a 501(c)(3) status as The Diocese of St. Patrick, Inc. The first College of Bishops & Directors of the Church includes The Most Rev. Dr. Joseph C. Richards, Presiding Archbishop; The Very Rev. Dr. Felicia Williams-Jackson; and The Rev. Aloys Kamwithi. The final draft of the Constitution and Canons was approved at the First Annual Synod on 25 October 2021.

Richards was consecrated to the Episcopate on 5 October 2019 and elevated to the office of Archbishop for the Americas at the annual synod in the American Apostolic Old Catholic Church. Richards is one hundred twenty-seventh in the line of St. Thomas the Apostle, sixty-ninth in the line of T. Becket, and tenth in the line of C. Duarte-Costa. 

On 10 March 2024 at the annual meeting, the Constitution and Canons were amended and the Diocese of St. Patrick, Inc. became The Inclusive Catholic Church, Inc. The Diocese of St. Patrick, Inc. became the first official diocese of the church.

On 18 May 2024, The Very Rev. Dr. Felicia Williams-Jackson was consecrated to the Episcopacy and The Most Rev. Dr. Brian D. Gregory was consecrated sub conditionally.