We think it is important for the seeker to know that the Old Catholics in the United States are not in communion with the Union of Utrecht or any other European Old Catholic Churches. The reason for this is: The Protestant Episcopal Church and in particular, Bishop Charles Grafton; took a personal disliking towards then Father Joseph Vilatte, pioneer Old Catholic missionary in the United States. Grafton convinced the bishops in Europe that Vilatte was a charlatan and lent his support to the Polish Old Catholic Church. Subsequently, several small and independent Old Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdictions came into being in the United States. These independent jurisdictions still exist today, even though efforts have been made to unite. Many people have taken the attitude that the Old Catholic Church is a place to go when angry at the Roman Catholic or Anglican Church. That the Church was founded by men who were angry with Rome. That is no so. The Old Catholic Church is a part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church as defined in the Nicene Creed and other Catholic creeds prior to Vatican I. The Church was established by Theologians who could see an error and who wanted to correct that error. The Church was not established by the five original bishops but by 3,500 men and women who met in Germany to let it be known that they thought the Roman Catholic Church had errored.