Celtic Christianity, or Insular Christianity (sometimes commonly called the Celtic Church) broadly refers to the Early Medieval Christian practice that developed around the Irish Sea in the 5th and 6th centuries: that is, among Celtic/British peoples such as the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Manx, Cumbrians, and Gallic. Religion in England refers to those religions that are specifically active in England, as opposed to in the United Kingdom in general (for that see Religion Scotland is traditionally a Christian nation with around 65% claiming to be Christian at the 2001 census. Wales is traditionally a Christian country with around 70% claiming to be Christian The history of Ireland begins with the first known settlement in Ireland around 8000 BC when Hunter-gatherers arrived from Great Britain and continental The term " Celtic Rite " is generally but rather indefinitely applied to the various rites used in Great Britain, Ireland, perhaps in Brittany Scotland is traditionally a Christian nation with around 65% claiming to be Christian at the 2001 census. Irish and Scottish missionaries (Iro-Scottish Hiberno-Scottish were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England and the Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 The country of Wales, or Cymru in Welsh has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29000 years though continuous human habitation The term " Celtic Rite " is generally but rather indefinitely applied to the various rites used in Great Britain, Ireland, perhaps in Brittany Christianity in Medieval Scotland pertains to the Christian Religion in Scotland in the Middle Ages. Saint Brendan of Clonfert or Bréanainn of Clonfert (c 484 &ndash c WikipediaPersondata --> See Columba (disambiguation and St Columb for other uses Not to be confused with St Columba, also Irish and partly his contemporary St Finnian or St Uinniau of Moville (495 - 589 was a Christian Missionary who became a legendary figure in medieval Ireland. Saint Patrick (Patricius Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Roman Britain -born Christian Missionary and is the Patron saint Blessed Margaret Ball (1515 &ndash 1584 was born Margaret Birmingham near Skryne in County Meath, and died of deprivation in the dungeons of Dublin Saint Charles of Mount Argus was a well known Passionist priest in 19th century Ireland. Saint David ( c. 500–589 ('Dewi Sant' was a church official later regarded as a Saint and as the Patron saint of Wales. Saint Dubricius (also known in his native Welsh as Dyfrig and in corrupt Norman-French as Devereux) (c Saint Teilo (also Eliud) was a leader of the Celtic Christian church in Wales during the 6th century Traditional story Ninian is first mentioned by Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (book III chapter 4 Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were established throughout the country by the confiscation of lands occupied by Gaelic clans and Hiberno-Norman dynasties Catholic Emancipation (Fuascailt na gCaitliceach or Catholic Relief, was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th The Irish Church Disestablishment Act 1869 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during William Gladstone 's administration The Scottish Reformation was Scotland 's formal break with the Roman Catholic Church in 1560 and the events surrounding this George Wishart (c 1513 &ndash 1 March 1546) was a Scottish religious reformer and Protestant Martyr. John Knox (c 1510 – 24 November 1572 was a Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian Jenny Geddes (c 1600 &ndash c 1660 was a Scottish market-trader in Edinburgh, who is alleged to have thrown her stool at the head of the minister in The Book of Common Order is the name of several directories for public worship Parts of the Bible were translated into Welsh before the 15th century but the first complete translation was the manuscript of Celydd Sfan and while no exact date William Salesbury also Salusbury (c 1520 - c 1584 was the leading Welsh scholar of the Renaissance and the principal translator of the 1567 Welsh William Morgan (1545 &ndash September 10, 1604) was Bishop of Llandaff and of St Asaph, and the translator of the first version of the whole The Catholic Church in Ireland, part of the world-wide Catholic Church, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and The Church of Ireland (Eaglais na hÉireann is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (or PCI (Eaglais Phreispitéireach in Éirinn, operating seamlessly across the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern The Methodist Church in Ireland has approximately 80000 members across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Church in Wales (Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru is a member Church of the Anglican Communion, consisting of six Dioceses in Wales. The Early Middle Ages is a period in the History of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire spanning roughly five centuries from AD 500 Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar The Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn or Mann (Mannin) is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western It generally excludes the Anglo-Saxons and some Picts. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south The Picts were a Confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman times until the 10th century In this sense, Celtic (or Insular) Christianity may be distinguished by certain unique traditions (especially matters of liturgy and ritual) that were different from those of the greater sub-Roman world.

The term “Celtic Christianity” is sometimes extended beyond the seventh century to describe later Christian practice in these areas; however, because the history of Irish, Welsh, Scots, Breton, Cornish, and Manx Churches diverges significantly after the eighth century (resulting in a great difference between even rival Irish traditions), historians generally avoid this use of the term in this context. ^[1] Furthermore, historians do not employ the term “Celtic Church”, since that entails a sense of there being a unified and identifiable entity separated from greater Western Christendom. ^[2][3]

Identity and terminology

It is easy to exaggerate the cohesiveness of the Celtic Christian communities. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Scholars have long recognised that the term “Celtic Church” is simply inappropriate to describe Christianity among Celtic-speaking peoples, since this would imply a notion of unity, or a self-identifying entity, that simply did not exist. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. ^[4] As Patrick Wormald explained, “One of the common misconceptions is that there was a ‘Roman Church’ to which the ‘Celtic’ was nationally opposed. ”^[5] Celtic-speaking areas were part of Latin Christendom as a whole, wherein a significant degree of liturgical and structural variation existed, along with a collective veneration of the Bishop of Rome that was no less intense in Celtic areas. Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and ^[6] Nonetheless, it is possible to talk about certain traditions present in Celtic-speaking lands, and the development and spread of these traditions, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Some scholars have chosen to apply the term ‘Insular Christianity’ to this Christian practice that arose around the Irish Sea, a cultural nexus in the sub-Roman period that has been called the ‘Celtic Mediterranean’. The Irish Sea ( Irish: Muir Éireann or Muir Meann; Scottish Gaelic: Muir Eireann Welsh: Môr Iwerddon, ^[7] The term “Celtic Christianity” may also be employed simply in the sense of different Catholic practices, institutions, and saints amongst the Celtic peoples, in which case it could be used meaningfully well beyond the seventh century.

History

St. Patrick, Apostle to the Irish

As the most remote province of the Roman Empire, Britain was reached by Christianity in the first few centuries of the Christian era, with the first recorded martyr in Britain being St. Alban (during the reign of Diocletian). The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 Saint Alban was the first British Christian Martyr. Along with his fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three martyrs remembered Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate The process of Christianisation intensified following the legalization of the religion under Constantine in the 4th century, and its promotion by subsequent Christian emperors. Constantine ( Latin: Cōnstantīnus, Greek:) is a given name and surname derived from the Latin word constans, meaning constant or As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini / Common era) was that Century In 407, the Empire withdrew its legions from the province to defend Italy from Visigothic attack. The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East The city of Rome would be sacked in 410, and the legions did not permanently return to Britain. Thus, Roman governmental influence ended on the isle, and, with the following decline of Roman imperial political influence, Britain and the surrounding isles developed distinctively from the rest of the West. The Irish Sea acted as a centre from which a new culture developed among the Celtic peoples, and Christianity acted centrally in this process. What emerged, religiously, was a form of Insular Christianity, with certain distinct traditions and practices. The religion spread to Ireland at this time, though the island had never been part of the Roman Empire, establishing a unique organization around monasteries, rather than episcopal dioceses. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Important figures in the process were SS. Ninian, Palladius, and Patrick (the "Apostle to the Irish"). Traditional story Ninian is first mentioned by Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (book III chapter 4 Palladius (fl 408-431 probably died ca 457/461 was the first Bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick (Patricius Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Roman Britain -born Christian Missionary and is the Patron saint Meanwhile, this development was paralleled by the advent of the Anglo-Saxon (English) migration / invasion into western Britain from Frisia and other Germanic areas, resulting in cultural hostility in Britain between the British and the (then pagan) English. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south Frisia ( West Frisian: Fryslân; North Frisian: Fraschlönj, Freesklöön, Freeskluin, Fresklun, and The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic

In the sixth and seventh centuries, Irish monks established monastic institutions in parts of modern day Scotland (especially St. Columba, also known as Colum Cille), and on the continent, particularly in Gaul (especially St. Columbanus). WikipediaPersondata --> See Columba (disambiguation and St Columb for other uses Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the Continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European Not to be confused with St Columba, also Irish and partly his contemporary Monks from Iona, under St. Aidan, then founded the See of Lindisfarne in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria in 635, whence Celtic practice heavily influenced northern England. One of the oldest and most important religious centres in Western Europe, Iona Abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland " Augustine was the Apostle of Kent but Aidan was the Apostle of the English Lindisfarne () (variant spelling Lindesfarne is a Tidal island off the north-east coast of England. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south Events By Topic Religion Saint Aidan founds Lindisfarne in Northumbria, England These renewed links with the greater Latin West brought the Celtic-speaking peoples into close contact with other subgroups of Catholicism. Thus, the issue of certain customs and traditions particular to Insular Christianity became, to an extent, a matter of dispute, especially the matter of the proper calculation of Easter. Synods were held in Ireland, Gaul, and England (e. g. the Synod of Whitby) where the Easter question was resolved, resulting in the adoption of one method for calculating Easter. The Synod of Whitby was a seventh century Northumbrian Synod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and A degree of variation continued, and to an extent was encouraged, evidenced by the issuance of a papal privilege by Pope Honorius to the Columbanus’s monastery of Bobbio freeing the institution for Frankish episcopal oversight. Pope Honorius I (died October 12, 638) was Pope from 625 to 638 Bobbio is a small town and commune in the Province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group Furthermore, the cultural exchange was mutual, evidenced by the spread of a uniquely Irish penitential system, eventually adopted as a universal practice of the Church by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. Penance is repentance of Sins as well as the proper name of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession The Fourth Council of the Lateran was summoned by Pope Innocent III with his Papal bull of April 19, 1213.

Other important Celtic saints, or saints who influenced the development of Christianity amongst the Celtic-speaking peoples, include SS. Dubricius, Illtud, David, Cadoc, Deiniol, Samson, Paul Aurelian, Petroc, Piran, Ia, Brigit, Moluag, Kentigern (aka Mungo), and Germanus of Auxerre. A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity Saint Dubricius (also known in his native Welsh as Dyfrig and in corrupt Norman-French as Devereux) (c Illtud (also spelled Illtyd and in corrupt English, Eltut, and in Latin, Hildutus) (died mid-6th century was a Welsh Saint David ( c. 500–589 ('Dewi Sant' was a church official later regarded as a Saint and as the Patron saint of Wales. Saint Cadoc or Cadog (born about 497, Abbot of Llancarfan, was one of the 6th century Welsh saints, whose Vita twice mentions Saint Deiniol (died 584 was the first Bishop of Bangor in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales. Saint Samson of Dol (born late 5th century was a Christian religious figure who is counted among the Seven founder saints of Brittany. Paul Aurelian (also known in Breton as Paol Aorelian and in Latin, as Paulinus Aurelianus) is a 6th century Welsh Saint Petrock redirects here You may be looking for Pet Rock, or the 7th century Dumnonian king Petroc Baladrddellt. For the coastal town Saint Ia of Cornwall (also known as Hia, Eia or Ives) was a 5th or 6th century Cornish evangelist and Martyr. Saint Moluag, (c530 - 592 (also known as Lua, Luan, Luanus, Lugaidh, Moloag, Molluog, Molua, Murlach Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern (also known as Cantigernus ( Latin) or Cyndeyrn Garthwys ( Welsh) Germanus of Auxerre (c 378– 31 July, 448) was a Bishop of Auxerre in Gaul.

Distinctive traditions

The Celtic Cross in Knock, Ireland. A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a Cross with a ring surrounding the intersection Knock is an electoral ward of East Belfast. It is also the site of a closed station on the Belfast and County Down Railway. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

Because Celtic Christianity is a broad term, it is difficult to define precisely which practices diverged from the remainder of the Latin West except in a general sense. In any specific area there will be exceptions to the list that follows. ^[8]

Episcopal structure

By the seventh century, the established ecclesiastical structure for Catholicism on the Continent consisted of one bishop for each diocese. Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the Continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European In the Catholic Church, a Bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the priesthood. In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. The bishop would reside in a “see”, or a city able to support a cathedral. An episcopal see is the ecclesiastical domain of authority of a Bishop. This article is about the history and organisation of the cathedral This structure was in part based on the secular administrative organisation of the Roman Empire, which had subdivided provinces into “dioceses” (see Roman province). The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial In Ancient Rome, a province (Latin provincia, pl provinciae) was the basic and until the Tetrarchy (circa

It was after Christianity had spread throughout the Empire, and especially after the advent of the Christian Emperor Constantine I, that dioceses had acquired an administrative function within the Church. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine Most of the Celtic world, however, had never been part of the Roman Empire, and even the notable exceptions of Wales, Devon, and Cornwall were nonetheless without developed cities. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar Hence, a much different ecclesiastical structure was needed for Insular Christianity, especially in Ireland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

What emerged was a structure based around monastic networks ruled by abbots. This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. The word abbot, meaning Father, is a title given to the head of a Monastery in various traditions including Christianity. These abbots were of royal kin. The nobility who ruled over different tribes, and whose sources of power were rural estates, integrated the monastic institutions they established into their royal houses and domains. Abbots were monastic, and thus were not necessarily ordained (i. MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor or k-effective Holy Orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders Bishop, Priest, and Deacon. e. they were not necessarily priests or bishops), and so bishops were still needed, since certain sacramental functions were reserved only for the ordained; however, unlike on the Continent, these bishops had little authority within Celtic ecclesiastical structure. The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church includes both the orders of bishops and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. ^[9]

Liturgical and ritual practices

Easter calculation

A distinguishing mark of Celtic Christianity was its distinct conservatism, even archaism. ^[10] One example is their method of calculating Easter. Calculating the proper date of Easter was (and is) a complicated process involving a lunisolar calendar. A lunisolar calendar is a Calendar in many Cultures whose date indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar Year. Various tables were produced in antiquity that attempted to calculate Easter for a series of years. Insular Christianity used a calculation table (Celtic-84) that was similar to one approved by St. Jerome. Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος However, by the sixth and seventh centuries it had become obsolete and had been replaced by those of Victorius of Aquitaine and, more accurately, those of Dionysius Exiguus. Victorius of Aquitaine, a countryman of Prosper of Aquitaine and also working in Rome produced in 457 an Easter Cycle, which was based on the consular list provided Dionysius Exiguus ( Dennis the Little or Dennis the Short, meaning humble (c As the Celtic world established renewed contact with the Continent it became aware of the divergence; most groups, like the southern Irish, accepted the updated tables with relatively little difficulty, with the notable exception of monks from the monastery of Iona and its many satellite institutions. One of the oldest and most important religious centres in Western Europe, Iona Abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland ^[11] For example, the southern Irish accepted the common Easter calculation at the Synod of Mag Léne around 630, as did the northern Irish at the Council of Birr around 697, and Northumbria with the Synod of Whitby in 664. Events By Place Byzantine Empire Serbs settle in the Balkans having been invited by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius Events By Place Asia Emperor Mommu succeeds Empress Jitō on the throne of Japan The Synod of Whitby was a seventh century Northumbrian Synod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and Nonetheless, in 716 Iona converted its practice.

The "Roman" tonsure, in the shape of a crown, differing from the Irish tradition, where the hair above the forehead was shaved. Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches mystics Buddhist novices and Monks and some Hindu temples of cutting the Hair from the

Monastic tonsure

Irish monks kept a distinct tonsure, or method of cutting one’s hair, to distinguish their social identity as monks (rather than warriors or peasants, who wore different styles of hair). Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches mystics Buddhist novices and Monks and some Hindu temples of cutting the Hair from the The ‘Celtic’ tonsure involved cutting away the hair above one’s forehead. This differed from the prevailing custom, which was to shave the top of the head, leaving a halo of hair (in imitation of Christ’s crown of thorns). In Christianity the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was the woven chaplet of thorn branches worn by Jesus before his Crucifixion

Penitentials

In Ireland a distinctive form of penance developed, where confession was made privately to a priest, under the seal of secrecy, and where penance was given privately and ordinarily performed privately as well. In Roman Catholic teaching the Sacrament of Penance (commonly called Confession, Reconciliation or Penance) is the method given by ^[12] Certain handbooks were made, called “penitentials”, designed as a guide for confessors and as a means of regularising the penance given for each particular sin.

In antiquity, penance had been a public ritual. Penitents were divided into a separate part of the church during liturgical worship, and they came to mass wearing sackcloth and ashes in a process known as exomologesis that often involved some form of general confession. ^[13] There is evidence that this public penance was preceded by a private confession to a bishop or priest (sacerdos), and it seems that, for some sins, private penance was allowed instead. ^[14] Nonetheless, penance and reconciliation was prevailingly a public rite (sometimes unrepeatable), which included absolution at its conclusion. Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the traditional Churches in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. ^[15]

The Irish penitential practice spread throughout the continent, where the form of public penance had fallen into disuse. St. Columbanus was credited with introducing the medicamenta paentitentiae, the “medicines of penance”, to Gaul at a time when they had come to be neglected. Not to be confused with St Columba, also Irish and partly his contemporary ^[16] Though the process met some resistance, by 1215 the practice had become established as the norm, with the Fourth Lateran Council establishing a canonical statute requiring confession at a minimum of once per year. The Fourth Council of the Lateran was summoned by Pope Innocent III with his Papal bull of April 19, 1213.

Achievement

The achievements of Christianity in the Celtic-speaking world are significant beyond what could be expected. Irish society, for example, had no history of literacy until the advent of Christianity, yet within a few generations of the arrival of the first missionaries the monastic and clerical class of the isle had become fully integrated with the culture of Latin letters. Besides just Latin, Irish ecclesiastics developed a written language for Old Irish. Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or rather the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed Likewise, they adapted the Christian episcopal structure to an environment that was wholly different from the prevailing sub-Roman world. Irish monks also founded monastic networks throughout Gaul and Northumbria, exerting a profound influence greater than many Continental centres that could boast much more ancient traditions. ^[17] One example is the spread of the cult of Peter within Gaul, which was largely the product of Irish influence, and the similar veneration for the papacy. Hence the first issuance of a papal privilege granting a monastery freedom from episcopal oversight was that of Pope Honorius I to one of Columbanus's institutions. ^[18] But perhaps the best example is the development of the Irish penitential practice.

Myths and symbolism

The notion of a "Celtic Church," and its nature, has been a continual source of disagreement and Symbolism, beginning especially with the Protestant Reformation. "Symbolic" redirects here For other uses see Symbolism (disambiguation and Symbolic (disambiguation. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time Some Roman Catholic apologists portray the idea of a separate tradition from that of Rome as an anachronism and mythological, for example, authors such as George Buchanan are suggested to have supplied “the initial propaganda for the makers of the Scottish Kirk” by inventing the notion of a national “Celtic” Church opposed to a “Roman” one. George Buchanan (February 1506 - September 28, 1582) was a Scottish Historian and humanist scholar ^[19] Any notion of a Celtic Church or unique tradition is completely rejected within the writings of some scholars. ^[20] Patrick Wormald also observed that, “It is difficult to resist the impression that what Protestant Confessionalism did for the idea of a ‘Celtic’ church until the 1960s is now being done by ‘new age’ paganism,” based on notions of some sort of "Celtic spirituality" allegedly distinguished by a unique ‘closeness to nature’. Confessionalism, in a religious (and particularly Christian) sense is a belief in the importance of full and unambiguous assent to the whole of a religious teaching New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature ^[21]

However, what might be accepted or rejected as historically factual does not detract from the symbolic nature of a Celtic Church which was overtaken by Romanised Christianity such that the Reformation and related political events could be interpreted as return to true and original Christian traditions. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time Ultimately, we know a Celtic church tradition did exist, that a decision was made at Whitby to support the Roman church which resulted in its suppression. In varying degrees since the Reformation, the basis for an equally historical, but temporarily suppressed Protestant church based on Celtic traditions, has been asserted. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time The historical legitimacy of this is debatable, but its symbolism is clear and was used by previous anti-Roman movements such as the Lollards and followers of John Wyclif^[22]

See also

• Pelagianism
• Anglicanism
• Celtic Catholic Church
• Celtic Orthodox Church
• Celtic Rite
• Iro-Scottish monks
• Papar
• Sarum Rite
• Early Insular Christianity
• Quartodecimanism
• Culdee
• Immram
• Joseph of Arimathea
• Sub-Roman Britain
• Restorationism (middle ages)

References

Bibliography

Primary Sources

• Adomnan, Life of Columba, ed. A. O. and M. O. Anderson, 2nd edition (Oxford Medieval Texts, 1991)
• Annales Cambriae, ed. Rev. John Williams ab Ithel (London : Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, 1860)
• Bede, Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Angelorum, in Venerabilis Baedae Opera Historica. ed. C. Plummer (Oxford, 1896)
• Cummian, De controversia paschali and De ratione conputandi, <eds. Maura Walsh and Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1988), pp. 93-5.
• Gildas, De Excidio Brittaniae, ed. J. A. Giles, Six Old English Chronicles (London, 1848)
• Historia Brittonum, ed. J. A. Giles, Six Old English Chronicles (London, 1848)
• Medieval Handbooks of Penance, eds. J. T. McNeill and H. M. Gamer (New York: Columba University Press, 1939)
• Patrick (Saint), Confessio, ed. and trans. John Skinner (Image, 1998)

Secondary Sources

• Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003).
• Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization (Anchor, 1996). ISBN 0385418493
• Charles-Edwards. T. M. Early Christian Ireland (Cambridge, 2000).
• Cróinín, Dáibhí Ó. Early Medieval Ireland: 400-1200 (London, 1995).
• Davies, Wendy. "The Myth of the Celtic Church", in The Early Church in Wales and the West, Oxbow Monograph, no. 16, edited by Nancy Edwards and Alan Lane, 12-21. (Oxford: Oxbow, 1992).
• Hughes, Kathleen. "The Celtic Church: Is This a Valid Concept?", O'Donnell lectures in Celtic Studies, University of Oxford 1975 (published in Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, 1 (1981), pp. 1-20.
• Hughes, Kathleen. The Church in Early English Society (London, 1966).
• Mayr-Harting, Henry. The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edition (London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1991).
• Sharpe, Richard Sharpe. ‘Some problems concerning the organization of the Church in early medieval Ireland’, Peritia 3 (1984).
• Wormald, Patrick. The Times of Bede: Studies in Early English Christian Society and its Historian, ed. Stephen Baxter (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006).

External links

• The Fellowship of St Piran
• Celtic Catholic Church
• St. Andrew's Celtic Church
• Community of Saint Ita and Saint Fillan - Auckland, NZ
• The Celtic Church in Scotland
• Celtic Saints & The Early Church