The Old Catholic Church is a community of Christian churches. Many of these were German-speaking churches which split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1870s because of the promulgation of the dogma of Papal Infallibility as promoted by the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870. The term 'Old Catholic' was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht that were not under Papal authority. While the European Old Catholic Churches are a part of the Union of Utrecht, there are many, many more that are independent, especially in the United States.