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Simultaneum

Church with worship by two or more religious groups

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
5 min read
Source updated September 3, 2026

A shared church (German: Simultankirche), simultaneum mixtum, a term coined in 16th-century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in the German-speaking lands of Europe in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. The different Christian denominations (such as Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, or United, etc.), share the same church building, although they worship at different times and with different clergy. Simultaneums have been seen as a manifestation of Christian ecumenism.

Simultaneum as a policy was particularly attractive to Christian rulers who ruled over populations which contained considerable numbers of both Catholics and Protestants. It was often the opposite of cuius regio, eius religio and used in situations where a ruler was of a different religion than the majority of the people, and not strong enough to impose his religion on the population. These have been seen as a form of religious toleration.

During the Nine Years' War (1688-1697), Louis XIV of France occupied the Electorate of the Palatinate, a Protestant region situated mainly in the western part of what is today Germany, where he introduced the simultaneum. At the end of the war the region returned to Protestant control, but a last-minute addition to the Treaty of Ryswick provided for a continuation of the simultaneum. Although intended to apply only to the Palatinate, the simultaneum was subsequently also applied in portions of Protestant Alsace (a region ruled by France, but where the Edict of Fontainebleau was not enforced).

01Examples

Belgium

  • Olne, province of Liège; a simultaneum was introduced in 1649

France

Germany

Netherlands

  • In the Lands of Overmaas in the 17th century, the government of the Dutch Republic mandated that simultaneum applied to the region's churches, which were shared between Catholics and Calvinists.

Poland

  • Gniezno, St. Michał Kozal Church, Roman Catholic and Evangelical (of the Augsburg confession) simultaneum (the church with two presbyteries)

United Kingdom

  • Arundel, St. Nicholas' Church and Fitzalan Chapel. This consists of an Anglican parish church, with a separate Roman Catholic chapel attached, the latter being the burial place of the Dukes of Norfolk. Although these exist within a single building, it is suggested that this should not be properly considered a simultaneum, as there is no worship space which is shared, but used at different times. The two spaces are separated by an iron grille, and a glass screen, which is kept locked, except during very occasional ecumenical services. The glass screen replaces a brick wall which was erected by a Duke of Norfolk in the 19th century. It was lowered in 1956 and entirely removed in 1970.
  • Warrington, The Church of the Resurrection and St. Bridget was a shared church building between the Church of England's Church of the Resurrection and the Roman Catholic's St Bridget's RC Church. The building opened in 1988 after originally being planned in 1984 when Bishop David Sheppard, the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, and Archbishop Derek Worlock, RC Prelate of Liverpool, put forward the proposal. The worship space within the Church was shared by both communities, but Anglican and Catholic services were at different times throughout the week. The Church closed in November 2022 due to falling numbers of parishioners.

United States

  • Virginia Beach, Church of the Holy Apostles, Roman Catholic and Anglican simultaneum
  • Pennsylvania; Historically, Lutheran (ELCA) and Reformed (UCC) German immigrants commonly shared churches, particularly in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country region, although some congregations have since built their own separate churches.
Following the compromise between the Reformed Aniconism and Lutheran Adiaphora in Ringstedt's Reformed-Lutheran simultaneum of St. Fabian there is a Lutheran altar, but it shows no Lutheran crucifix, but only candles, in compromise with Reformed sensibilities.
Following the compromise between the Reformed Aniconism and Lutheran Adiaphora in Ringstedt's Reformed-Lutheran simultaneum of St. Fabian there is a Lutheran altar, but it shows no Lutheran crucifix, but only candles, in compromise with Reformed sensibilities.
Map of all simultaneum churches in Germany
Map of all simultaneum churches in Germany

02Holy Land church-sharing

The main traditional pilgrim churches of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are shared between several denominations. The regulatory work is known as the "Status quo", a type of church-sharing which is in no way related to the West European Protestant-Catholic sharing system described here (the "simultaneum").

Lutheran and Catholic altars in St. M. Kozal church in Gniezno, Poland
Lutheran and Catholic altars in St. M. Kozal church in Gniezno, Poland
Since 1530, the Cathedral of St Peter in Bautzen has shared by the Catholic Church and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony
Since 1530, the Cathedral of St Peter in Bautzen has shared by the Catholic Church and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony
Watch videos about SimultaneumExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Simultaneum”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Ecumenism

Ecumenism, also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations and theological traditions should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any inter-denominational initiative which encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches.

Local ecumenical partnership

In England and Wales, a local ecumenical partnership or local ecumenical project is a partnership between churches of different denominations. First piloted in 1964, over 850 now exist to promote unity between different Christian denominations.

Interfaith worship spaces

Interfaith worship spaces are buildings that are home to congregations representing two religions. Buildings shared by churches of two Christian denominations are common, but there are only a few known places where, for example, a Jewish congregation and a Christian congregation share their home.