The Diocese of Eau Claire and the Old Catholic Diocese of Germany signed a joint agreement Oct. 12 at Christ Church Cathedral, Eau Cla'ire, Wis., marking what is believed to be the first such agreement between Episcopal and Old Catholic dioceses.

The agreement calls for members of the two dioceses to pray for one another, to develop visitation programs between the two jurisdictions, to construct "working relationships" between congregations of the two dioceses, and to educate persons "about the life, witness, and practice of the faith in our respective jurisdictions."

The agreement was signed by the Rt. Rev. William C. Wantland, Bishop of Eau Claire, during the Eucharist of the diocesan convention. Bishop Joachim Vobbe of the Old Catholic Church signed the agreement earlier in Germany.

The signing brought to closure three years of work between the Very Rev. Scott Kirby, dean of the Eau Claire cathedral, and the Rev. Konrad Liebler, a priest of the Old Catholic Diocese. It also brings focus to the full communion concordat signed in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic churches.

In 1992, a joint statement by the Continental Sections of the St. Willibrord Society, which promotes fellowship between the two churches, said, "only if Christians of both churches open up and share their lives with one another, communicate with one another at many levels and learn to love each other" will there be true unity between them as envisioned by the 1931 agreement.