The Union of Scranton is a communion of Old Catholic churches established in 2008 by the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) of the United States, after the Union of Utrecht they had been part of began ordaining women and blessing of same-sex unions. Since then, it has expanded to include the Nordic Catholic Church (NCC), began by people who had separated from the Church of Norway, a Lutheran state church, in opposition to similar practices and has developed a more Catholic theology. The NCC includes the Christ-Catholic Church in Germany as a daughter-church, which traces its history through the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches (UU) and the PNCC, as well as St. Severin's Abbey which is the German Province of the Order of Port Royal.