According to Peter-Ben Smit, in "Old Catholic and Philippine Independent Ecclesiologies in History", the Union of Utrecht's (UU) International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference (IBC) discussed a request for admission in 1902. Smit observed that past "experiences had made ... the cautious, which in his opinion was a reason for the failure of contacts with groups in ... Ceylon ... and other countries to develop into relationships of full communion." "La Croix", "Catholic Messenger" of Ceylon reported that the Alvares schism ended in 1902. Bartas did not recount the significance of Alvares' ideology, he only noted that the schism, around 1902, intended to convert corporately, to eastern orthodoxy. The cathedral in Colombo had one priest, Alvares, fairly advanced in age. He and his parishioners asked the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, in Athens, to accept them under its jurisdiction and to send them an officiating priest preaching in Latin and English. Bartas wrote: