Official Record of Apostolic Succession of

Official Record of 

Apostolic Succession of 

‡Michael Vincent Seneco

Official Record of Apostolic Succession of 

‡Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA 

Questions of Apostolic Succession arise normally in the desire by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Eastern 

Catholics to ensure that the Church they are attending is recognized as being “validly Catholic”. 

Often, poorly formed and uneducated, but well-meaning Roman Catholic clergy will attempt to dissuade 

someone from becoming involved in the autocephalous Catholic Movement, by falsely claiming that our 

Church is not recognised as having valid sacraments and orders. This contradicts the teaching of the 

Roman Catholic Church, and such clergy ought to know better. 

In Dominus Iesus, the declaration on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church, 

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), who was then prefect of the Roman Catholic Congregation 

for the Doctrine of the Faith states, “Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the 

Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. The 

Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by 

means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular 

Churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though 

they lack full communion with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the 

Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the 

entire Church." (See also: Second Vatican Council, Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 3.; Congregation for the 

Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Mysterium Ecclesiae, 1: AAS 65 (1973), 396-398.; Second Vatican 

Council, Decree Unitatis redintegratio, 14 and 15; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter 

Communionis notio, 17: AAS 85 (1993), 848.; First Vatican Council, Constitution Pastor aeternus: DS 3053- 

3064; Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 22.) 

Through ordination and the laying on of hands, in accordance with Eastern (Marionite) Rite, the Apostolic 

Succession of Michael Vincent Seneco can be traced back to St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. James the Lesser 

(Bishop of Jerusalem), St. Thomas, St. Augustine and St. Gregorius. 

On March 1, 2006, before the people of God and in the Name of the Consubstantial and Most Blessed 

Trinity, Archbishop Michael Seneco was consecrated by Archbishop F. Francis-Maria Salvato and assisted 

by Bishop Steven Delaney, according to the Eastern (Maronite) Rite. 

On July 26, 2006 the Archbishop formed the Society of Pope Saint Anacletus. 

On September 7 , 2006 in keeping with the ancient traditions of the church, the Archbishop assumed the 

Titular See of Cesarea in Cappadocia, giving him the title Archepiscopus Titularis Caesariensis in 

Cappadocia. 

Documented herein, we recognize His Excellency ‡Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA, as being: 

252 nd in succession from St. Peter the Apostle 

171 st in succession from St. Andrew the Apostle 

162 nd in succession from St. James the Apostle 

150 th in succession from St. Thaddaeus the Disciple 

130 th in succession from St. John the Apostle 

126 th in succession from St. Thomas the Apostle 

122 nd in succession from St. Agai of the Seventy 

120 th in succession from St. Abris, cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

97 th in succession from St. Augustine of Canterbury 

72 nd in succession from St. Anselm 

68 th in succession from St. Thomas Beckett 

23 rd in succession from Dominicus Marie Varlet 

17 th in succession from the Orthodox Patriarch, St. Tikhon 

11 th in succession from Joseph Rene Vilatte 

10 th in succession from Arnold Harris Matthew 

9 th in succession from Henry Carmel Carfora, OFM 

6 th in succession from St. Carlos Duarte-Costa of Brazil

The Apostolic Succession from Chiesa Cattolica in Italia & 

Igreja Catolica no Brasil 

Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa, ordained a priest within The Church of Rome on 1 April 1911, was 

consecrated to be the Roman Diocesan Bishop of Botucatu, Brazil, on 8 December 1924. His public 

statements on the treatment of the poor in Brazil (by both the civil government and the Roman Church) 

resulted in his removal as Diocesan Bishop of Botucatu. Bishop Duarte Costa was subsequently named 

Titular Bishop of Maura by Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, Vatican Secretary of State until 1939 

under Pope Pius XI). 

Archbishop Duarte Costa's criticisms of the Vatican, particularly the policy toward Nazi Germany, were not 

well received. He was formerly separated from the Church of Rome on 6 July 1945 after his strong and 

repeated public denunciations of the Vatican Secretariat of State for granting Vatican Passports to some 

very high ranking Nazis. 

Some of the most notorious Nazi war criminals (e.g., Adolf Eichmann and Dr. Josef Mengele, the "Angel of 

Death,") escaped trial after World War II using Vatican Passports to flee to South America. The government 

of Brazil also came under the Bishop's criticism for collaborating with the Vatican on these passports. 

Bishop Duarte Costa espoused what would be considered today as a rather liberal position on divorce, 

challenged mandatory celibacy for clergy, and publicly condemned the perceived abuses of papal power 

(especially the concept of Papal Infallibility, which he considered misguided and false). He founded the 

autonomous Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB) immediately upon his separation from The 

Church of Rome (6 July 1945) and remained Primate of this jurisdiction until his death in 1961. 

Archbishop Luis Castillo Mendez was consecrated by Archbishop Duarte Costa on 3 May 1948. He succeed 

Abp. Duarte Costa as Primate and Patriarch of the National Catholic Apostolic Churches (Igreja Catolica 

Apostolica Nationales) in 1961. 

In addition to the autonomous Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB), there are sister jurisdictions in 

thirteen other countries in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Pacific and in Asia, including: Argentina 

(ICAA), Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, Australia, the Philippines, 

Canada and the United States of America, with over 12 million members. 

It may be of interest to consider Bishop Salomao Ferraz. He was a Roman priest who left that jurisdiction to 

join the new autocephalous Brazilian Church. He was consecrated to the office of bishop by Archbishop 

Carlos Duarte Costa for the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (ICAB) in 1945. In 1958 he was 

reconciled with the Church of Rome (during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII). The Vatican appointed him 

Titular Bishop of Eleuterna on 12 May 1963. Although married, Bishop Ferraz was later appointed Auxiliary 

Bishop of Rio de Janeiro by Pope John XXIII. Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Ferraz to serve on a 

commission of the Second Vatican Council; he even addressed the Council Fathers. 

This is mentioned only to point out that Bishop Ferraz was never re-consecrated by the Roman Church, not 

even conditionally (sub conditione)! He was also allowed to keep his wife while serving and functioning as a 

Bishop of The Church of Rome! Later, he was buried with the full honors accorded a Bishop of the Church of 

Rome. The Vatican, by accepting Bishop Ferraz without any re-consecration, affirmed de jure and de facto 

the sacramental validity of the Apostolic Succession received via Abp. Duarte Costa.

DUARTE COSTA SUCCESSION 

(THROUGH BISHOP SALOMAO FERRAZ) 

NOTE: The Holy Orders of Bishop Salomâo Ferraz have been recognized as valid by the Roman Catholic 

Pontificate. In 1958, Pope John XXIII received Bishop Ferraz back into the Roman Catholic Church, despite 

his being married, and did so without reconsecration. In 1963, Bishop Ferraz was granted the Titular See of 

Eleuterna by Pope Paul VI. Bishop Ferraz participated actively in the entire Second Vatican Council. 

Gian Pietro Cardinal Carafa 

(Who, in valid apostolic succession through St. Peter, would become Roman Catholic Pope Paul IV), in 

1555, did consecrate; 

Scipione Rebiba 

Who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1566 

Giulio Antonio Santoro 


Girolamo Bernerio, O.P. 


Galeazzo Santivale 


Lodovico Ludovisi 


Luigi Caetani 


Ulderico Carpena 


Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni 


Vincenzo Maria Orsini de Gravina, O.P. 


Pope Benedictus XIV 

(Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini) 

Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 19 March 1743: 

Carlo della Torre Rezzoni 

(Pope Clement XIII) 

Who, assisted by Archbishop Scopio Borghese & Ignatius Reali 

consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 April 1767: 

Cardinal Bernardinus Giraud 

Who, assisted by Archbishop Marcus Antonius Conti & Bishop Iosefus Maria Carafa 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 23 February 1777: 

Cardinal Alexander Matthaeus 

Who, assisted by Bishop Geraldus Macioti & Bishop Franciscus Albertini 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 12 September 1819: 

Cardinal Petrus Franciscus Galeffi 

Who, assisted by Abp. Ioanne Franciscus Falzacappa & Abp. Iosephus della Porta Rodiani 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1822:

Cardinal Iacobus Philippus Fransoni 

Who, assisted by Patriarch Joseph Valerga of Jerusalem & Bishop Rudesindus Salvado 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 June 1851: 

Cardinal Carolus Sacconi 

Who, assisted by Archbishop Salvator Nobili Vitelleschi and 

Archbishop Franciscus Xaverius Fridericus de Morode 


Cardinal Eduard Howard 

Who, assisted by Archbishop Alessandro Sanminiatelli Zabarella & Bishop Giulio Lenti 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1882: 

Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro 

Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 October 1890: 

Cardinal Joaquin Arcoverde de Albuquerque-Cavalcanti 

Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 June 1911: 

Archbishop Sebastiao Leme da Silveira Cintra 

Who, assisted by Dom Alberto Jose Goncalves & Dom Benedito Paulo Alves de Souza 


Dom Carlos Duarte Costa 

Patriarch, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (1945) 

Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 1945: 

** Salomâo Ferraz 


Manoel Ceia Laranjeira 


Viktor Ivan Busà 


Frederick Charles King 

Who sub-conditionally consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 1954: 

Emile Federico Rodriguez y Durand (Fairfield) 


George Augustus Stallings 

(African-American Catholic Congregation) 


Carlos Enrique Harvin 



Franciscus-Mariae of the Blessed Sacrament, SFI 

The Apostolic Society of Franciscan Communities 

Who consecrated to the Sacred Epipscoate in 2006 

Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA 

The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus

DUARTE COSTA SUCCESSION II 














Luigi Caetani 










Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 19 March 1743: 



Who, assisted by Archbishop Scopio Borghese & Ignatius Reali 

consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 April 1767: 


Who, assisted by Archbishop Marcus Antonius Conti & Bishop Iosefus Maria Carafa 



Who, assisted by Bishop Geraldus Macioti & Bishop Franciscus Albertini 



Who, assisted by Abp. Ioanne Franciscus Falzacappa & Abp. Iosephus della Porta Rodiani 



Who, assisted by Patriarch Joseph Valerga of Jerusalem & Bishop Rudesindus Salvado 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 June 1851:


Who, assisted by Archbishop Salvator Nobili Vitelleschi and 




Who, assisted by Archbishop Alessandro Sanminiatelli Zabarella & Bishop Giulio Lenti 



Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 October 1890: 


Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 June 1911: 


Who, assisted by Dom Alberto Jose Goncalves & Dom Benedito Paulo Alves de Souza 




Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 May 1948: 

Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez 



Esteban Meyer Corradi-Scarella 

(Catholic Apostolic Church in North America) 



(Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana) 








Franciscus-Mariae of the Blessed Sacrament, S.F.I. - Apostolic Society of Franciscan Communities and 

the Emergent Catholic Church (Congregational Catholic Churches of America). Who did concecrate to the 

Sacred Episcopate in 2006 



DUARTE COSTA SUCCESSION III 














Luigi Caetani 










Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 19 March 1743: 



assisted by Archbishop Scopio Borghese & Ignatius Reali 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 April 1767: 


assisted by Archbishop Marcus Antonius Conti & Bishop Iosefus Maria Carafa 



assisted by Bishop Geraldus Macioti & Bishop Franciscus Albertini 



assisted by Abp. Ioanne Franciscus Falzacappa & Abp. Iosephus della Porta Rodiani 



assisted by Patriarch Joseph Valerga of Jerusalem & Bishop Rudesindus Salvado 



assisted by Archbishop Salvator Nobili Vitelleschi and 




assisted by Archbishop Alessandro Sanminiatelli Zabarella & Bishop Giulio Lenti 



Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 October 1890: 




assisted by Dom Alberto Jose Goncalves & Dom Benedito Paulo Alves de Souza 




Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 May 1948: 

Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez 


assisted by Dom Melquiades Rosa Garcia & Dom Bartolomeus Sebastiao Vilela 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 30 January 1985: 

Dom Forest Ernest Barber 

Holy Orthodox Church in the Philippines 

(Mission of the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira) 

assisted by Abp. Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield & Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz 


Dom Nils Bertil Alexander Persson 

Archbishop of Scandinavia, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira 

assisted by Abp. Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield, Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz, 

Bishop Christopher Rogers, Bishop Carroll Lowery, 

Exarch Howard D. van Orden, Archbishop Arthur Garrow, 

Bishop Petros (Eric Veloso), Bishop Michael Marshal 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 August 1989: 

Dom Karl Julius Barwin 

Primate, The Evangelical Catholic Church. Bishop Karl J. Barwin did consecrated to the episcopate on May 

12, 1990 

George Augustus Stallings, Jr. - Patriarch and Archbishop of the African American Catholic Congregation, 

who consecrated 

Carlos Enrique Harvin - Bishop in 1996 for the African American Catholic Congregation. Bishop Harvin 

consecrated on January 18, 2004 

Franciscus-Mariae of the Blessed Sacrament, S.F.I. - Presiding Bishop and Exarch of the Apostolic 

Society of Franciscan Communities and the Emergent Catholic Church (Congregational Catholic Churches 

of America). Who did concecrate to the Sacred Episcopate in 2006 



The Apostolic Succession from The Mariavite Old Catholic 

Church 

The Mariavite Old Catholic Church separated from the Roman Communion in 1906, and elected as their 

bishop Minister General Jean Marie Michel Kowaleski, a priest ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. The 

succession of the Mariavite Old Catholic Church comes through Cardinal Antonio Barberini, nephew of Pope 

Urban VII, and through the Ultrajectine (Old Catholic Church), of which Archbishop Gerardus Gul became 

the seventeenth Archbishop of Utrecht, in 1892. 

SUCCESSION I 

Bishop Johann Michael Kowalski was consecrated in Utrecht, Holland, on 5 October 1909 by Archbishop 

Gerard Gul of Utrecht, Archbishop Arnold Harris Mathew (Archbishop of London, Old Catholic Church of 

England), Bishop Johannes Jacobus van Thiel and Bishop Nicolas Bartholomaeus Petrus Spit (Old Catholic 

Church of Holland), and Bishop Joseph Demmel (Bishop of Bonn, Old Catholic Church of Germany), as 

Bishop for the Polish Catholic Church of the Mariavites. Bishop Kowalski consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop Marc Marie (Paul Fatome) on 4 September 1938 as Regionary Bishop for France. Bishop Marc 

Marie consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Paulus (Helmut Norbert Maas) on 6 October 1949 as Bishop of the Mariavite Catholic Church in 

Germany (Katholische Kirche der Mariaviten in Deutschland). Bishop Paulus consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop Efrem Maria Mauro Fusi on 24 May 1953 as Bishop for The Mariavite Catholic Church in Italy 

(Chiesa Cattolica Mariavita). Bishop Fusi consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Clement Alfio Sgroi Marchese on 26 May 1954 as Bishop of Sicily for The Mariavite Catholic 

Church in Italy. Bishop Marchese consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Georgius (Hugh George de Willmott Newman) on 18 September 1954 as Patriarch of Glastonbury (and 

the 6th British Orthodox Patriarch). Mar Georgius consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Charles Dennis Boltwood on 6 July 1956 as Titular Bishop of Thorney and Auxiliary Bishop for 

London north of the Thames. Bishop Boltwood consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Emmett Neil Enochs on 31 August 1958 at Los Angeles, California, as Archbishop of 

California, Primate of the United States for the Free Protestant Episcopal Church and Titular Missionary 

Bishop in The Catholic Apostolic Church, assisted by Rev'd Frederick C. King, Ph.D., Rev'd Karla King, and 

Rev'd Marshall Ho'o. Archbishop Enochs consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Frederick Charles King on 19 May 1963 for the Old Roman Catholic Church. Bishop King 

consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Paul Christian G. W. Schultz on 18 May 1975, assisted by Bishop George A. Lyman (American 

Orthodox Catholic Church). Bishop Schultz consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Karl Julius Barwin 


12, 1990 


who consecrated





of America). Who did concecrate to the Sacred Episcopate in 2006 


The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 

SUCCESSION II 

Archbishop Gerardus Gul, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1909: 

Jean Marie Michel Kowaleski in Utrecht, Holland, on 5 October 1909 as Bishop for the Polish Catholic 

Church of the Mariavites. Bishop Kowalski consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate, in 1939: 

Marco Marie Paul Fatome, who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Helmut Norbert Mass, who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Henryk Marciniak, who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Jakob Rokitta, who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate, sub-conditione: 

Salomâo Ferraz 


Manoel Ceia Laranjeira 

Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate: 

Viktor Ivan Busà 

Who consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate: 

Frederick Charles King 

Who sub-conditionally consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate: 














The Apostolic Succession from The Old Roman Catholic Church 

of Utrecht 

The Diocese of Utrecht, Holland, was founded in AD 722 by St. Willibrord. The right of the Chapter of 

Utrecht to elect the bishop of The Diocese was recognized in AD 1145. In AD 1520 the Bishop of Utrecht 

was given the right to adjudicate matters in his diocese without appeal or recourse to Rome. In AD 1559, 

when the war with France had ended, Philip II of Spain, the hereditary ruler of the Netherlands, persuaded 

the Pope to elevate The See of Utrecht to an archbishopric, with five new dioceses under it (Haarlem, 

Deventer, Groningen, Leeuwarden and Middelburg). 

Having survived the Calvinist Reformation in Holland as an underground Church, the Dutch Roman Catholic 

faithful were suddenly subjected to the political ambitions and maneuverings of the Jesuits, who fought to 

have Rome declare The See of Utrecht a missionary district under their control. At first failing in this battle to 

gain control of The Church in Holland, the Jesuits adopted a new tactic in AD 1691 by accusing + Peter 

Codde, The Archbishop of Utrecht, of espousing the so-called heresy of Jansenism. Although the 

Archbishop was eventually proved innocent of heresy, Pope Innocent XII tried to appease the Jesuits by 

suspending and deposing him in AD 1705. No mention was made of any reason for the deposition. Even a 

Papal canonist, Hyacinth de Archangelis, issued a formal opinion that a Vicar-Apostolic with the rights of an 

Ordinary (as + Codde undoubtedly was) could not be arbitrarily deposed. Two Dutch Catholic Chapters 

(Utrecht and Haarlem) naturally decided not to recognize this irregular, if not illegal, act. The battle was over 

local autonomy in a collegial Church versus Papal supremacy. 

When the Papacy appointed + Theodore de Cock as Pro-Vicar-Apostolic of The United Provinces, in the 

place of Archbishop Peter Codde (deposed), the Chapters of Utrecht and Haarlem further decided not to 

recognize his authority on the ground that The Patriarch of Rome had no canonical authority to deprive even 

a Vicar-Apostolic, much less an Archbishop, without trial and condemnation. At the same time the Calvinist 

government decided that it would prefer a Catholic Church controlled by Dutch Catholics to a Catholic 

Church controlled by Rome. The government, therefore, issued a decree forbidding + de Cock to exercise 

any jurisdiction over Roman Catholics in Holland. Later, after accusing the Dutch government of being 

bribed by the secular clergy loyal to The Archbishop (+ Codde), + de Cock was banished from Holland and 

fled to Rome. Rome countered by placing the Dutch Church under an Inhibition, prohibiting all Bishops 

from performing any episcopal acts in Holland. 

At this point the battle between Utrecht and Rome was not doctrinal, but the results of Jesuit intrigue and 

their desire to firmly establish the Papacy as an absolute monarchy. 

Had Archbishop Codde continued to exercise his authority as The Archbishop of Utrecht, while appealing his 

uncanonical suspension as Vicar-Apostolic (as Vicar-Apostolic he had diocesan jurisdiction wherever there 

was no Bishop or Chapter; metropolitan jurisdiction in the other dioceses), the course of Church history may 

well have seen the defeat of the Jesuit sponsored Ultramontane movement. Unfortunately, + Codde not only 

protested his suspension but also retired from the exercise of his office. His jurisdiction thus reverted to the 

Chapters and his people were left without episcopal protection and governance. It was the position of the 

Chapter of Utrecht that: 

Both the Province and Diocese of Utrecht, with all their ancient and canonical rights and privileges, 

still existed. (The Chapter of Utrecht was formally recognized on many occasions by Papal Nuncios 

even after this date.) 

The Vicariate instituted by Archbishop Philip Rovenius on 9 June 1633 was the canonical 

reconstitution of the ancient Chapter of Utrecht and possessed all the rights of the Chapter, 

including the right to elect the Archbishop of Utrecht. (All nominations made hereafter by this 

Chapter were, in fact, accepted by Rome, including that of Archbishop Codde.) 

Later archbishops, from + Vosmeer to + Codde, were not only Vicars-Apostolic of the Roman See, 

but also Archbishops of Utrecht, the true canonical successors of St. Willibrord.

On 25 May 1717, five doctors of the theological faculty of the University of Louvain publicly sided with the 

Archepiscopal See of Utrecht by stating that the Church of Utrecht had not been reduced to the status of a 

mere mission, that the Chapter of Utrecht had survived, and that the Vicariate established by + Rovenius 

was the ancient Chapter of Utrecht. Later, 102 doctors of theology at the University of Paris, together with 

the whole law faculty, publicly agreed with the doctors of Louvain. As a result of the support of the theology 

faculties of two French universities, three French Bishops (Soanen of Senez, Lorraine of Bayeux, and 

Caumartin of Blois) declared that they were ready to ordain priests for the Chapter of Utrecht, and actually 

did so. 

Upon the death, in AD 1710, of + Peter Codde, the deposed Archbishop of Utrecht, the Cathedral Chapter 

(exercising its historically recognized right) elected a successor. No Bishop, however, could be found who 

would ignore the Pope's Inhibition by consecrating the Archbishop-elect. The Church of Holland continued to 

send Her candidates for the priesthood out of the country for ordination by foreign Bishops; Her children, 

without a diocesan Ordinary, were left unconfirmed. At this point the Jesuits and Rome sought and anxiously 

anticipated the total capitulation of the autocephalous Dutch Church. 

A turning point in the Dutch Church's struggle with Rome came in AD 1719 when + Dominique Maria Varlet, 

former missionary priest in The Louisiana Territory in North America, stopped in Amsterdam for a few days 

on his way to his new post in Persia. A local Dutch priest, Father Jacob Krys, begged the new Bishop to 

confirm 604 orphans and other poor children as an act of charity, which he did. He then continued his 

journey to Persia, arriving at his residence at Schamake (now Shemakh near Baku in the Republic of 

Azerbaijan) on 9 October 1719. On 26 March 1720, the Bishop of Babylon was presented with a formal 

Notice of Suspension from his office, sent by the Bishop of Ispahan by order of the Congregation de 

Propaganda Fide, and delivered by a Jesuit priest (Fr. Bachou) because of the confirmations in Amsterdam. 

Like the late Archbishop Codde, Bishop Varlet elected not to remain in office while fighting the Papal action. 

After careful consideration and prayer, the good Bishop immediately left Persia and returned to Amsterdam, 

where he settled permanently. 

The Chapter of Utrecht had meanwhile repeatedly attempted to get the Pope to allow the election and 

consecration of an archbishop; Pope Innocent XIII ignored their petitions. The Chapter next turned to the 

leading canon lawyers of the day. They were told that the Chapter had the canonical right to elect their 

archbishop and get him consecrated without the consent of the Pope (recent precedents in both France and 

Portugal supported this position). Nineteen doctors of the theological faculty of the Sorbonne (University of 

Paris), and others from Nantes, Rheims, Padua, and Louvain, gave their agreement to this position, as well 

as assuring the Chapter that in the case of necessity one bishop alone might preside at the consecration. 

With the approval of the government, the Chapter met at The Hague on 27 April 1723 and, after a Mass of 

The Holy Spirit, elected, with all the canonical forms, Cornelius Steenoven to be Archbishop of Utrecht. 

Although Fr. Steenoven was elected as the candidate likely to be the least objectionable to Rome, the Pope 

refused to answer the Chapter's request to permit his consecration. The Chapter finally begged the Bishop 

of Babylon to consecrate their candidate. He consented. The government also consented to this the first 

consecration of an Archbishop of Utrecht since the Reformation. Thus at 6:00am on Pentecost XX, 15 

October 1724, Cornelius van Steenoven was consecrated in the presence of the whole Chapter by the 

Bishop of Babylon in Amsterdam to be the seventh Archbishop of Utrecht and canonical successor of St. 

Willibrord. 

The Bishop of Babylon was called upon by The Chapter to consecrate four archbishops for the See of 

Utrecht before his death on 14 May 1742 at The Hague. 

OLD CATHOLIC ULTRAJECTINE SUCCESSION I 

through Archbishop William Montgomery Brown 

Archbishop Gerard Gul (Old Catholic Church of Utrecht), assisted by Bishop Johannes Jacobus van Thiel 

and Bishop Nicholas Bartholomaeus Petrus Spit (both with The Old Catholic Church of Utrecht) and Bishop 

Josef Demmel (Old Catholic Church in Germany), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop-Primate Arnold Harris Mathew on 28 April 1908 as Archbishop of London and Primate of the 

Old Catholic Church in England. Archbishop Mathew consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Rudolf Franziskus Eduard de Landas Berghes et de Rache on 29 June 1913 as Missionary 

Bishop for Scotland. In 1916 Prince de Landas Berghes became Archbishop-Primate of The National 

Catholic Church in North America. Archbishop de Landas Berghes et de Rache consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop William Henry Francis Brothers on 3 October 1916 for The Old Roman Catholic Church. In 1917 

Bishop Brothers became Archbishop and Metropolitan of The Old Catholic Church in America. Archbishop 

Brothers consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop William Montgomery Brown on 24 June 1925, assisted by Bishop Jozef Zielonka (Polish Old 

Catholic Church of America) and Bishop Albert Jehan (Bishop of Chicago, the Old Catholic Church in 

America). Bishop Brown consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Wallace David de Ortega Maxey on 2 January 1927, assisted by Bishop Jozef Zielonka (Polish 

Old Catholic Church of America), Bishop Albert Jehan (Bishop of Chicago, the Old Catholic Church in 

America), and Archbishop William Henry Francis Brothers (Primate, the Old Catholic Church in America). 

Archbishop de Ortega Maxey consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson 









12, 1990 






Society of Franciscan Communities and the Emergent Catholic Church (Congregational Catholic Churches. 

Archbishop Salvato consecrated on March 1, 2006 

Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Bishop Protector for the Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 

ULTRAJECTINE SUCCESSION II 

Cardinal Antonio Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, was consecrated in AD 1655 (by the order of 

Pope Alexander VII) by Monsignore Scannarola (Bishop of Sidonia), assisted by Monsignore Botini 

(Domestic Prelate of the Pope), and Monsignore Laurenzio Gavotti (Bishop of Ventimiglia), as Bishop of 

Frascati. In AD 1657 Bishop Barberini became Archbishop of Rheims; in AD 1661 he became Bishop of 

Palestrina. Cardinal Barberini consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1668 

Bishop Charles Maurice Le Tellier, Duke, son of the Grand Chancellor of France, as Co-Adjutor Bishop. 

Archbishop Le Tellier consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1670 

Bishop James Benigne Bossuet 

Bishop Bossuet consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1673

Bishop James Coydon de Matignon 

Bishop de Matignon, by order of Pope Clement XI, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1719 

Bishop Dominique Maria Varlet as Bishop of Ascalon in partibus and Co-Adjutor to the Bishop of Babylon, 

Persia, on 12 February 1719 in The Chapel attached to the House of the Fathers of Foreign Missions at 

Paris, assisted by the Co-Adjutor Bishop of Quebec and the Bishop of Claremont. Bishop Varlet consecrated 

four Archbishops of Utrecht; three died without consecrating successors. 

The continued existence of the autocephalous Old Roman Catholic Church of Holland was assured when 

Bishop Varlet consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1739: 

Archbishop Petrus Johannes Meindaerts 

as the tenth Archbishop of Utrecht. 

Archbishop Meindaerts consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Johannes van Stiphout as the fourth Bishop of Haarlem on 11 July 1745. 

Bishop Stiphout consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Walter Michael van Nieuwenhuisen as the eleventh Archbishop of Utrecht on Sexagesima 

Sunday, 7 February 1768. 

Archbishop Nieuwenhuisen consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Adrian Johannes Broekman, President of the Amersfoort Seminary, on Pentecost II Sunday, 21 

June 1778, as Bishop of Haarlem. 

Bishop Broekman consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Johannes Jacobus van Rhijn as the twelfth Archbishop of Utrecht on 5 July 1797. 

Archbishop van Rhijn consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Gisbertus de Jong as the fifth Bishop of Deventer on 7 November 1805. 

Bishop de Jong consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Willibrord van Os as the thirteenth Archbishop of Utrecht on 24 April 1814. Archbishop van 

Os consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Johannes Bon as the seventh Bishop of Haarlem on 25 April 1819. He was the first Bishop of 

the autocephalous Dutch succession not to be excommunicated by Rome. 

Bishop Bon consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Johannes van Santen, as fourteenth Archbishop of Utrecht on the Sunday within the Octave 

of St. Willibrord, 13 November 1825, in The Cathedral of St. Gertrude in Utrecht. 

Archbishop van Santen consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Hermann Heykamp as seventh Bishop of Deventer on 17 July 1853. 

Bishop Heykamp consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Gaspardus Johannes Rinkel as the tenth Bishop of Haarlem and Bishop Josef Hubert Reinkens 

as the first Bishop of The Old Catholic Church in Germany (Bonn) on 11 August 1873 in the Church of St. 

Lawrence and St. Mary Magdalene at Rotterdam. This is the first time that the formal proofs of election were 

read during the Mass of Consecration instead of the Papal Mandate; it is also the first time that the new 

Bishops did not notify Rome of their consecrations. Bishop Rinkel consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Gerardus Gul, parish priest of Hilversum, as the seventeenth Archbishop of Utrecht, on 11 

May 1892. 

Archbishop Gul consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Arnold Harris Matthew on April 28, 1908 to serve as the First Old Catholic Bishop of Britain. 

Who consecrated and raised to The Sacred Episcopate: 

Prince Rudolph Francis de Landas-Berghes 

Who consecrated and raised to The Sacred Episcopate in 1916: 

Carmel Henry Carfora, OFM 

Who consecrated and raised to The Sacred Episcopate in 1921 

Samuel Durlin Benedict 


George David Basil Quinn 


Robert Boris Varlette Marshall 


Gregory David Michael Voris 


Richard M. Bridges 









(Apostolic Society of Franciscan Communities) 



(Society of Pope Saint Anacletus) 

ULTRAJECTINE SUCCESSION III 

Through Archbishop Carmel Henry Carfora 

Archbishop Rudolf Franziskus Eduard de Landas Berghes et de Rache, consecrated on 29 June 1913 

by Archbishop-Primate Arnold Harris Mathew (Old Catholic Church in England) as Missionary Bishop for 

Scotland, consecrated s.c. to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Carmel Henry Carfora in the Chapel of St. Dunstan's Abbey in Waukegan, Illinois, assisted by 

Bishop William Henry Francis Brothers, on 4 October 1916 as Archbishop of Canada. Bishop Carfora 


Bishop Edwin Wallace Hunter, on 11 February 1924, assisted by Bishop Franciszek Viktor Maximillian 

Kanski (American Catholic Church) as Regionary Bishop for the U.S.A. and Canada for The North American 

Old Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Hunter consecrated s.c. to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Wallace David de Ortega Maxey on 24 May 1929, assisted by Bishop Samuel Gregory Lines 

(Apostolic Christian Church) and Bishop Francis John Barwell Walker (American Catholic Church). 

Archbishop de Ortega Maxey consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church on 7 November 

1986, assisted by Archbishop Robert Ronald Ramm (Apostolic Episcopal Catholic Church). Archbishop 

Persson also serves as the Missionary General for Scandinavia and All Europe for both the Iglesia Filipina 

Independiente (Philippine Independent Catholic Church, confirmed 15 June 1988; this is a member 

jurisdiction of The Anglican Communion) and the Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasiliera (Brazilian Catholic 

Apostolic Church, confirmed 14 June 1987). Archbishop Persson consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Karl J. Barwin as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on 5 August 1989, assisted by 

Archbishop Emile Federico Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Bishop 

Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate 

Ordinariate of Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America) and Bishop Howard D. van Orden (Order 

of St. Jude; Archbishop of Albuquerque and Dependencies, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in 

The Americas), each assisting, coöperating and co-consecrating by laying on hands and uttering all the 

words of consecration. Assisting in this consecration as Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Paul Christian 

Gerald W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles and Administrator of The Philippine Independent Catholic 

Church in The Americas), Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso, Orthodox Catholic Church in The 

Philippines), Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, The Philippine Independent 

Catholic Church in The Americas), and Bishop Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church). 

Bishop Karl J. Barwin did consecrated to the episcopate on May 12, 1990 







of America). Archbishop Salvato consecrated on March 1, 2006 

Michael Vincent Seneco – Bishop Protector of the Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 

The Apostolic Succession from 

The Church of England & 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. 

The Church of England was planted in North America in 1607, at the foundation of the Jamestown Colony. It 

achieved quasi-establishment in Maryland and Virginia, and was "tolerated" in the other colonies, with the 

exception of New England, where the few Anglicans living there were bitterly persecuted and harassed. 

The foundation for control of the Church by the laity (congregational form of polity) was firmly laid at this 

time. The appointment of clergy to serve parishes was almost totally in the hands of the laity who refused to 

allow priests a title to the benefits of their office which appointment/installation would allow, but preferred to 

pay Chaplains whom they could "fire" at will. This resulted in the ranks of the clergy being filled with very 

unworthy men and reduced the priest to the position of being an hireling/employee of the laity, consequently 

resulting in the laity's contempt. 

As there were no resident bishops in North America, the Anglican parishes here were under the jurisdiction 

of the Bishop of London, who governed them by means of commissaries. The power of the laity was so 

strong, however, and the class of men willing to serve as hirelings rather than priests so inferior, that the 

spiritual state of Anglicanism in the American colonies was very weak.

At the close of The War of Independence, Episcopalians, as they were then commonly called, realized that 

The Church must have a national organization if it was to prosper and grow. The biggest obstacle to creating 

a National Church was the lack of a national hierarchy. In Connecticut, the former Congregational converts 

to Anglicanism considered a bishop to be of absolute necessity. The Connecticut clergy therefore elected 

the Rev'd Samuel Seabury as their Bishop and gave him the mandate to go abroad and obtain valid 

Apostolic Orders. 

The Anglican Bishops in England could not by law consecrate any one who would not take the Oath of 

Allegiance to the Monarch of the Realm, however. It would have been impossible, therefore, for Bishop-elect 

Seabury to return to America if he had received consecration as a British subject who had sworn allegiance 

to the King of England. With the refusal of the English bishops to bestow episcopal consecration, Fr. 

Seabury proceeded to Scotland. After prolonged negotiations with the Nonjuring bishops of Scotland, he 

finally obtained their consent to confer Apostolic Succession upon him. 

The Nonjuring Bishops of Scotland were the remnant of the Church which the Stuarts had endeavored to 

establish in Scotland but which had lost the protection of the State as well as all Church endowments by 

remaining supporters of James II. The average Scotsman considered them to be almost as obnoxious as 

Roman Catholics and certainly just as dangerous. 

The Nonjuring Bishops of Scotland were extremely High Church. They abandoned the Calvinistic doctrine of 

the Holy Eucharist espoused in The 39 Articles of The Church of England and returned to the "Lutheran" 

doctrine of the 1549 Articles. They used Holy Chrism in Confirmation, were considered firm believers in the 

sacerdotal character of the Holy Priesthood, and adamant in the necessity of Apostolic Succession and 

Episcopal Ordination. 

Dr. Seabury was consecrated by the Nonjuring Bishops on 14 November 1784. Immediately after his 

consecration to the office and work of Bishop, he signed a Concordat with the Nonjurors (on 15 Nov. 1784) 

agreeing to introduce the liturgical and doctrinal beliefs and practices of the Nonjurors into the Episcopal 

Church in Connecticut. He specifically promised to persuade the American Church to use the Prayer of 

Consecration taken largely unchanged by The Episcopal Church of Scotland from the 1549 Book of 

Common Prayer. Upon his return to Connecticut he organized and governed his Diocese according to the 

doctrine and practice of his Consecrators. The "children" were no longer allowed to rule and control The 

Church. Bishop Seabury governed and ruled the Episcopal Church in Connecticut according to Biblical and 

ancient canonical practices; the laity was excluded from all deliberations, ecclesiastical councils and control 

of ecclesiastical affairs. In effect, Bishop Seabury is the Father of the traditional High Church party within 

PECUSA, marked by evangelical piety united with high sacramental ideals. 

In stark contrast to the understanding of The Church adopted by Bishop Seabury in Connecticut, a very non- 

Catholic and non-historic view of Church polity was adopted in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Dr. 

William White, Rector of Christ Church, believed that the Episcopal Church must assent to and adopt the 

secular, non-Biblical principle of "representative government." He was even willing to employ the practice of 

Presbyterian Ordination until such time as a valid Apostolic Succession could be obtained from The Church 

of England. Surprisingly, Presbyterian Ordination found little favor among the Faithful of Pennsylvania. 

Fortunately an Act was passed in the English Parliament allowing English bishops to confer the Episcopacy 

upon men not subject to the British Crown. Consequently, Dr. William White (Bishop-Elect of Pennsylvania) 

and Dr. Samuel Provoost (Bishop-Elect of New York) were consecrated at the hands of the 88th Archbishop 

of Canterbury, Dr. John Moore, on Septuagesima Sunday, 4 February 1787. 

Upon the return of Bishops White and Provoost to the United States, there were so many differences 

between the Connecticut Church and that of the Middle and Southern States, that a merger or union could 

not be immediately effected. When Dr. James Madison was elected to be Bishop of Virginia, he was forced 

to go to England to be consecrated since Bishop Provost of New York (perhaps the Father of what later 

came to be known as the Broad Church party within PECUSA) refused to act in conjunction with the Bishop 

of Connecticut. (Bishop White might be considered the Father of the Evangelical party within PECUSA, with 

its belief in the desirability -- rather than the necessity -- of Apostolic Succession and its desire to closely 

coöperate with all other churches of the Reformation.) The foundation for differing doctrines of The Church 

were already evident at this early time within The Protestant Episcopal Church. The union was finally 

cemented in 1792, when Dr. Thomas John Claggert was elected Bishop of Maryland. There were now three 

"valid" Anglican bishops in the U.S.A. (excluding Dr. Seabury). Bishop Provoost of New York therefore 

withdrew his objections to allowing Dr. Seabury to participate in Dr. Claggert's consecration. Had Bishop

Seabury not been invited to participate in the consecration of Dr. Claggert, the result would have been a 

schism between Connecticut and the other States. 

SUCCESSION I 

POPE St. NICHOLAS I 

(consecrated in 858) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 864: 

FORMOSUS 

(Bishop of Porto; Pope 891) 


St. PLEGMUND 

(as Archbishop of Canterbury) 


ALTHELM 

(as Bishop of Wells; 914 Canterbury) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate 914: 

WULFHELM 

(as Bishop of Wells; 923 Canterbury) 


ODO 

(as Bishop of Ramsbury; 942 Canterbury) 


St. DUNSTAN 

(as Bishop of Worcester; 960 Canterbury) 


St. AELPHEGE 

(as Bishop of Winchester; 1005 Canterbury) 


ELFRIC 

(as Bishop of Ramsbury; 995 Canterbury) 


WULFSTAN 

(as Bishop of Worcester and York) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 13 November 1020: 

ETHELNOTH 



EADSIGE 

(as Bishop of St. Martin's, Canterbury; 1038 Archbishop of Canterbury) 


STIGAND 

(as Bishop of Elmham; 1052 Canterbury) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 1058:

SIWARD 

(as Bishop of Rochester) 

assisting William, Bishop of London and 

Giso, Bishop of Wells (consecrated 15 April 1061 by Pope Nicholas II) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 29 September 1070 

Bl. LANFRANC 



THOMAS 

(as Archbishop of York) 


St. ANSELM 


Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 July 1108: 

RICHARD de BELMEIS 

(as Bishop of London) 


WILLIAM of CORBEUIL 



HENRY of BLOIS 

(as Bishop of Winchester) 


St. THOMAS BECKET 



ROGER of GLOUCESTER 

(as Bishop of Worcester) 

assisting Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London 


PETER de LEIA 

(as Bishop of St. David's, Wales) 

assisting Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury 

John Cumin, Archbishop of Dublin 


GILBERT GLANVILLE 

(as Bishop of Rochester) 

assisting Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury 

Bernard, Archbishop of Ragusa (consecrated 19 November 1189 by Pope Clement III) 

Philip of Poictou, Bishop of Durham (consecrated 20 April 1197 by Pope Celestine III) 


WILLIAM de SAINTE MERE L'EGLISE 


assisting Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (consecrated 17 June 1207 by Pope Innocent III) 


WALTER de GRAY 

(as Bishop of Worcester; 1216 Archbishop of York) 


WALTER KIRKHAM 

(as Bishop of Durham) 


HENRY 

(as Bishop of Whithern) 

assisting William Wickwane, Archbishop of York (consecrated 17 September 1279 by Pope Nicholas III) 


ANTHONY BECK 

(as Bishop of Durham; 1306 Patriarch of Jerusalem) 


JOHN of HALTON 

(as Bishop of Carlisle) 

assisting Thomas Cobham, Bishop of Worcester 


ROGER NORTHBOROUGH 

(as Bishop of Lichfield) 

assisting Henry Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln 


ROBERT WYVIL 

(as Bishop of Salisbury) 


RALPH STRATFORD 


assisting John Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury 


WILLIAM EDENDON 

(as Bishop of Winchester) 


SIMON SUDBURY 

(as Bishop of London; 1375 Archbishop of Canterbury) 


THOMAS BRENTINGHAM 

(as Bishop of Exeter) 


ROBERT BRAYBROOKE 



ROGER WALDEN 



HENRY BEAUFORT 

(as Bishop of Lincoln; 1405 Bishop of Winchester) 


THOMAS BOURCHIER 

(as Bishop of Worcester; 1443 Ely, 1454 Canterbury) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 31 January 1479:

JOHN MORTON 

(as Bishop of Ely; 1486 Canterbury) 


RICHARD FITZJAMES 

(as Bishop of Rochester; 1503 Chichester; 1506 London) 


WILLIAM WARHAM 

(as Bishop of London; 1503 Cant) 


JOHN LONGLANDS 

(as Bishop of Lincoln) 


THOMAS CRANMER 


Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in June 1536: 

WILLIAM BARLOW 

(as Bishop of St. David's, Wales; 1549 Bath; 1559 Chichester) 


MATTHEW PARKER 



EDMUND GRINDAL 

(as Bishop of London; 1570 York; 1576 Canterbury) 


JOHN WHITGIFT 

(as Bishop of Worcester; 1583 Canterbury) 


RICHARD BANCROFT 

(as Bishop of London; 1604 Canterbury) 


GEORGE ABBOT 

(as Bishop of Lichfield; 1610 London; 1611 Canterbury) 

assisted by Marc Anthonio de Dominis, (Dean of Windsor and 

former Roman Abp. of Spolatro & Primate of Dalmatia) 


GEORGE MONTAIGNE 

(as Bishop of Lincoln; 1621 London; 1628 Durham; 1628 York) 

assisted by John Howson (Bishop of Oxford) 


Bl. WILLIAM LAUD 

(as Bishop of St. David's, Wales; 1626 Bath; 1628 London; 1633 Canterbury) 


BRIAN DUPPA 

(as Bishop of Chichester; 1641 Salisbury; 1660 Winchester) 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 28 October 1660 (see note 5): 

GILBERT SHELDON 

(as Bishop of London; 1663 Canterbury) 


HENRY COMPTON 

(as Bishop of Oxford; 1675 London) 


WILLIAM SANCROFT 



THOMAS WHITE 

(as Bishop of Peterborough, who was deposed in 1690 as a non-juror) 

Under Royal Warrant from the exiled King James II 


GEORGE HICKES 

(as Bishop of Thetford) 


JAMES GADDERAR 

(consecrated without a See because of penal conditions; later Bp. of Aberdeen and Moray) 


THOMAS RATTRAY 

(as Bishop of Dunkold) 


WILLIAM FALCONAR 

(as Bishop of Ross and Caithness) 


ROBERT KILGOUR 

(as Bishop of Aberdeen) 

assisted by Bishop Coadjutor John Skinner (Aberdeen) & Bishop Arthur Petrie (Ross & Caithness) 


SAMUEL SEABURY 

(as Bishop of Connecticut) 

assisted by Bishop William White, Bishop Samuel Provoost and Bishop James Madison 


THOMAS JOHN CLAGGETT 

(as Bishop of Maryland) 

assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel Provoost 


EDWARD BASS 

(as Bishop of Massachusetts) 



ABRAHAM JARVIS 

(as Bishop of Connecticut) 



ALEXANDER VIETS GRISWOLD 

(as Bishop of the Eastern Diocese) 

assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Nathaniel Bowen 

Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 31 October 1832:

JOHN HENRY HOPKINS 

(as Bishop of Vermont) 

assisted by Bishop Benjamin B. Smith and Bishop Lee Henry Washington 


GEORGE DAVID CUMMINS 

(as Assistant Bishop of Kentucky) 


CHARLES EDWARD CHENEY 

(for the Reformed Episcopal Church) 

assisted by Bishop George David Cummins 


WILLIAM RUFUS NICHOLSON 

(Reformed Episcopal Church) 

assisted by Bishop Samuel Fallows 


ALFRED SPENCER RICHARDSON 

(Reformed Episcopal Church) 

assisting Bishop Charles Isaac Stevens (2 nd Patriarch, The Ancient British Church) 

Consecrated sub conditione to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 May 1890: 

LEON CHECHEMIAN 

(as Mar Leon, Abp. of Selsey; sometime Armenian Uniate Titular Bishop of Malatia) 

assisted by Bp. James Martin (Abp. of Caerleon-upon-Usk) 

Bp. Frederick Boucher & Bp. George W. L. Maaers (Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal) 


ANDREW CHARLES ALBERT McLAGEN 

(as Titular Bishop of Claremont) 


HERBERT JAMES MONZANI HEARD 

(as Mar Jacobus II, Archbishop of Selsey; 1930 Primate, Free Protestant Episcopal Church) 


WILLIAM BERNARD CROW 

Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Wisdom 

(as Mar Bernard, Bishop of Santa Sophia) 

(17 October 1943: Mar Basilius Abdullah III, Sovereign Prince Patriarch of Antioch) 


HUGH GEORGE de WILLMOTT NEWMAN 

(as Mar Georgius I, Metropolitan of Glastonbury and Catholicos of the West) 

assisted by Abp. John Sebastian Marlow Ward (Archbishop of Olivet) 

Bishop Richard Kenneth Hurgon (Titular Bishop of Mere [Somerset]) 

Bishop John Syer (Mar John, Bishop of Verulam) 

Bishop Charles Leslie Saul (Mar Leofric, Archbishop of Suthronia in the Eparchy of All the Britons) 

Bishop Francis Ernest Langhelt (Mar Francis, Bishop of Minster) 


WALLACE DAVID de ORTEGA MAXEY 

(as Mar David I, Patriarch of Malaga, Apostolic Primate of all the Iberians, 

& Supreme Hierarch of the Catholicate of the West in the Americas) 

assisted by Abp. Robert Ronald Ramm (Archbishop-Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Catholic Church) 

Consecrated sub conditione to The Sacred Episcopate on 7 November 1986:

NILS BERTIL ALEXANDER PERSSON 

(as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church) 

assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield, Bishop Carroll T. Lowery, 

Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow, Archbishop Paul G. W. Schultz, 

Bishop Howard D. van Orden, Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso), 

Bishop Christopher J. Rogers & Exarch Marciel (Michael Marshall) 


KARL JULIUS BARWIN 

(Primate, The Evangelical Catholic Church) 









Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbishop & Protector for the Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 

SUCESSION II 

John Moore (1730 - 1805) 

(Archbishop of Canterbury, 1783) 

assisted by William Markham (Abp. of York), Bp. Charles Moss & Bp. John Hinchliffe 


William White (1748 - 1836) 

(Presiding Bishop, PECUSA: 1789, 1795 - 1835) 

assisted by Bishop Henry Hobart, Bishop James Kemp, 

Bishop John Croes & Bishop Nathaniel Brown 


Henry Ustick Onderdonk (1789 - 1858) 

(Bishop of Pennsylvania) 

assisted by Bishop George Washington Doane & Bishop Jackson Kemper 


Samuel Allen McCoskry (1804 - 1886) 

(First PECUSA Bishop of Michigan) 

assisted by Bishop George Thurston Bedell, Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, 

Bishop Joseph Cruikshank Talbot, Bishop Robert Harper Clarkson, 

Bishop John Franklin Spalding & Bishop George de Normandie Gillespie 


William Edward McLaren (1831 - 1905) 

(Third PECUSA Bishop of Illinois) 

assisted by Bishop George F. Seymour & Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead 


William Montgomery Brown (1855 - 1937) 

(PECUSA Bishop of Arkansas; Auxiliary Bp, Old Catholic Church in America) 

assisted by Archbishop William Henry Francis Brothers, 

Bishop Albert Jehan & Bishop Józef Zielonka 


Wallace David de Ortega Maxey (1902 - 1992) 

(Retired Primate, Apostolic Episcopal Church in America) 

assisted by Archbishop Robert R. Ramm 

Consecrated sub conditione to The Sacred Episcopate on 7 November 1986: 

Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (1941 - ) 

(Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church) 

assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield, Bishop Carroll T. Lowery, 

Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow, Archbishop Paul G. W. Schultz, 

Bishop Howard D. van Orden, Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso), 

Bishop Christopher J. Rogers & Exarch Marciel (Michael Marshall) 


Karl Julius Barwin (1943 - ) 

(Primate, The Evangelical Catholic Church) 









Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbishop & Protector for the Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 

The Apostolic Succession from The Mexican National Catholic 

Church (Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana) 

Generalissimo Plutarco Elias Calles, President of Mexico (1924 - 1928), and the Mexican government, with 

the intent of minimizing the great political influence and control then exercised by The Church of Rome and 

its Bishops in Mexico, desired to foster and encourage a native-based national Church which would not be 

subject to foreign interests and goals. Eventually the President formally requested Archbishop Carmel Henry 

Carfora (of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church) to consecrate bishops for Mexico and to thus 

help establish a National Church. 

On 17 October 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., Abp. Carfora consecrated: José Joaquin Pérez y Budar, 

Antonio Benicio López y Sierra, and Dr. Macario López y Valdes for this government-supported new national 

jurisdiction. Bp. José Joaquin Pérez y Budar became Primate and Patriarch of the Iglesia Ortodoxa 

Católica Apostólica Mexicana (also known as: The Mexican National Catholic Church, The Orthodox 

Catholic Apostolic Church of Mexico, or The Mexican Old Roman Catholic Church). Bp. Antonio Benicio 

López y Sierra was named Coädjutor and Dr. Macario López y Valdes (a doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 

the United States) was consecrated as Bishop of Puebla de Zaragoza.

This government-sponsored patriotic movement to establish a National, rather than foreign-controlled, 

Church was comparatively short-lived. Under the leadership of a Roman trained and ordained priest who 

had joined the National Church and been consecrated a Bishop of the Mexican National Church in 1961, the 

Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana united with a U.S. Orthodox jurisdiction. The leader of this 

movement, Bishop José Cortes y Olmas, was re-consecrated as Bishop-Exarch of the Mexican Exarchate of 

the Orthodox Church in America in 1972 at Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in New York City. Most of the 

parishes not joining the Orthodox Church in America returned to The Church of Rome (including many 

extension parishes in Texas). 

Although three Bishops were consecrated to initiate the Mexican hierarchy, the "Nationalistas" (as they 

were often called), failed to replace The Church of Rome in Mexico and today only one remnant parish in 

Mexico and the East Los Angeles parish of Archbishop Emil F. Rodriquez y Fairfield remain. Unlike the 

Filipinos, the Mexicans demanded continued celibacy in their national independent Church and were unable 

to recruit new priests. 

MEXICAN NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH SUCCESSION I 

Bishop Carmel Henry Carfora, OFM was consecrated in the Chapel of St. Dunstan's Abbey in Waukegan, 

Illinois, by Archbishop Rudolf Franziskus Eduard de Landas Berghes et de Rache assisted by Bishop 

William Henry Francis Brothers, on 4 October 1916 as Archbishop of Canada. In 1919 Abp. Carfora became 

Primate of The North American Old Roman Catholic Church. Abp. Carfora consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop José Macario López y Valdes on 17 October 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, as Bishop of Puebla de 

Zaragoza, Mexico, for the Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana. Bishop Valdes consecrated to 

the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Alberto Luis Rodriguez y Durand on .27 March 1930 "Por Autoridad del Patriarca de la Iglesia 

Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana" in the Old Catholic Orthodox Church of St. Augustine of the 

Mystical Body of Christ in Lost Angeles, California, USA, as Bishop Ordinary of Los Angeles and Regionary 

Bishop in Alto California. Bp. Rodriguez y Durand consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield on 12 March 1955 in the Church of St. Augustine of the 

Mystical Body of Christ in Los Angeles, California, USA, as Bishop for Alta California. In 1983, with the death 

of Bp. José Cortes y Olmas, Bp. Rodriguez y Fairfield became the sole living possessor of episcopal orders 

from the Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana. On 13 September 1983 he was installed as the 

Archbishop/Primate of the Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana and head of the only remaining 

parish of that Church in East Los Angeles. Abp. Rodriguez y Fairfield consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate 

in 1990: 












SUCCESSION II 

Bishop Carmel Henry Carfora was consecrated in the Chapel of St. Dunstan's Abbey in Waukegan, 

Illinois, by Archbishop Rudolf Franziskus Eduard de Landas Berghes et de Rache assisted by Bishop 

William Henry Francis Brothers, on 4 October 1916 as Archbishop of Canada. In 1919 Abp. Carfora became 

Primate of The North American Old Roman Catholic Church. Abp. Carfora consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop José Macario López y Valdes on 17 October 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, as Bishop of Puebla de 

Zaragoza, Mexico, for the Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana. Bishop Valdes consecrated to 


Bishop Alberto Luis Rodriguez y Durand on .27 March 1930 "Por Autoridad del Patriarca de la Iglesia 

Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana" in the Old Catholic Orthodox Church of St. Augustine of the 

Mystical Body of Christ in Lost Angeles, California, USA, as Bishop Ordinary of Los Angeles and Regionary 

Bishop in Alto California. Bp. Rodriguez y Durand consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield on 12 March 1955 in the Church of St. Augustine of the 

Mystical Body of Christ in Los Angeles, California, USA, as Bishop for Alta California. In 1983, with the death 

of Bp. José Cortes y Olmas, Bp. Rodriguez y Fairfield became the sole living possessor of episcopal orders 

from the Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana. On 13 September 1983 he was installed as the 

Archbishop/Primate of the Iglesia Ortodoxa Católica Apostólica Mexicana and head of the only remaining 

parish of that Church in East Los Angeles. Abp. Rodriguez y Fairfield consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Karl Julius Barwin as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on The Feast of Saint Addai 

and Saint Mari (5 August) 1989, in The Chapel of The Holy Guardian Angels in Glendale, California, 

assisting Archbishop Bertil Persson (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), together with Bishop Carroll T. 

Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of 

Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America) and Archbishop Howard D. van Orden (Order of St. Jude, 

The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas), each assisting, coöperating and coconsecrating 

by laying on hands and uttering all the words of consecration. Assisting in this consecration as 

Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Paul Christian Gerald W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles and 

Administrator of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), Bishop Eric T. Ong Veloso 

(Orthodox Catholic Church in The Philippines), Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Philippine Independent 

Catholic Church in The Americas), and Exarch Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church). 









Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbshop & Protector of The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus


Iglesia Filipina Independiente 

(The Philippine Independent Catholic Church) 

With a membership well in excess of one million members, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente has long 

been considered one of the largest Catholic jurisdictions not under obedience to Rome. 

Sometimes called the "Aglipayan" Church, this national Church is the daughter Church of The Roman 

Catholic Church of The Philippines rather than a result of the movement to restore Orthodoxy to the 

Occidental Church of Europe during the Middle Ages. Her history, however, is firmly linked to the history of 

Spain. 

Almost four centuries ago the power of Spain overshadowed all other European nations in the Americas. In 

the same year that Cortes conquered Mexico, Magellan discovered the Philippines in the Pacific - which 

Spain governed, robbed, and oppressed for three hundred and seventy-five years (until she lost control on 

May 1, 1898, when the U.S. fleet, under Commadore George Dewey, sailed into the Bay of Manila and won 

a victory as complete and astonishing as that of Cortes in Mexico). 

Spain's misrule in her colonies (Magellan began his rule in The Philippines by decapitating the beloved 

native ruler) produced a chronic state of insurrection; one after another, her colonies slipped from her grasp 

(Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, The Argentine, Mexico, Louisiana, Florida, and the greater part of the East Indies). 

She ceded Louisiana to France in 1800, Florida to the United States in 1819, and a few years later Mexico 

achieved her independence. Yet Spain still had the rich islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the West Indies 

and The Philippines in the East Indies; but these were quickly lost after her humiliating defeat by the 

Americans. 

Just as the Spanish colonial government had oppressed the Filipino people, so also the Church of Rome 

(thru the rule of the local parishes by the Friars) greatly oppressed the native population. When Commadore 

Dewey won The Battle of Manila and occupied the city, he had to set up an American defense force to 

protect the former Spanish colonial rulers (civil and religious) and allow them to leave the islands. The 

National Philippine Militia was at the gates of Manila and had vowed to kill all Spaniards. Commadore 

Dewey was later commended by most European powers for the honorable way in which he had handled this 

matter. 

It was not that The Church of Rome and Her clergy, even the Friars, had worked in vain. The native 

population had been brought the hope of The Gospel, which survives today in the vigorous folk devotion in 

the villages and the equally vigorous intellectual life of the larger cities of The Philippines. 

Never the less, the Spanish colonial system, which identified The Church of Rome with the official colonial 

government (State), had put into the hands of the religious a tempting power which bore seeds of abuse and 

corruption. By the nineteenth century, the Spanish Friars enjoyed such a suffocating monopoly on farmland 

that they became the main target of the revolutionary literature which finally united the Filipino people in 

armed rebellion in 1896. 

Within the Church of Rome in The Philippines, the Filipino clergy agitated against the arbitrary power of the 

foreign Friars. They also suffered from what might be called "racial discrimination" in that native clergy 

always occupied second-rate positions, and none were ever elevated to the episcopal rank. 

In 1872 three native priests were executed for taking an anti-friar stand, an act not forgotten by the native 

clergy. 

But Commadore Dewey's arrival in Manila Bay revived the stalemated native Filipino-Spanish hostilities. 

After the Battle of Manila and the occupation of Manila by Dewey, Father Gregorio Aglipay (of Illocos Norte) 

was appointed Vicar General of the Revolutionary Army by General Emilio Aguinaldo. In addition, the 

Spanish Bishop Jose Hevia Campomanes, a prisoner of the Filipino forces, named Fr. Aglipay the 

Ecclesiastical Governor of Nueva Segovia, a huge Episcopal See covering all of Northern Luzon.

The growing ranks of rebel native priests, now led by Fr. Aglipay, petitioned the Papal Nuncio for a native 

episcopacy. He promptly told them that "the Pope would never agree because . . . Filipinos were not capable 

of episcopacy." 

The same day the Filipino native clergy received the insulting dictum of the Papal Nuncio in 1901, they 

announced their withdrawal from The Church of Rome under the slogan "An Independent Church in an 

Independent Philippines." 

The fiery Don Isabelo de los Reyes, a journalist, folklorist and labor organizer who led the lay delegates of 

the native clergy (and whose son some fifty years later was to become the Obispo Maximo of the 

Independent Church) urged an independent Church be founded immediately. 

After some days of deliberation, the native clergy proceeded to elect seventeen native clergy as bishops and 

Fr. Gregorio Aglipay as The Supreme Bishop (Obispo Maximo). Thus was born the Iglesia Catolica 

Filipina Independiente, which is also termed the Iglesia Filipina Independiente. At the time of its 

formation the language of the realm was Spanish. In the English language the Church is known as The 

Philippine Independent Catholic Church or The Independent Catholic Church of The Philippines. 

Father Aglipay, who was now called Monsignor Aglipay by his followers, was not only a loyal patriot but also 

a priest in Holy Orders of The Church of Rome. Although he realized that, in Rome's view, he could transmit 

to new priests valid presbyterial orders and thus establish a valid priesthood, he sought for a "regular" 

consecration to the episcopacy that would bring in line the Apostolic Succession of the ancient and truly 

Catholic Church. 

He corresponded with the Old Catholics of Europe, the Episcopalians of the United States, and The 

Apostolic Episcopal Church of Bishop Wolfert Brooks of New York without success. 

The native Church, however, grew rapidly, and was encouraged by the American presence in The 

Philippines. Governor-General William H. Taft was appointed and accepted the position of Honorary 

President of the Independent Church before he left for the United States in 1903. 

The two million Filipinos who had joined Msgr. Aglipay in his revolt against The Church of Rome took 

possession of the buildings in which they had been worshipping for generations. Challenged by The Church 

of Rome in U.S. courts, all properties were taken away from the people and handed back to The Church of 

Rome. 

Starting all over again, the Independientes nevertheless built Chapels and Churches throughout the country. 

Yet compared to The Church of Rome, they were a Church in poverty and could provide no Churchoperated 

colleges or seminaries for their people. 

Nationalism was the vitality that held the Philippine Independent Church together through many trials and 

setbacks. Religiously the average Aglipayan lost nothing and gained little, for although he gave up worship 

in the beautiful buildings of his forefathers, he continued to hear a generally unreformed Mass and enjoyed 

the close fellowship of a minority Church. 

In addition, the clergy seemed more able to understand the problems of living because almost all of them 

were married. Except for the fact of a married clergy, not subject to the discipline of Roman obedience, the 

Church had changed little. It was still The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ Jesus for the 

Filipino faithful. 

Although controversialists said this independent Church would fail, some fifty years later it still had in excess 

of two million members, and the Government Census taken each decade (which also polls religious 

preference) consistently shows that one seventh of the Filipinos prefer membership in the Independent 

Church. 

While no men of good will, Protestant or Catholic, would question the validity of the apostolate of The 

Independent Church, the question of the lack of a traceable Apostolic Succession (which was raised by

Msgr. Aglipay himself) continued to be asked. The Protestant Episcopal Church in The United States of 

America provided the answer in 1948. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church, looking back on its history, found that it had completely missed the mark 

when it refused to establish a vital episcopacy in Mexico in the late 1920's. After an assignation attempt on 

the life of the Mexican President and his cabinet members (allegedly traced to the Roman Catholic prelates 

and clergy in Mexico), Presidente Plutarco Elias Calles vowed to establish a Mexican National Catholic 

Church separate from and independent of Rome. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA turned down the Mexican request and Presidente Calles finally 

obtained the Apostolic Succession for the Mexican National Catholic Church from Msgr. Carmel Henry 

Carfora, Archbishop of Chicago of the Old Roman Catholic Church. 

Although three Bishops were consecrated to initiate the Mexican hierarchy (Jose Joaquin Perez y Budar, 

Antonio Lopez Sierra and Dr. Macario Lopez Valdes), the "Nationalistas" (as they were called), failed to 

replace The Church of Rome in Mexico and today only one remnant parish in Mexico and the East Los 

Angeles parish of Bishop Emil F. Rodriquez y Fairfield remain. Unlike the Filipinos, the Mexicans demanded 

continued celibacy in their national independent Church and were unable to recruit new priests. 

Near the turn of the nineteenth century, some Protestant Episcopal Bishops (such as Charles Chapman 

Grafton, who became Bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1888), espoused the so-called "Three Branch 

Theory" of the Church. The idea was that one branch was The Church of Rome, another branch was the 

Orthodox Church under Constantinople, and the third branch was The Church of England. Thus, it was 

thought, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. would eventually become the TRUE American 

Catholic Church; and in a time before The Church of Rome was firmly established in the United States, 

PECUSA had high hopes. 

It was the echo of this Branch Theory of Bishop Grafton that prevented the PECUSA from acting in the case 

of Mexico, and thus lost to the non-papal Christians the whole country of Mexico which, having cast out The 

Church of Rome and Her clergy, might have brought into the country the enlightenment that PECUSA 

claimed was Hers. But they did nothing until it was too late to do anything. The ideal was one branch only 

per country, and this idea blinded PECUSA's eyes at that time. 

PECUSA did not again want to miss the opportunity for missionary advancement. When, after several years 

of correspondence, Isabelo de los Reyes, Jr., became the leader of the Philippine national Church, PECUSA 

set aside the Branch Theory for one of "side-by-side" jurisdictions in the same land. 

On April 7, 1948, Isabela de los Reyes, Jr., and two other native bishops were consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopacy by Bishop Norman S. Binstead of the PECUSA Missionary District of The Philippines, assisted 

by his suffragan (Bishop Robert F. Wilner) and the Rt. Rev'd Harry S. Kennedy (PECUSA Bishop of 

Honolulu). 

The three newly consecrated Philippine prelates then consecrated all the other native Bishops and ordained 

all priests and deacons according to the PECUSA rite. 

The Apostolic Succession obtained by the Philippine Independent Church was that of PECUSA - from The 

Church of England. A few years later, when European Old Catholics assisted in Filipino Episcopal 

consecrations, the Old Catholic Lines of the European Bishops were added. 

For many years the Independents and the Philippine Episcopalians walked side by side in harmony. 

However, over the years, differences developed. The "High Church" versus the "Low Church" problems of 

the Episcopalians in the USA did not appear as such in The Philippines, the conflicting parties rather 

seemed to be grouped as Pro-Protestant (or Pro-PECUSA) and Pro-Catholic. 

More recently groups have favored former President Ferdinand Marcos who, as an infant, was baptized into 

the Independent Church by Msgr. Gregorio Aglipay himself. President Marcos had helped finance the 

Aglipay National Shrine which served as the Cathedral of Bishop Manuel Lagasca. Even as President 

Marcos often favored the Independent Church until his conversion and political position as a Roman

Catholic; so also many of the older "Pro-Catholic" Independent Bishops and clergy also supported Marcos 

when he was in office. 

The Pro-Protestant groups of younger priests and bishops within the Independent Church often tried (and 

succeeded) to overshadow the "war horse" bishops and priests who had been with the Independent Church 

from Her founding. One example: On May 8, 1961, the Pro-Protestant party won enough support to force the 

Constitution and Canons of The Philippine Independent Church to be amended to read, concerning Holy 

Orders, that "No bishop shall maintain seminarians in his convent or within his diocese on the ground that 

there is an official seminary, St. Francis Theological Seminary, Quezon City, recognized by the Church, 

where provision is made for the education of those who have a vocation to the priesthood. It is absolutely 

prohibited that any bishop ordain men to the priesthood . . . without certification issued by the dean of the 

seminary ..." 

What this meant for The Independent Philippine Church is that, if a man graduated from Yale Divinity School 

or Union Theological Seminary or Concordia Theological Seminary or Harvard University (just to name a few 

schools from which that priests of the Los Angeles Diocese of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church 

in the Americas have graduated), they would be unable to be ordained as priests in The Independent 

Church. Also, the many Roman Catholic priests who, after having married, wanted to work as priests within 

The Independent Church, would have to be refused. 

The older bishops of The Church never obeyed this canon, which they said turned their postulants over to a 

PECUSA-controlled seminary and the heresies of modernism which trickled down from PECUSA even to the 

Philippines. Also, these Church Fathers did not approve of PECUSA's sole control over the seminary and 

their postulants. These older Bishops refused to give up their diocesan training centers for clergy and 

continued the practice of accepting former Roman priests. 

Msgr. Isabela de los Reyes, Jr., had been elected the Obispo Maximo (Supreme Bishop) in 1948, and 

continued to be re-elected every four years until his death. He was succeeded by Bishop Macario V. Ga, of 

the Diocese of Negros Oriental. Msgr. Ga has since been re-elected every four years. It is remarkable that 

many of the men who were with The Independent Catholic Church in The Philippines when She received 

Apostolic Succession from PECUSA are still serving and still in office. 

The vision of formally extending The Philippine Independent Catholic Church to the United States was 

primarily carried to fulfillment through the efforts of Dr. Thomas Gore. Dr. Gore graduated from Nashotah 

House ( a PECUSA seminary in Wisconsin) in 1976 and was ordained a priest within PECUSA by the Rt. 

Rev'd Charles Bennison (Bishop of Western Michigan) in 1968. He continued his education and received the 

Doctor of Medicine degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Licensed both 

in Texas and Mexico as a medical doctor, he currently practices psychiatry in Lubbock, Texas. 

Fr. Gore was a representative when Bishop Pagtakhan of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church 

(assisted by Bp. Sergio Mondala and Bp. Lupe Rosete) consecrated Robert Kennaugh, Ogden Miller and C. 

Wayne Craig to the Sacred Episcopate for the continuing Anglican jurisdictions in the USA. Dr. Gore, 

however, desired a more direct link with the mainland Independent Church. 

After visiting the Philippines and winning the approval of Obispo Maximo Macario Ga and Archbishop 

Pagtakhan, Dr. Gore was consecrated on April 20, 1986, by Abp. Pagtakhan, Bp. Bayani Mercado and Bp. 

F. Barber. Bishop Gore then caused the American diocese of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church to 

be incorporated in the State of Texas as the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, The Philippine Independent 

Catholic Church in the Americas with Abp. Francisco Pagtakhan serving as President of the 

Diocese/Corporation. It was Bishop Gore's hope that this new American jurisdiction could serve as a refuge 

for all traditional Episcopalians in the U.S.A. seeking valid sacraments, holy orders, and recognition by the 

International Catholic Community through its relation to the mainland Philippine Church -- which is a full 

member in good standing of The Anglican Communion. 

The Philippine Independent Catholic Church has been in existence in the USA for about ten years (as of this 

writing). The small candle that was lighted by Dr. Thomas Gore in Texas has burned brighter each year, 

enhanced by the rainbow beams of the Philippines. Known for more than a century as the "Jewel of the 

Orient" from a folk-lore tradition that a Pearl from the Holy Grail was taken to the Philippines, an old tale

says that the Philippines will bring the "Light of Understanding" to the Orient and bless the whole Christian 

world with the advancement of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente, led by men such as Obispo Maximo Ga, Archbishop Francisco 

Pagtakhan, Archbishop Bartolome Remigio, Bishop Armando de la Cruz, and Bishop Manuel Lagasca, have 

given to the United States the great tradition of a conservative Independent Catholic Church. Yet it is not 

their work alone, it is the work of God. 

PHILIPPINE SUCCESSION 

Robert Kilgour, Bishop of Aberdeen & Primus of The Episcopal Church of Scotland, assisted by Bishop 

Coadjutor John Skinner of Aberdeen and Bishop Arthur Petrie of Ross & Caithness, consecrated to The 

Sacred Episcopate on 14 November 1784: 

Dr. Samuel Seabury (11/30/1729 - 2/25/1796), as Bishop of Connecticut. Bishop Seabury graduated from 

Yale University in 1748 (B.A.; M.A., 1751) and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh (1752 - 

1753). He was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Dr. John Thomas of Lincoln on 12/21/1753 and a priest by 

Bishop Dr. Richard Osbaldiston of Carlisle on 12/23/1753. In 1775, after a brief imprisonment in New Haven 

for being a British Loyalist, he fled to New York City (which remained loyal to the King) where he supported 

his family by practicing medicine and serving through the war as Chaplain of the King of England's American 

Regiment, under commission of Sir Henry Clinton (14 February 1778); after the Revolutionary War, he 

received a pension from the King for the rest of his life. In 1777 Bishop Seabury received the Doctor of 

Divinity degree from the University of Oxford. On 18 November 1790 he was also made Bishop of Rhode 

Island. Bishop Seabury, assisted by Bishop William White of Pennsylvania, Bishop Samuel Provoost of New 

York and Bishop James Madison of Virginia, consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 17 September 1792: 

Dr. Thomas John Claggett (1742 - 1816) as Bishop of Maryland (and the first canonical Episcopal/Anglican 

Bishop consecrated on American soil) and installed at Trinity Church at the foot of Wall Street in New York 

City City. On 27 November 1800, as the U.S. Senate completed its move to permanent quarters in 

Washington, D.C., the Rt. Rev'd Thomas John Claggett was elected as that body's third Chaplain. Bp. 

Claggett, assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel Provoost, consecrated to The Sacred 

Episcopate on 7 May 1797: 

Edward Bass (11/23/1726 - 9/10/1803) as Bishop of New Hampshire and Massachusetts in Philadelphia. 

He graduated from Harvard in 1744 and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of 

Pennsylvania in 1789. He was ordained both Deacon and Priest by Bishop Dr. Sherlock of London in May 

1752. With the death of Bp. Seabury, Bishop Bass was requested to assume responsibility and jurisdiction 

over the Churches in Rhode Island; he also was given jurisdiction over the Churches in New Hampshire 

about the same time. Throughout his entire episcopacy, he also continued to serve as Rector of St. Paul's 

Church, Newburyport, Massachusetts. Bishop Bass, assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel 

Provoost, consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 18 October 1797: 

Abraham Jarvis (3/26/1770 - 1813) as the second Bishop of Connecticut, succeeding Bishop Samuel 

Seabury. Bishop Jarvis, assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel Provoost, consecrated to The 

Sacred Episcopate on 29 May 1811: 

John Henry Hobart (9/14/1775 - 9/12/1830) as Assistant Bishop of New York (succeeding Bishop Benjamin 

Moore and becoming Diocesan in 1816). He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton 

University (graduating in 1793). He was ordained a Deacon in 1798 and a Priest in 1801. As Bishop, he 

initiated mission work among the Oneida Indians, was one of the founders of the General Theological 

Seminary and a renewer of Geneva (now Hobart) College. Bishop Hobart, assisted by Bishop William White 

and Bishop James Kemp (2nd Bishop of Maryland, consecrated in 1814), consecrated to The Sacred 

Episcopate on 25 October 1827:

Henry Ustick Onderdonk 3/16/1789 - 12/6/1858) in Christ Church, Philadelphia, as Assistant Bishop of 

Pennsylvania (becoming Diocesan in 1836 upon the death of Bishop William White). He graduated from 

Columbia University in 1805 and studied medicine in London and the University of Edinburgh (M.D.). He 

studied theology and was ordained Priest in Trinity Church, New York, on 11 April 1816 by Bishop John 

Henry Hobart. In 1827 he also received the degree of S.T.D. from Columbia University. Bishop Onderdonk, 

assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Dr. Benjamin T. Onderdonk (Bishop of New York, consecrated 

in 1830), consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 January 1834: 

Dr. James Hervey Otey (1/27/1800 - 4/23/1863) in Christ Church, Philadelphia, Penn., as the 1st Bishop of 

Tennessee and the 30th Bishop in the PECUSA Succession, with parishes in Arkansas, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Florida and Tennessee. He was ordained both Deacon and Priest in Warrenton, North Carolina, 

by Bishop John S. Ravenscroft. Together with Louisiana Bishop Leonidas Polk (with whom he earlier 

founded Columbia Institute, a school for girls), he laid the groundwork for The University of the South at 

Suwanee, Tennessee, and served as the university's first Chancellor. Today a PECUSA parish on University 

Avenue in Suwanee bears the good Bishop's name. Bishop Otey, assisted by Bishop Leonidas Polk (1st 

Bishop of Louisiana; previously 1st Bishop of Arkansas; consecrated in 1838) and Bishop Nicholas H. 

Cobbs (1st Bishop of Alabama, consecrated in 1844), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 24 February 

1850: 

Dr. William Mercer Green (5/2/1798 - 2/13/1887) in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Jackson, Mississippi, 

as the 1st Bishop of Mississippi. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818 (studying 

theology) and was ordained a Deacon on 29 April 1821 by Bishop Richard C. Moore of Virginia in Christ 

Church, Raleigh, North Carolina. He was ordained a Priest on 20 April 1822 by the same bishop in St. 

James' Church, Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1845 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the 

University of Pennsylvania. He served as Fourth Chancellor of The University of the South at Suwanee, 

Tennessee, beginning in 1867. Bishop Green, assisted by Bishop Joseph W. B. Wilmer (2nd Bishop of 

Louisiana; consecrated in 1866) and Bishop John W. Beckwith (2nd Bishop of Georgia; consecrated in 

consecrated in 1868), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 17 January 1875: 

William Forbes Adams (1/2/1833 - 1920) in St. Paul's Church, New Orleans, as Missionary Bishop of New 

Mexico & Arizona, becoming the 2nd Bishop of Easton (Maryland) in 1887. He was ordained a Deacon on 

15 December 1859 and a Priest in St. Andrew's Church, Jackson, Mississippi, on 29 July 1861 by Bishop 

William Mercer Green. Bishop Adams, assisted by Bishop Alfred M. Randolph of Southern Virginia 

(consecrated in 1883) and Bishop Dr. William Paret of Maryland (consecrated on 1/8/1885), consecrated to 

the Sacred Episcopate on The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (29 September), 1909: 

John Gardner Murray (8/31/1857 - 10/3/29) as Coadjutor Bishop of Maryland, becoming Diocesan in 1911 

(to 1929) and the first elected Presiding Bishop of PECUSA on 1 January 1926. Presiding Bishop John G. 

Murray, assisted by Bishop John McKim (1st Bishop of North Kwanto, consecrated in 1893) and Bishop 

Henry St. G. Tucker (consecrated in 1912 by Bp. John McKim, Bishop Norman Henry Tubbs of Rangoon in 

Burma and Bishop Arthur Lea of Kyushu, Japan) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 3 December 

1928: 

Norman Spencer Binsted (1890 - 1961), as Missionary Bishop of Tohoku, The Central Philippines, for The 

Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Bishop Binsted, acting for the Presiding 

Bishop of PECUSA (Henry Knox Sherril), assisted by Bishop Robert Franklin Wilner (Suffragan Bishop of 

the Missionary District of the Philippines) and Bishop Harry Sherbourne Kennedy (Bishop of the Missionary 

District of Honolulu, Hawaii), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 7 April 1948: 

Isabelo de los Reyes, Jr (1900 - 1971) as Obispo Maximo of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (being 

elected to this office in 1946). Obispo Maximo de los Reyes, assisted by Bishop Manuel N. Aguilar and 

Bishop Alejandro Remollino (Iglesia Filipina Independiente) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 22 

September 1957:

Francisco de Jesus Pagtakhan (1916 - ) as Bishop of Zambales in Maria Clara Christ Church, Manila. 

Bishop Pagtakhan was elevated to the office of Archbishop of the Cagayan Valley and The Americas, and 

appointed Archbishop Secretary for Missions, Ecumenical Relations and Foreign Affairs on 8 May 1984. 

Archbishop Pagtakhan, assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield (Primate, Iglesia 

Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana) and Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz (Bishop of Los Angeles, The 

Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate sub 

conditione on 15 June 1988: 

Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (11/10/41 - ) as Missionary General for Scandinavia and All Europe for the 

Iglesia Filipina Independiente. Archbishop Persson, assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodrigues y 

Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Bishop Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal 

Church), Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of Healing Arts Missionaries & 

Chaplains in America) and Bishop Howard D. van Orden (Order of St. Jude; Archbishop of Albuquerque and 

Dependencies, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), each assisting, coöperating 

and co-consecrating by laying on hands and uttering all the words of consecration; and assisted in this 

consecration as Co-Consecrators by Archbishop Paul Christian Gerald W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los 

Angeles; Administrator of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas; and Apostolic 

Administrator in the USA of The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso, 

Orthodox Catholic Church in The Philippines), Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Suffragan Bishop of Los 

Angeles, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), and Bishop Marciel (Michael 

Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate on 5 August 1989: 

Karl Julius Barwin (10/16/1943 -- ) as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church. Bishop Karl J. Barwin 

did consecrated to the episcopate on May 12, 1990 








Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbishop & Protector of The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus

The Apostolic Succession from The Russian Orthodox Church 

(Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov) 

In the ninth century the Rus (or Varangians) became masters of what is now western Russia and the 

indigenous Slavic population. Their chief centers of population were Novgorod, in the north, and Kiev, in the 

south (now part of the Ukraine). This ruling minority of mostly Swedish Vikings soon adopted the Slavonic 

tongue and customs of their subjects. 

Tradition credits Saint Andrew The First-Called with planting the seeds of Christianity in the area about 

Kiev. These seeds were nurtured by the ministry of Saints Cyril & Methodius, now known as the Apostles 

of the Slaves, in The Ukraine beginning in AD 864, using the native language. They invented a Slavic 

alphabet (based upon the Greek), which is still used today. The north shore of The Black Sea had been 

settled by Christians at least as early as the fourth century. The Khazars, rulers of what is now southern 

Russia, had adopted Judaism. However, the missionary efforts supported by Patriarch Photius of 

Constantinople to the Khazars was so successful that they soon asked for a Bishop of their own. Just a few 

years later Emperor Basil I ("The Macedonian") and Patriarch Ignatius commissioned a missionary Bishop to 

the Russians, who made many converts. 

The first known Christian ruler over the Kievan State is Saint Olga (Olha), dowager regent, who received 

Christian baptism in AD 950. Although she sent to Emperor Otto I of Germany for missionaries, they seemed 

to have had no marked success. It is Saint Vladimir (Volodymyr The Great), the grandson of St. Olga, who 

accepted baptism himself about AD 986 and then in AD 988 commanded the Christianization of his entire 

State, who is recognized as having initiated the conversion of Russia. Although St. Vladimir received 

delegates from The Pope and sent representatives to Rome, it was The Church of Constantinople which 

won his support. At the time of his death, in AD 1015, there were three bishoprics in his domains; based 

upon the foundations laid by St. Vladimir, Christianity continued its gradual, steady spread throughout 

Russia. The Metropolitan of Kiev, for centuries the administrative head of The Russian Church, was 

appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople; he was usually a Greek, unfamiliar with The Faithful of Russia. 

The clergy were poorly trained and almost always too few for the size of the country. The priests were 

chosen by their parishioners, while the bishops (a substantial minority of whom were also foreigners with 

little understanding of the customs or language of their flocks) were selected by the local princes. 

The establishment of an independent Russian Church coincided with the decline of The Byzantine Empire, 

and the simultaneous rise of The Russian Empire. This process was helped when Kiev was destroyed 

during the Tartar invasion, and the Metropolitan consequently forced to move to Moscow (AD 1320). After 

the Grand Duke of Moscow (Ivan III) married a daughter of the nearest relative of the last Emperor of 

Constantinople, he claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Emperors. He even adopted the 

double-headed eagle, symbol of Imperial Byzantine power. Later, beginning in AD 1547, the princes of the 

Russian State, as successors of the Byzantine Emperors, began calling themselves Czar (i.e., "Caesar"). It 

was only natural that they would seek the prestige of a self-governing independent Church in order to bolster 

their own temporal claims. Although the Russian Church claimed autocephaly from AD 1448, when the 

Russian Bishops began electing their own Primate (the Metropolitan of Moscow), official recognition of this 

independence by the ancient and historic patriarchates was not secured until AD 1590 (one year after 

Jeremiah II, Patriarch of Constantinople, was persuaded to invest Iob, the 46th Metropolitan of Moscow, as 

the first Russian Patriarch -- although Iob had been promoted to the rank of Patriarch by the Russian 

Bishops in AD 1453) at a meeting in Constantinople of all the Patriarchs of the historic Sees. When 

Constantinople fell to the Moslems on 29 May 1453, Russia became the only nation where the freedom of 

The Orthodox Church remained unrestricted; this favorably influenced their claim for an independent 

Patriarchate. 

The Time of Troubles (civil war) which began in AD 1598 upon the death of Czar Fedor (Theodore), the 

childless son of Ivan IV, increased the Patriarch's political influence. It reached its height under Patriarch 

Filaret, whose son, Michael, at the age of sixteen, became the first Czar of the Romanov Dynasty. When 

Patriarch Adrian died in AD 1700, Czar Peter The Great refused to allow the election of a new Patriarch, 

leaving Stefan Iavorskii as Locum Tenens for 21 years. In AD 1721 Czar Peter finally promulgated a new 

constitution for The Church, which suspended the office of Patriarch and placed the governance of The 

Church under an Holy Synod.

Copying the example of Henry VIII of England, the government-imposed new Church constitution made The 

Czar the Head of The Church of Russia. It went further than King Henry, however, by providing for a Lay 

Procurator (a government official) to administer The Church's day-to-day affairs. This "constitutional" 

subjugation of The Church to the Russian State established the precedent of direct governmental control 

over and interference in all the affairs of The Russian Orthodox Church -- a practice continued until the end 

of the 20 th century by the atheistical government of the U.S.S.R. 

After the overthrow of Czar Nikolai II in March of AD 1917, The Russian Orthodox Church immediately 

convened a national Sobor to reform The Church and revive the Patriarchate of Moscow, which Czar Peter 

The Great had suspended. Metropolitan Tikhon, who had earlier been Russian Archbishop in America, won 

the election and assumed the office of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in November of that year, almost 

simultaneously with the outbreak of the Communist Revolution. This All-Russian Council (Sobor) attempted 

to restore sobornost -- the active participation of the whole Church (bishops, clergy, and laity) in every 

aspect of the Church's life, in contrast to the bureaucratic centralization which had ruled The Church under 

the secular and often hostile government of Russia since the creation of The Holy Synod by Czar Peter The 

Great. 

The new reäctionary Communist government of Russia immediately placed severe restrictions upon the 

revitalized and reforming Church of Russia. In view of the vigorous anti-religion activities of the new Russian 

government, Patriarch Tikhon issued a statement in AD 1917 urging The Russian Faithful to act 

independently to preserve The Church. Some of the Bishops of The Russian Church attempted to heed The 

Patriarch's advice by establishing a separate independent Church administration in southeastern Russia. 

The advance of the Bolsheviks, however, forced these faithful shepherds into exile. 

In November of 1920 these refugee Bishops organized The Supreme Church Administration for 

Churches Outside of Russia in Istanbul (Constantinople), with the approval of The Öcumenical Patriarch. 

At the invitation of The Patriarch of Serbia, The Supreme Church Administration moved to Yugoslavia. 

Twelve of these Bishops, with representatives of the clergy and laity, organized a Sobor at Sremski 

Karlovtsi, Yugoslavia, on 21 November to 2 December 1921, under the presidency of Anthony Khrapovitski, 

Metropolitan of Kiev and Galich and under the canonical authority of an ukase (i.e., an Edict having the force 

of law) issued in AD 1920 by Patriarch Tikhon. The result of this meeting was the organization of The 

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, sometimes called The Synodal Church. 

Patriarch Tikhon, who vigorously opposed the inhumane and atheistic policies of the revolutionary regime, 

was cruelly imprisoned on 9 May 1922. The Communists refused to permit an election for his successor 

when he died in AD 1925. Metropolitan Petr of Krutica became Locum Tenes (Patriarchal Vicar), but he, too, 

was almost immediately imprisoned. He was succeeded later that year by Sergii, the Metropolitan of Nizhni- 

Novgorod, who tried to make peace with the new Soviet government. Although he suffered temporary 

imprisonment (December AD 1926 to April 1927), he issued a declaration in July of AD 1927 changing The 

Church's official stance towards the Communist government from one of hostility to one of praise and 

coöperation. Outside observers have called this declaration of The Metropolitan either the great betrayal or 

the great salvation of The Russian Church. 

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia naturally disapproved of the coöperation between the 

Patriarchal Church and the atheistic Communist government in Russia, as first formulated in the letters 

issued by Metropolitan (later Patriarch) Sergii in AD 1926 and AD 1927. Because of the inappropriate 

influence seemingly exercised by the anti-religious government of Russia, The Russian Orthodox Church 

Outside Russia refused to recognize The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in any way on the grounds 

that the Communist government completely controlled the patriarchate. 

With the invasion of Mother Russia by the Nazis (Russia's former ally in the partition of Poland at the 

beginning of World War II), the political climate changed in Moscow. Metropolitan Sergii urged The Faithful 

to sincerely support the Russian war effort against the Nazis; he issued calls to arms, organized fund raising 

rallies, and did everything possible to ensure the protection of his people and the defense of The Church. By 

1 October 1944 The Church had donated 150,000,000 rubles, as well as gifts "in kind," to the Communist 

government. These many sacrifices and contributions for Russia gained him the favorable attention of the 

then current Communist Dictator, Josef Stalin, who finally granted the Metropolitan's request for new 

patriarchal elections. Sergii was elected Patriarch on 7 September 1943; he unfortunately died within six 

months. After that The Kremlin permitted subsequent elections within a year of each vacancy and had made 

The Orthodox Church of Russia one of the few officially recognized Christian organizations in the Soviet

Union -- following the precedent established by Czar Peter The Great. The Sobor to elect the new Patriarch 

was held 31 January to 2 February 1945. The Patriarch of Alexandria, Patriarch of Antioch, and the 

Catholicos of Georgia attended this Sobor, together with 44 Russian Bishops, 126 clergy, and 

representatives of the laity. The Sobor elected Alexis as the new Russian Patriarch. They thus established a 

"working model" for the other European Communist countries to follow in dealing with Religion. However, all 

other potential national Orthodox jurisdictions within the then-U.S.S.R., with the exception of the ancient and 

historic patriarchates of Armenia and Georgia, were merged into the Moscow Patriarchate, as were some 

Eastern-Rite Roman Catholics and many other Christian jurisdictions and sects. 

The Orthodox Church of Russia has been increasingly active in international Orthodox and ecumenical 

affairs during the last few decades of the 20 th Century. She has been particularly vocal before the World 

Council of Churches and elsewhere in encouraging anti-nuclear and anti-war movements throughout the 

world. The Primate of The Church of Russia bears the title: Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The 

official language of The Church is naturally Russian. 

Metropolitan Antonii became the first head of The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, with his 

Seat at Geneva, Switzerland. He was succeeded in AD 1936 by Metropolitan Anastasii (who died in AD 

1965), who was followed on his retirement by Metropolitan Filaret, in 1964. The chief See of the Metropolitan 

was moved during World War II to Munich, Germany, and in AD 1952 to New York City. Since then The 

Synodal Church has attracted The Faithful from other exiled jurisdictions, particularly those with origins in 

the formerly communist-controlled nations of eastern European. The recent collapse of communism has not 

resulted in any rapproachment between the exile-jurisdictions and their mother churches.......yet. With the 

Moscow Patriarchate's vigorous pursuit of the return of Church property in foreign lands which has been 

administered since the Communist Revolution in Russia by The Synodal Church, the rift between the 

Synodal Church and the Moscow Patriarchate may never be healed 

Apostolic Succession from 

The Russian Orthodox Church 

through Saint Peter 

Bishop Aleksij (Sergiy Vladimirovich Simanskij, 1877-1970) was consecrated 28 April 1913 by Patriarch 

Gregorios IV of The Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East in Russia as Bishop of 

Tichvin. In 1945 he was elected Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Patriarch Aleksij, assisted by 

Metropolitan Nikolaj (Boris Dorofeevic Jaruevic), Archbishop Makarij (Sergej Konstantinovic Daev), 

Archbishop Jurij (Vjaeslav Michaijlovic Egorov), Bishop Aleksij (Viktor Aleksandrovic Konoplev) and Bishop 

Pimen (Sergij Izvekov), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop John (Konstantin Nikolaevich Wendland, 1909-1989), Patriarchal Exarch of The Russian Orthodox 

Church in America, on 28 December 1958. On 3 August 1963 Bishop John became Metropolitan of The 

Russian Orthodox Church in America. He was recalled to Russia on 10 July 1967. Metropolitan John, 

assisted by Bishop Dositheus (Michail Ivanchenko of The Russian Orthodox Church in America), 


Bishop Joseph (Joseph John Skureth, 01/08/1933 -- ), as Exarch, The Western Orthodox Catholic Church 

in America, Exarchate of The Patriarchates of Moscow and Antioch (a Western Rite body within The 

Russian Orthodox Church in America) on 17 April 1966. Bishop Dosifej (Dositheus/Michail Ivanchenko) had 

ordained Bp. Joseph priest on 3 July 1963. Exarch Joseph is also affiliated with The Syrian-Antiochian 

Orthodox Church. Bishop Joseph, assisted by Archbishop Francisco de Jesus Pagtakhan (The Philippine 

Independent Catholic Church, Manila) and Bishop Lawrence Lee Shaver (The Philippine Independent 

Catholic Church in The Americas), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:










12, 1990 








Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbishop & Protector of The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 



through Saint Andrew 

Bishop Makarij (Michael Nevskij, 1835 - 02/16/26) was consecrated in 1884 by Bishop Nikon of The 

Russian Orthodox Church. He was elected Archbishop in 1906 and served as Metropolitan of Moscow and 

Kolomenskoe from 1912-1917. Bishop Makarij consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Evdokim (Basil Michaelovic Meschersky, 1869 - 1935) as Vicar Bishop, Diocese of Moscow, on 4 

January 1904. Bishop Evdokim became the Archbishop of The North American Diocese of The Russian 

Orthodox Church in 1914. Archbishop Evdokim consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Aftimios (Abdullah Ofiesh, 1880 - 1966) as Bishop of Brooklyn on 13 May 1917. Bishop Aftimios 

became Archbishop of The Syrian Orthodox Mission of The North American Diocese of The Russian 

Orthodox Church in 1923. Archbishop Aftimios consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Sophronios (Sophronios Bishara, 1888 - 1940) as Bishop of Los Angeles on 26 May 1928, 

assisted by Elias, Metropolitan of Tyre and Sidon (The Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The 

East) and Bishop Emmanuel (Rizkallah Abo-Hatab, The Syrian Orthodox Mission of The North American 

Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church). Bishop Sophronios became Archbishop of The Syrian Orthodox 

Mission of The North American Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church in 1933. Archbishop Sophronios 


Bishop Chrysostomos (John M. More-Moreno, + 1958), assisted by Archbishop-Exarch Benjamin (Ioann 

Athenasievich Fedchenkov of The North American Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church, in November 

of 1933. Bishop Chrysostomos became the Ruling Bishop of The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and 

Apostolic Church in North America . Bishop Chrysostomos consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Mar Nikolaus (Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm, 05/18/1890 - 08/06/1979) as Bishop of Brooklyn and Staten 

Island for The Apostolic Episcopal Church, assisted by Rev'd Fr. David Leondarides, The Greek Orthodox 

Patriarchate of Jerusalem, on 6 December 1949. Mar Nikolaus returned to Sweden in 1951 and was 

acknowledged as a Bishop by the Church of Sweden. He was enthroned as Bishop of Scandinavia for The 

Apostolic Episcopal Church in 1953 by Bishop Herman Philippus Abbinga of the Osterns Apostoliske 

Episkopale Kirke. In 1969 he assumed the position of Archbishop of The Apostolic Episcopal Church. Mar 

Nikolaus consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Alexander (Nils Bertil Alexander Persson, 11/10/1941 -- ) as Titular Bishop of Smyrna on 12 December 

1971. Mar Alexander succeeded Archbishop Nikolaus (Cedarholm) as Archbishop of Scandinavia of The 

Apostolic Episcopal Church on 22 July 1977. He was enthroned as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal 

Church by Archbishop Wallace David de Ortega Maxey on 7 November 1986. Archbishop Persson also 

serves as the Missionary General for Scandinavia and All Europe for both the Iglesia Filipina Independiente 

(Philippine Independent Catholic Church, confirmed 15 June 1988; this is a member jurisdiction of The 

Anglican Communion) and the Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasiliera (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, 

confirmed 14 June 1987). Archbishop Persson consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 



12, 1990 











through Archbishop Theophanies Fan Stylian Noli 



Kolomenskoe from 1912-1917. Archbishop Makarij (Macarius) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 


January 1904. Bishop Evdokim became Archbishop of Alaska and North America for The Russian Orthodox 

Church in 1914. Archbishop Evdokim consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Aftimios (Abdullah Ofiesh, 1880 - 1966) as Bishop of Brooklyn on 13 May 1917, assisted by Bishop 

Stephen Alexander Dzubay of Pittsburgh and Bishop Alexander Alexandrovich Nemolovksy, Bishop of 

Canada. Bishop Aftimios became Archbishop of The Syrian Orthodox Mission of The North American 

Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church in 1923. In 1927, urged on by the chaotic conditions in Russia, 

the canonical Russian Patriarchial Bishops in the U.S.A. acted upon instructions and advice issued earlier 

by Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, and emphasized by his successor, the Locum Tenens (Sergius), and 

Commissioned Bishop Aftimios to be Archbishop and to found and head an autocephalous American 

Orthodox Catholic Church. Archbishop Aftimios consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Sophronios (Sophronios Bishara, 1888 - 1940) as Bishop of Los Angeles on 26 May 1928, 

assisted by Elias, Metropolitan of Tyre and Sidon (The Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The 

East) and Bishop Emmanuel (Rizkallah Abo-Hatab, The Syrian Orthodox Mission of The North American 

Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church). Bishop Sophronios became Archbishop of The Syrian Orthodox 

Mission of The North American Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church in 1933. Archbishop Sophronios 


Bishop Christopher Kontogiorgios (Contogeorge; 1894 - 8/30/50) on 10 February 1934 at St. John the 

Baptist Church in New York City, assisting Theophanies Fan Stylian Noli, Archbishop of The Albanian 

Orthodox Diocese in America (consecrated 4 December 1923 in St. George's Cathedral in Korcha, Albania, 

by Metropolitan Kristofor Kissi [Bishop of Syradon] and Metropolitan Hierotheos [Andon Yahd, Bishop of 

Korcha & Plenipotentiary Exarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople] as Metropolitan of Durazzo, Gora & 

Shpata; Primate & Exarch of All Illyria, of the Western Sea & of all Albania; 1924: President of Albania) as 

Metropolitan of Pentapoleos. Bishop Kontogiorgios was appointed Exarch of the Greek Orthodox Catholic 

Church under the Patriarchate of Alexandria in 1947. Exarch Kontogiorgios consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Archbishop Konstantin Jaroshevich in 1949, assisted by Archbishop Arsenios Saltas (consecrated 25 

August 1934 by Abp. Kontogiorgios and Abp. Theophan Noli) and with the blessing and concurrence of 

Metropolitan Theophan Noli. In 1954 Abp. Jaroshevich was appointed Exarch of the Greek Orthodox 

Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa in the United States. Archbishop Jaroschevich consecrated to the 

Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Peter Andreas Zhurawetsky (12/07/01 - 1994) in Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church of 

Springfield, Massachusetts, on 15 October 1950, assisting Patriarch Joseph Klimovich (of the American 

Holy Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church; Ptr. Klimovich was consecrated 14 October 1930 by Constantine 

Kuryllo of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church) together with Metropolitan Nicholas Bohatyretz (of the Ukrainians 

in the Orthodox Catholic Church in America; Met. Bohatyretz was consecrated 16 November 1913 by Bp. 

Paulo Louis Prota Guirleo Miraglia Gulotti, Bishop of Piacenza of the Italian National Episcopal Church), 

Metropolitan Joseph Zielonka (Polish Old Catholic Church of America and Europe) and Bishop Peter M. 

Williamowich (consecrated by Met. Fan Noli), as Suffragan Bishop, The Polish Old Catholic Church. In 

December 1960 Bp. Zhurawetsky succeeded Metropolitan Zielonka and immediately changed the name of 

this jurisdiction to Christ Catholic Church of the Americas and Europe, and taking the name of Peter II. In 

1978, His Beatitude, Pope Nikolaus VII of Alexandria and All Africa wrote a letter recognizing Abp. Petros 

Zhurawetsky as a canonical Orthodox bishop. Patriarch Peter II consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Robert Gerald John Schulyer Zeiger (01/01/29 - 1998) in the Russian Orthodox Church of the 

Holy Trinity and St. Olga, New Brunswick, New Jersey, on 1 July 1961, assisted by Primate Hubert 

Augustus Rogers, Bishop Julian Lester Smith, and Bishop James Hubert Rogers (all of The North American 

Old Roman Catholic Church) as Bishop for The Orthodox Catholic Patriarchate of America. He later left Ptr. 

Zhurawetsky's jurisdiction in 1961 and founded the American Orthodox Catholic Church. In 1964 he 

resigned as Primate of that jurisdiction while remaining Archbishop Metropolitan of Denver. On 10 August 

1976, Abp. Zeiger was consecrated at St. Paul's Monastery, La Porte, Indiana, by Abp/Primate Joseph John 

Skureth (Western Orthodox Catholic Church) assisted by Bishop Joseph Gabriel Sokolowski, O.S.B. (Abbot 

General, St. Paul's Monastery, La Porte, Indiana; consecrated 16 March 1970 by Abp. Joseph John Skureth 

& Bp. Frank Blevins). Abp. Zeiger consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Andre Leon Zotique Barbeau (11/22/12 - 2/14/94) on 8 August 1976, assisted by Bishop Gordon 

Albert Da Costa (Anglican Church of the Americas; consecrated 19 June 1971 by Bp. Benjamin C. Eckardt 

of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church, assisted by Bp. Charles Kennedy Samuel Steward Moffat and Bp. 

Albert J. Fuge). He was earlier consecrated on 14 May 1968 at the Pro-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of 

Jesus, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, by Bp. Charles Brearley (Old Holy Catholic Church; consecrated 16 June 

1954 by Marziano II, Basileus of Constantinople and of All the Christian Orient {Prince de Deols, Alessandro 

Licastro de la Chastre Grimaldi-Lascaris}, claimant to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire of the Orient as 

the 269th Emperor) and later on 26 July 1973 by Bishop Garry Robert Armstrong (Liberal Catholic Church 

International; consecrated 8 October 1972 by Bp. William Henry Daw of the Liberal Catholic Church 

International). He was further consecrated sub conditione on 19 August 1976 by Abp. Josef Maria Thiesen 

(Alt Roemisch Katholische Kirche in Germany; consecrated 17 April 1949 by Bp. Aloysius Stumpfl) and on 

12/12/76 s.c. at the Cite de Marie, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada by Bp. George Bellemare (Eglise Universelle 

de la Nouvelle Alliance; consecrated 7 July 1975 by Bp. Roger Caro, assisted by Bp. Maurice Auberger and 

Bp. Patrick LeBar). Patriarch Barbeau consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Archbishop Leonard J. Curreri (07/27/46 - ) on 30 July 1977 at Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, assisted by 

Archbishop Rainer Laufer (Old Holy Catholic Church of Canada; Abp. Laufer was consecrated 18 November 

1975 by: Bp. Charles Brearley of The Old Holy Catholic Church; Abp. Andre LeTellier, Titular Archbishop of 

Hippo and Archbishop Coadjutor of Montreal, Canada, Catholic Charismatic Church of Canada; and Bp. 

Jean-Marie Breault, Titular Bishop of Bethlehem and Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal, Catholic Charismatic 

Church of Canada), as Primate of The Tridentine Catholic Church. Abp. Curreri was first consecrated at 

Holy Cross Polish Catholic Church, New York City, on 23 April 1977 by Bp. Francis Joseph Ryan 

(Ecumenical Orthodox Catholic Church--Autocephalous; Bp. Ryan was consecrated in 1965 by Ptr. 

Udladyslau Ryzy-Ryski), assisted by Bp. Holmes Bennett Dayhoff (Tridentine Catholic Church) and Bp. John 

Basilo (American Orthodox Catholic Church; Bp. Basilo was consecrated by Walter Myron Propheta). 

Archbishop Curreri consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Peter Paul Brennan (1941 - ) on 10 June 1978 at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church, Long Island, 

New York, assisting Bishop Richard Thomas McFarland (African Orthodox Church). He was consecrated 

sub conditione on 4 October 1979 by Archbishop Leonard J. Curreri (Tridentine Catholic Church), assisted 

by Archbishop Peter James G. Grazeloa (American National Catholic Church) and Bp. Holmes Bennett 

Dayhoff. In 1984 Abp. Brennan became head of the Ecumenical Catholic Diocese of the Americas based in 

West Hempstead, New York. Abp. Brennan consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Howard D. van Orden ((1938 - ) on 14 October 1984, assisting Bp. Patrick J. Callahan (Old Roman 

Catholic Church--Utrecht Succession; Bp. Callahan was consecrated on 17 April 1984 by Abp. Emile 

Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield and Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz) as Bishop of The Western Rite Orthodox 

Catholic Church of Jesus in St. Stephen's Orthodox Catholic Church of Savannah, Georgia. Bishop van 

Orden consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 



12, 1990 








Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbishop & Protector of The Society of Pope Saint 

Anacletus



through Bishop Joseph A. Zuk (William Propheta Succession) 



Kolomenskoe from 1912-1917. Archbishop Makarij (Macarius) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 


January 1904. Bishop Evdokim became Archbishop of Alaska and North America for The Russian Orthodox 

Church in 1914. Archbishop Evdokim consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Aftimios (Abdullah Ofiesh, 1880 - 1966) as Bishop of Brooklyn on 13 May 1917, assisted by Bishop 

Stephen Alexander Dzubay of Pittsburgh and Bishop Alexander Alexandrovich Nemolovksy, Bishop of 

Canada. Bishop Aftimios became Archbishop of The Syrian Orthodox Mission of The North American 

Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church in 1923. In 1927, urged on by the chaotic conditions in Russia, 

the canonical Russian Patriarchial Bishops in the U.S.A. acted upon instructions and advice issued earlier 

by Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, and emphasized by his successor, the Locum Tenens (Sergius), and 

Commissioned Bishop Aftimios to be Archbishop and to found and head an autocephalous American 

Orthodox Catholic Church. Archbishop Aftimios consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Joseph A. Zuk (? - 2/23/34) was consecrated on 7 February 1932 by Bp. Aftimios (Abdullah Ofiesh; Holy 

Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America), assisted by Bp. Sophronios Bishara 

(Bishop of Los Angeles) as Assistant Bishop of The Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in 

North America with special oversight over The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America. The ecclesiastical 

jurisdiction of these bishops (Ofiesh, Bishara & Zuk) is believed by many to be the sole canonical successor 

of The Russian Orthodox jurisdiction established for North America by way of Alaska in 1763 under Canon 

Law (Council of Chalcedon, 453 A.D.); thus this jurisdiction would be the only lawful (i.e., canonical) 

Orthodox jurisdiction in the U.S.A. Bishop Zuk consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

William Albert Nichols (12/4/1867 - 2/6/1947) on 27 September 1932, together with Bp. Sophronios 

Bishara, assisting Abp. Aftimios (Abdullah Ofiesh). Bishop Nichols took the ecclesiastical name of Ignatius. 

Against canon law and Church tradition, Bp. Ignatius (Nichols) married in June of 1933, for which he was 

formally removed from Office by Bp. Bishara. Upon the death of both Bp. Bishara and Bp. Zuk in 1934, Bp. 

Nichols assumed leadership of part of The Holy Eastern Orthodox and Apostolic Church in North America, 

officially incorporating it in the State of New York on 16 March 1936 under the name: The Holy Orthodox 

Church in America. This newly incorporated jurisdiction also included the former Anglican Universal 

Church of Christ in the United States of America (Chaldean), which allowed married bishops and was 

headed by Abp. George Winslow Plummer. Ignatius, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., consecrated to the 


George Winslow Plummer (8/25/1876 - 1/23/1944) on 8 May 1934, assisted by Bishop Ambrosius 

(Maitland Raines of The Russian Orthodox Church; consecrated by Bp. Alexander Vvedensky) and took the 

ecclesiastical name of Mar Georgius. Mar Georgius consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Stanislaus de Witow (born Stanislaus Witowski; 2/9/1890 - 4/1969) on 29 November 1936, assisted by 

Abp. Ignatius (William Albert Nichols) and Bishop Irenaeus (Henry van Arsdale Parsell; consecrated 19 

September 1920 by Bp Manuel Ferrando of the Reformed Episcopal Church assisted by Mar 

Georgius/Plummer) and took the ecclesiastical name Theodotus. Bp. Theodotus became head of The Holy 

Orthodox Church in America on 14 April 1951 succeeding Abp/Primate Roy C. Toombs (who had 

succeeded Mar Georgius on 23 January 1944). Abp. Theodotus consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Walter Myron Propheta (1912 - 10/8/1972) in Springfield, Massachusetts, on 3 October 1964, assisting Ptr. 

Joachim Souris of the True Orthodox Church of Greece (consecrated 2 June 1951 by Ptr. Joseph Klimovicz 

of the American Holy Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church, assisted by Ptr. Peter A. Zhurawetsky, Bp. Jozef 

Zielonka, and Bp. Clement I {John Cyril Sherwood}). On 30 March1965 he was elevated to Archbishop by 

Abp. Theodotus and Bishop Theoklitus Kantaris (Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of New York ,

consecrated by Makarios III, Archbishop/Primate of Cyprus), and took the ecclesiastical name of Patriarch 

Woldymyr I. Ptr. Woldymyr I consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

John Arthur Christian (Chiasson; born: John Christofer Saison; ? - 12/25/1984) on 31 July 1966, assisted 

by Abp. Theodotus (Stanislaus De Witow). He was elected to succeed Ptr. Woldymyr I at a Synod of The 

American Orthodox Catholic Church on 18 November 1972, taking the ecclesiastical name of Christian I. 

Ptr. Christian I consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Harold James Donovan (? - 3/18/1996) in Chicago, Illinois, on 4 July 1982, at the request of the Holy 

Synod of The Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church in the Philippines, taking the ecclesiastical name of 

Mar Aftimios II. He had been previously consecrated on 16 March 1980 as Missionary Bishop for this 

jurisdiction by Bp. Tirso Cinco Noble, assisted by Bp. Miguel Pestano Borja, Bp. Joel T. Borja, and Bp. 

Urbano A. Blanco (all Bishops within The Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church in the Philippines). In cooperation 

with Ptr. Christian I, Mar Aftimios II created an Exarchy in January 1983 of the Philippine Church 

later known as: The American Orthodox Church. Mar Aftimios II was consecrated sub conditione on 19 

January 1987 by Bishop-Primate Forest Ernest Barber of the Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church in the 

Philippines (a part of the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira) assisted by Metropolitan Mark (Senen C. 

Bordeos) of the Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church in the Philippines, based in Los Banos. Mar 

Aftimios II consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Eric Tan Ong Veloso on 12 March 1989 in The Holy Guardian Angels Chapel, Glendale, California, 

assisted by Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles and Administrator of The Philippine 

Independent Catholic Church in the Americas). Bp. Veloso had been previously consecrated on 30 October 

1988 in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Orthodox Catholic Church of Los Angeles, California, by Abp. Howard 

D. van Orden, assisted by Bp. Jack London Mette (of the Catholic Apostolic Church in North 

America/Patriarchate of Brazil; consecrated by: Abp. de Ortega Maxey; Bp. Raymond Eugene Hefner; Ptr. 

Francis Jerome Joachim; Bp. Charles David Luther) and Bp. Carroll T. Lowery, for the Orthodox Catholic 

Church in The Philippines, taking the ecclesiastical name of Mar Petros. Mar Petros consecrated to the 




12, 1990 










The Armenian Church 

(The Apostolic Orthodox Church of Armenia) 

The origins of The Church of Armenia are traced to The First Enlighteners of Armenia, two of the Twelve 

Apostles: St. Thaddeus (martyred in 66 A.D. in Armenia) and St. Bartholomew (martyred in 68 A.D. in 

Armenia). It is St. Gregory, however, who is credited with converting first King Tiridates of Armenia to 

Christianity and then the whole Armenian nation. The Kingdom of Armenia was the first nation to become 

Christian in the whole world. 

Soon after the King's conversion, St. Gregory was consecrated a Bishop. In obedience to a vision from Our 

Lord, Bishop Gregory built the first Christian Cathedral in the world in 303 A.D. with the support of the King. 

This cathedral was built in Vagharshapat, the capital of Armenia, not far from Mt. Ararat. In memory of the 

vision from our Lord to build this cathedral, the cathedral was named Holy Etchmiadzin (i. e., the place 

where The Only-Begotten Descended). Holy Etchmiadzin is still the official Seat of the head of the Armenian 

Apostolic Orthodox Church. 

The Church of Armenia participated in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea (325 A.D.), with St. Aristakes, 

the younger son of St. Gregory the Enlightener, representing his ailing father. 

The Patriarch of Armenia was the first to use the title Catholicos, a practice since adopted by many 

neighboring jurisdictions in the Near East. 

In 485 A.D. the Seat of the Armenian Catholicos was moved from Holy Etchmiadzin to Dvin , where a Synod 

of Armenian, Georgian, and Caspio-Albanian Bishops in 506 A.D. confessed The Faith of the Third 

Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) while rejecting Nestorianism and the acts of the Council of 

Chalcedon (451 A.D.). When Dvin was sacked by the Muslims in 927 A.D., the Catholicos' Seat was moved 

first to Aghtamar in Lake Van then to the fortified city of Ani. When Ani was captured by the Greeks in 1045 

A.D., the Catholicos' Seat was moved to Romkla on the Euphrates River, then again transferred (c. 1293 

A.D.) to Sis, the capital of the Cilician Armenian Kingdom. In 1441 A.D. the Seat was returned to Holy 

Etchmiadzin. 

Several subsidiary Armenian Patriarchates emerged over the centuries. During the occupation of Armenia 

by the Arabs in the 7th century, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was recognized. Bishop Abraham 

was the first Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem (638--669 A. D.). The Patriarchate of Aght'amar was 

established as the result of a schism within the Church of Armenia in 1113 A.D. The Armenian Patriarchate 

of Sis was created in 1441 A.D. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople was created in 1461 A.D. by 

the Ottoman government soon after their conquest of Turkey. The Catholic Armenian Patriarchate of Cilicia 

was created by Rome in 1742 A.D. The Patriarchates of Aght'amar and Albania (which was semiindependent 

from the earliest of times) have lapsed. All the Armenian Patriarchates (except the Catholic 

Patriarchate of Cilicia) acknowledge The Patriarch of Holy Echmiadzin as first among equals. 

The Turkish genocide against Armenian nationals in 1890--1915 A.D. dealt a severe blow to The Armenian 

Church and decimated the Armenian population in Eastern Turkey. Of the 5,000 priests living before the 

Turkish massacres of Armenians, only 400 were still alive at the end of World War I. Because of this loss of 

population, the Patriarchate of Aght'amarian was abandoned. The Patriarchal See of Sis was confiscated by 

the Turkish government (c. 1920) . The Catholicos/Patriarch of Sis, Sahak II, with the help of the Armenian 

Patriarch of Jerusalem and the French, moved south to Antelias, north of Beirut, Lebanon. 

The Primate of The Church of Armenia bears the title: Patriarch and Catholicos of All the Armenians.

Apostolic Succession from The Church of Armenia 

Gregory Petros VIII, Catholicos-Patriarch of Cilicia of The Armenians, consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Leon Chorchorunian on 7 April 1861 A.D. as Titular Archbishop of Malatia. Archbishop Chorchorunian 


Leon Chechemian on 23 April 1879 A.D. as "a Bishop at Malatia, Asia Minor". Bishop Chechemian 


James Martin on 2 November 1890 A.D. as Archbishop of Caerleon-upon-Usk. Archbishop Martin 


Benjamin Charles Harris on 25 July 1915 A.D. as Bishop of Essex. Bishop Harris consecrated to the 


Charles Leslie Saul on 17 November 1944 A.D. at St. Paul's Church, Outwood, near Radcliffe, Manchester, 

England. On 8 September 1945 A.D. Bishop Saul was given the title and position of Archbishop of Suthronia 

in the Eparchy of All the Britons. Archbishop Saul consecrated s.c. to the sacred Episcopate: 

Herman Philippus Abbinga on 28 November 1946 A.D. as Missionary Bishop for Holland and Indonesia, 

assisting Mar Georgius of the Catholic Apostolic Church and Bishop Richard Kenneth Hurgon of The Order 

of Christ Our Most Holy Redeemer and King. Bishop Abbinga consecrated s.c. to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm on 31 May 1953 A.D. in Oslo, Norway, as Bishop of Scandinavia for The 

Apostolic Episcopal Church. Bishop Cedarholm consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 










12, 1990 










The Syrian Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East 

During the centuries Syria was governed by Rome/Constantinople, Antioch came to rank among one of the 

greatest cities of the empire in prestige, luxury, culture, law, medicine, art, literature, philosophy, and 

religion. By the middle of the 5th century, paganism had died out and monasticism was flourishing. Antiimperial, 

nationalist politics, however, soon came to find expression in the Monophysite controversies, which 

politically weakened both Syria and Constantinople. When the Patriarch of Antioch, Severus (Sawiriyus I), 

patriotically embraced the Monophysite movement in A.D. 518, the Church of Syria split. The faction loyal to 

imperial government elected Bulus I as their new Patriarch and forced Ptr. Severus into exile at Alexandria. 

(The Faithful in the Patriarchates of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch who continued to recognize Papal 

and Imperial authority came to be called Melkites--after the Greek word for "king". For a rehearsal of The 

Evangelical Catholic Church's Apostolic Lines from this group, see the section The Melkite Catholic 

Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East. 

In A.D. 542, during the fourth year of Patriarch Severus' Monophysite successor (Sergius, Sirjiyus), Fr. 

Ya'qub al-Barda'i (Jacob Baradaeus) began a 36-year missionary journey throughout the Near East on 

behalf of Monophysitism and ordaining thousands of priests. His efforts solidified his Church's support 

among the common people and left such a positive and lasting impression that the Church for which he so 

arduously ministered is still fondly termed "Jacobite". 

Syria was absorbed into the Muslim world at the beginning of the seventh century. The Jacobite Church 

flourished for many centuries, enjoying better treatment under the Muslims than under Constantinople. Since 

A.D. 1313, however, the Church has experienced a long decline and many factional splits. 

Beginning with Patriarch Ignatius V (A.D. 1313), the Syrian prelate of Antioch has taken the name Ignatius 

as his religious name, in honor of St. Ignatius (the third Patriarch of Antioch), to which is added a second 

name and numeral. The head of this Syrian Church has the title: Patriarch of Antioch and of All the 

Domain of the Apostolic Throne. 

Moran Mar Ignatius Yacob II (Ighnatiyus Ya'qub II), Patriarch of Antioch and All The East, consecrated to 


Joseph Mar Dionysios V (Joseph Pulikottil, 1832 - 7/11/1909), as Metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox 

Syrian Church on 12 February 1865 in Omeed (Deyarbekir), Turkey. He took the ecclesiastical name of 

Joseph Mar Dionysios V. Mar Dionysios consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Julius I (Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvarez, 1837-1923), in the chapel of the Syrian seminary in 

Kottayam as Archbishop of Ceylon, Goa and India on 29 July 1889, assisted by Paulose Mar Athanasius 

(Paulose Kadavil Kooran), Paulose Mar Ivanios (Paulose Murimatton), and Geevarghese Mar Gregorios 

(Geevarghese Pallathitta Chaturuthil), all Bishops of The Malankar Orthodox Syrian Church. He took the 

ecclesiastical name of Mar Julius I. Mar Julius consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Timotheus I (Joseph Rene Vilatte, 1/24/1854 - 7/8/1929), in Ceylon (nor Sri Lanka) as Archbishop- 

Exarch of North America for The American Catholic Church on 29 May 1892, assisted by Paulose Mar 

Athanasius (Paulose Kadavil Kooran) and Geevarghese Mar Gregorios (Geevarghese Pallathitta 

Chaturuthil), Bishops of The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, in accordance with the Patriarchal Bull of 

Moran Mor Ignatius Peter III dated 29 December 1891 at Mardin. Mar Timotheus I consecrated to the 


Mar Francis (John Barwell Walker, aka Edmund Basile Walker-Baxter, 10/25/1881 - 4/2/1963) on 1 June 

1923, taking the ecclesiastical nameFrancis. He succeeded Mar Timotheus (Vilatte) on 25 June 1923 as 

Grand Master of The Order of The Crown of Thorns, taking the title of Prince Edmond de San Luigi, Edmond

I. On 1 January 1946 he was consecrated by Antoine Joseph Aneed (Byzantine Universal {Catholic} and 

Orthodox Church of the Americas), assisted by Bishop Henry Joseph Kleefisch and Bishop Charles H. 

Hampton, and assigned as Titular Bishop of Caesarea. Mar Francis consecrated s.c. to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield (7/3/1912 - ?), for the Byzantine Universal (Catholic) and Orthodox 

Church of the Americas sub conditione on 24 August 1961. Archbishop Emile, Iglesia Catolica Apostolica 

Mexicana, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 



12, 1990 










The Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East 

Melkite (or Melchite) is the name given by the Monophysites to those Christians in the Patriarchates of 

Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch after The Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. who continued 

to accept and recognize the Papal and Imperial authority of Rome. Although originally the term "Melkite" was 

applied to all of the Chalcedonian Orthodox jurisdictions, it later came to refer specifically to The Greek 

Catholic Church of Antioch. 

During the Middle Ages, two factions gradually emerged within The Melkite Church of Antioch, one favoring 

continued contact with Rome and the other preferring complete autocephaly. Finally, in 1724 A.D., each 

faction elected its own Patriarch. One faction within the Synod elected Kirillus Tanas (an advocate of 

autonomy under the Pope) as the new Patriarch, another faction simultaneously elected Silfistrus (who 

favored autocephaly under the Ecumenical Patriarch) as Patriarch. Rome recognized Kirillus VI Tanas 

shortly after his election as The Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem. His 

jurisdiction includes all Greek Melkite uniates in the Near East and the Americas. He alternates his 

residence between the cities of Cairo and Beirut, spending six months in each. 

The Patriarchs of this jurisdiction have been known for their erudition and learning, and have been native 

Syrians from the beginning of the split.

Apostolic Succession from the Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch 

and All The East 

Cyrillos VIII Jeha (Petros Geha, 1840--1916), the Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the 

East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Athanasios (Melece Saouaya/Sawoya, 3/15/1870 -- 4/6/1919) on 5 February 1905 in The Chapel of St 

Michael at Cairo, Egypt, as Metropolitan Archbishop of Beirut and Gebeil, Lebanon. Abp. Athanasios 

(Sawoya) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Antoun Anid (Anthony Aneed, 2/27/1881 -- 8/24/1970) on 9 October 1911 in New York as Assistant Bishop 

(although not recognized by Rome, this consecration was later recognized by Patriarch Kirillus IX 

Mughabghab of The Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch). On 1 January 1946 Bishop Aneed was 

enthroned as Patriarch of The Byzantine Universal (Catholic) and Orthodox Church of the Americas. 

Patriarch Aneed consecrated s.c. to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield on 24 November 1964. Archbishop Rodriguez y Fairfield was 

installed as the Archbishop/Primate of the Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana on 13 September 

1983. Archbishop Emile consecrated de novo to the Sacred Episcopate: 



12, 1990 









Apostolic Succession II from the Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch 

and All The East 

Cyrillos VIII Jeha (Petros Geha, 1840--1916), the Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the 

East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Athanasios (Melece Saouaya/Sawoya, 3/15/1870 -- 4/6/1919) on 5 February 1905 in The Chapel of St 

Michael at Cairo, Egypt, as Metropolitan Archbishop of Beirut and Gebeil, Lebanon. Abp. Athanasios 

(Sawoya) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Antoun Anid (Anthony Aneed, 2/27/1881 -- 8/24/1970) on 9 October 1911 in New York as Assistant Bishop 

(although not recognized by Rome, this consecration was later recognized by Patriarch Kirillus IX 

Mughabghab of The Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch). On 1 January 1946 Bishop Anid was 

enthroned as Patriarch of The Byzantine Universal (Catholic) and Orthodox Church of the Americas. 

Patriarch Anid, together with Primate Lowell Paul Wadle (The American Catholic Church), Bishop Henry 

Joseph Kleefisch (The Byzantine Universal Orthodox Church), and Bishop Charles H. Hampton (The Old 

Roman Catholic Church), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Mar David I (Wallace David de Ortega Maxey, 02/22/1902 - 03/12/1992) on 23 August 1945. He became 

the Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church in America on 7 July 1948 but later resigned from that office, 

not returning to The Apostolic Episcopal Church in America until the early 1970's. Mar David, assisted by 

Primate Robert Ronald Ramm (The Apostolic Episcopal Catholic Church), consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson and enthroned him as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal 

Church on 7 November 1986. Abp. Persson succeeded Abp. Robert Ronald Ramm on 11 November 1986 

as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Catholic Church. Archbishop Persson also serves as the Missionary 

General for Scandinavia and All Europe for both the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent 

Catholic Church, confirmed 15 June 1988; this is a member jurisdiction of The Anglican Communion) and 

the Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasiliera (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, confirmed 14 June 1987). 

Archbishop Persson consecrated de novo to the Sacred Episcopate: 



12, 1990 









The Apostolic Succession from the Church of Cyprus 

The Church of Cyprus was founded, according to Tradition, by St. Barnabas (mentioned in The New 

Testament). In A.D. 431 She was recognized as autocephalous under an independent Archbishop. 

During the Crusades, Cyprus was seized by Richard I, King of England. King Richard gave the island to Guy 

of Lusignan, titular King of Jerusalem, c. 1191 A.D., who placed the Orthodox Bishops of Cyprus under the 

Latin Archbishop of Nikosia. Finally, when Orthodox Archbishop Germanos died ( c. 1275 A.D.), The Church 

of Cyprus was not allowed to elect a new Primate. Venice took control of Cyprus in 1489 A.D., but still did 

not allow the election of a new Primate. The Ottoman Empire gained control of Cyprus in 1571 A.D. , at 

which time the Orthodox Faithful began instigating for a new Primate. In 1572 A.D., Turkey finally allowed 

the election of a new Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus. In 1821 A.D. they murdered the 

Archbishop (Kyprianos) and his three Bishops for aiding the Greek rebels on the mainland. 

At the end of the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), fearing Russian expansion, Turkey turned complete control 

of Cyprus over to the British for a rental of c. $500,000 a year (with Turkey retaining nominal title to the 

island). In the 20th century, Cyprus has been continuously plagued with fighting: between the Greek and the 

Turkish populations, between the British administration and those seeking union with Greece and those 

seeking total independence. The Archepiscopal throne was vacant several times during this period (e.g., 

1900-1909, 1933-1947). 

The Primate of The Church of Cyprus bears the title Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus and 

resides in Nikosia.

Makarios II, Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Makarios III (Mikhail Christodolou Mouskos Kykkotis, 8/13/13--8/3/77) on 13 June 1948. Bishop Kykkotis 

was elected Primate of Cyprus in 1950. Archbishop Makarios III consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Theoklitos Kantaris as Bishop of Salamis, Cyprus. Bishop Kantaris consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Wolodymyr I (Walter Myron Propheta, 1912--8/10/72) on 30 March 1965 as Archbishop of the American 

Orthodox Catholic Church with the title of Patriarch Wolodymyr I, assisted by Abp. Theodotus (Stanislaus de 

Witow). (Bishop Propheta was first consecrated on 3 October 1964 by Patriarch Joachim Souris of the True 

Orthodox Church of Greece, assisted by Abp. Theodotus. Some view the 1965 elevation as not a 

consecration to the Office of Archbishop but merely an installation into that Office.) Patriarch Wolodymyr I 

consecrated s.c. to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Homer Ferdinand Roebke on 4 March 1967 as Archbishop for The American Orthodox Catholic Church. 

Archbishop Roebke consecrated s.c. to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Paul Christian G. W. Schultz (4/10/31--9/13/95) on 7 May 1975. Archbishop Schultz consecrated to the 




12, 1990 









The Apostolic Succession 

From The Order of Corporate Reunion 

At the direction of the Roman Catholic Hierarch at Milan, Italy, in the summer of 1877, a plan was initiated 

for the purpose of introducing Orders into a Pro-Uniate Movement within The Church of England which The 

Vatican would be compelled to recognize as valid. Roman Catholic Archbishop Luigi Nazari di Calabiana of 

Milan (consecrated 12 April 1847; Archbishop of Milan from 1867 - 1893), joined near the city of Venice, 

Italy, by two unnamed Bishops (Greek and Coptic, their names being kept under the confessional seal but 

their validity guaranteed by The Vatican), did consecrate three bishops in the summer of 1877 to the sacred 

episcopacy:

Dr. Frederick George Lee (01/06/1832 - 01/22/02) as Bishop of Dorchester and Primate I of The Order of 

Corporate Reunion. 

Thomas Wimberley Mossman (1826 - 06/06/1885 ) as Bishop of Selby. 

Dr. John Thomas Seccombe (1835 - 1895 ) as Bishop of Caerleon. 

Bp. Lee, Bp. Mossman and Bp. Seccombe, assisting Mar Pelagius I (Patriarch Richard Williams Morgan, 

First British Patriarch of the Patriarchate of Antioch for the Ancient British Church, consecrated in 1874 by 

Mar Julius {Raimond Ferrette}, Bishop of Iona and Patriarchal Legate for Western Europe; at some time Bp. 

Morgan was also consecrated by Bp. Seccombe), consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 6 March 1879: 

Charles Isaac Stevens (1935 - 02/02/17) as Mar Theophilus I for The Order of Corporate Reunion; later 

Hierarch of Caerleon-on-Usk and Second Patriarch of The Ancient British Church. Mar Theophilus I, 

assisted by Bp. Alfred Spencer Richardson of The Reformed Episcopal Church, consecrated to the sacred 

episcopacy on 4 May 1890: 

Leon Chechemian (1848 - 1920) asMar Leon, Archbishop of Selsey for The Ancient British Church. Abp. 

Chechemian, assisted by Abp. James Martin, Bp. Frederick Boucher, and Bp. George W. L. Maaers, 

consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 2 November 1897: 

Andrew Charles Albert McLagen 1851 - 1928) as Colonial Missionary Bishop for Cape Colony and Titular 

Bishop of Claremont. In 1919 Bp. McLagen became the 4th Patriarch of The Ancient British Church. Ptr. 

McLagen consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 4 June 1922: 

Herbert James Monzani-Heard (1866 - 08/15/47) in St. Andrew's Church, Retreat Place, London, as Mar 

Jacobus II, Bishop of Selsey and Primate of The Ancient British Church and the United Armenian Catholic 

Church. Bp. Heard became the 5th Patriarch of The Ancient British Church/Free Protestant Episcopal 

Church in 1930. Ptr. Monzani-Heard consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 13 June 1943: 

William Bernard Crow (09/11/1895 - 06/28/76) as Mar Bernard, Bishop of Santa Sophia. On 17 October 

1943 at "The Council of London," Bp. Crow was elected by representatives of The Ancient British Church, 

British Orthodox Catholic Church, Apostolic Episcopal Church, Old Catholic Orthodox Church, Order of the 

Holy Wisdom, and Order of Antioch to the Patriarchal See of Antioch with the title of Mar Basilius Abdullah 

III. On 23 March 1944 the Ancient British Church, British Orthodox Catholic Church and the Old Catholic 

Orthodox Church banded together to form The Western Orthodox Catholic Church. Ptr. Mar Basilius 

Abdullah II consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 10 April 1944: 

Hugh George de Willmott Newman 01/17/05 - 02/28/79) as Mar Georgius. On 29 January 1945 Mar 

Georgius became the 6th Patriarch of The Ancient British Church with the title Patriarch of Glastonbury. Ptr. 

Mar Georgius, assisted by Mar Joannes, Titular Bishop of St. Marylebone (William John Eaton Jeffrey), Mar 

Leofric, Archbishop of Suthronia in the Eparchy of all the Britons (Charles Leslie Saul), and Mar David, 

Bishop of Repton (Dr. Francis David Bacon), consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 22 April 1946: 

Richard Kenneth Hurgon (04/24/02 - ?) as Mar Benignus, Titular Bishop of Mere (Somerset). On 29 March 

1981 Mar Benignus became Primus of The Reformed Catholic Church (Utrecht Confession). Bp. Hurgon 

consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 7 December 1985: 

Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (11/10/41 - ), Archbishop of Europe & Asia, The Apostolic Episcopal 

Church. He was enthroned as Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church on 7 November 1986 and served 

as Primate VIII of The Order of Corporate Reunion. Abp. Persson, assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico 

Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Abp. Howard D. van Orden 

(Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas), Bishop Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic 

Episcopal Church), and Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of Healing Arts 

Missionaries & Chaplains in America), each assisting, coöperating and co-consecrating by laying on hands 

and uttering all the words of consecration in unison, together with Archbishop Paul Christian Gerald W. 

Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles, Administrator of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The 

Americas, and Apostolic Administrator in the U.S.A. for The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Bishop Eric T. Ong

Veloso (Orthodox Catholic Church in The Philippines), Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Philippine 

Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), and Exarch Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old 

Catholic Church), consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 5 August 1989: 

Karl Julius Barwin (10/16/43 - ), Primate, The Evangelical Catholic Church. Bishop Karl J. Barwin did 

consecrated to the episcopate on May 12, 1990 









Antiochean-Jacobite Sucession 

ANTIOCHEAN-JACOBITE SUCCESSION 

1. Peter, 38; 

2. Evodus 40; 

3. Ignatius I, 43; 

4. Aaron, 123; 

5. Cornelius, 123; 

6. Eodos, 142; 

7. Theophulus, 157; 

8. Maximinus, 171; 

9. Seraphim, 179; 

10. Astlediaes, 189; 

11. Philip, 201; 

12. Sebinus {Zebinus},219; 

13. Babylos, 237; 

14. Fabius, 250; 

15. Demetrius, 251; 

16. Paul I, 259; 

17. Domnus I, 270; 

18. Timotheus, 281; 

19. Cyrilus, 281; 

20. Tyrantus, 296; 

21. Vitalius, 301; 

22. Philognius, 318; 

23. Eustachius, 323; 

24. Paulinius, 338; 

25. Philabianus, 383; 

26. Evagrius, 386; 

27. Phosohorius, 416; 

28. Alexander, 418; 

29. John I, 428; 

30. Theodotus, 431; 

31. Domnus II, 442; 

32. Maximus, 450; 

33. Accacius, 454;

34. Martyrius, 457; 

35. Peter II, 464; 

36. Philadius, 500; 

37. Serverius, 509; 

38. Segius, 544; 

39. Domnus III, 547; 

40. Anadtasius, 560; 

41. Gregory I, 564; 

42. Paul II, 567; 

43. Patra, 571; 

44. Domnus IV, 586; 

45. Julianus, 591; 

46. Athanasius I, 595; 

47. John II, 636; 

48. Theodorus I, 649; 

49. Severus, 668; 

50. Athanasius II, 684; 

51. Julianus II, 687; 

52. Elias I, 709; 

53. Athanasius III 724; 

54. Evanius I, 740; 

55. Gervasius I, 759; 

56. Joseph, 790; 

57. Cyriacus, 793; 

58. Dionysius I, 818; 

59. John III, 847; 

60. Ignatius II, 877; 

61. Theodosius, 887; 

62. Dionysius II 897; 

63. John IV, 910; 

64. ()Basilus I, 922; 

65. John V, 936; 

66. Evanius II, 954; 

67. Dionysius III, 958; 

68. Abraham I, 962; 

69. John VI, 965, 

70. Athamasius IV, 987; 

71. John VII, 1004; 

72. Dionysius IV, 1032; 

73. Theodorus II, 1042; 

74. Athanasius V, 1058; 

75. John VIII, 1064; 

76. Basilius II, 1074; 

77. Abdoone, 1076; 

78. Dionysius V, 1077; 

79. Evanius III, 1080; 

80. ()Dionysius VI, 1088; 

81. Athanasius VI, 1091; 

82. John IX, 1131; 

83. Athanasius VII, 1139; 

84. Michael I, 1167; 

85. Athanasius VIII, 1200; 

86. Michael II, 1207; 

87. John X, 1208; 

88. Ignatius III, 1223; 

89. Dionysius VII, 1253; 

90. John XI, 1253; 

91. Ignatius IV, 1264; 

92. Philanus, 1283; 

93. Ignatius Baruhid, 1293; 

94. Ignatius Ismael, 1333; 

95. Ignatius Basilius III, 1366;

96. Ignatius Abraham II, 1382; 

97. Ignatius Bacalius IV, 1412; 

98. Ignatius Behanam I, 1415; 

99. Ignatius Kalejih, 1455; 

100. Ignatius John XII, 1483; 

101. Ignatius Noah, 1492; 

102. Ignatius Jesus I, 1509; 

103. Ignatius Jacob I, 1510; 

104. Ignatius David I, 1519; 

105. Ignatius Abdullah I, 1520; 

106. Ignatius Naamathalak, 1557; 

107. Ignatius David II, 1577; 

108. Ignatius Philathus, 1591; 

109. Ignatius Abdullah II, 1597; 

110. Ignatius Cadhai, 1598; 

111. Ignatius Simeon, 1640; 

112. Ignatius Jesus II, 1661; 

113. Ignatius Messiah, 1661; 

114. Ignatius Cabeeb, 1686; 

115. Ignatius Gervasius II, 1687; 

116. Ignatius Isaac, 1708; 

117. Ignatius Siccarablak, 1722; 

118. Ignatius Gervasius III, 1746; 

119. Ignatius Gervasius IV, 1768; 

120. Ignatius Mathias, 1781; 

121. Ignatius Behanam, 1810; 

122. Ignatius Jonas, 1817; 

123. Ignatius Gervasius V, 1818; 

124. Ignatius Elias II, 1839; 

125. Ignatius Jacob II, 1847; 

126. Mar Ignatius Peter III, 1872. 

127. Paulose Mar Athanasius (Kadavil Kooran) was consecrated on December 4, 1907 by Mar Ignatius 

Peter III as Syrian Antioch Bishop of Kottayam and Metropolitan of Malabar (India). 

128. Mar Julius I (Antonio Francis Xavier Alvares) was consecrated July 28, 1889, by Paulose Mar 

Athanasius, under authority of Patriarch Ignatius Peter III to be Archbishop of the Latin Rite 

Independent Catholic Church of Ceylon, Goa and India. 

129. Joseph Rene Vilatte was consecrated on May 29, 1892 in Columba, Ceylon at Our Lady of Good 

Death Cathedral by Mar Julius I, under authority of a Bull of Mar Ignatius Peter III, to serve as 

Archbishop of North America. 

130. Fredrick E. Lloyd, 1915; 

131. Samuel Gregory Lines, 1923 

132. Howard Ellsworth Mather (1933) 

133. Joseph (Mar Narsai) Vredenburgh (1963) 

134. John-Noel Murray (1986) 

135. Thomas Clary (1994) 

136. Carl Gregory William Purvenas-Smith 

137. Anthony Hash (1995) 

138. Michael Carroll (2003) 

139. Franciscus-Mariae (2004) 

140. Michael Vincent Seneco (2006)

The Primary Apostolic Succession from 

The Syrian-Malankarese (African Orthodox) Church 

Believing that Blacks should have a Church of their own, a PECUSA priest (the Rev'd Dr. George Alexander 

McGuire, an immigrant from the West Indies), withdrew from that jurisdiction to establish independent Black 

congregations in the United States. This new movement was first called the Independent Episcopal Church, 

but a few years later (on 2 September 1921) in The Church of the Good Shepherd in New York City the 

name was changed to "The African Orthodox Church." This meeting became the first General Synod of 

the new jurisdiction, which also elected Fr. McGuire as its first Bishop. 

Negotiations were immediately initiated with The Russian Orthodox Church in America in order to obtain 

valid Apostolic Orders for the newly elected Bishop. With the uncanonical actions of other national Orthodox 

groups in the United States, taking advantage of the confusion and disorganization caused by the 

Communist Revolution in Russia, the Russians were hesitant to assist the formation of yet another 

"independent" jurisdiction. They made it clear that they were willing to talk, but in the end they intended to 

fully control this Black jurisdiction. 

Such an arrangement was totally unacceptable to Fr. McGuire and the other leaders of this new jurisdiction. 

Other Orthodox groups in the U.S.A. expressed the same willingness and intent as the Russians, however. 

The African Orthodox Church finally entered into negotiations with Archbishop Joseph Rene Vilatte and 

The American Catholic Church. 

Bishop-elect George Alexander McGuire was finally consecrated on 28 September 1921 by Archbishop 

Vilatte (who took his episcopal orders from the West Syrian Church of Antioch) and Bishop Carl A. Nybladh 

(of The Swedish Orthodox Church) in The Church of Our Lady of Good Death in Chicago, Illinois. 

The African Orthodox Church lays strong emphasis upon the Apostolic Succession, a valid priesthood and 

upon the historic Mysteries and Rites of The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It holds the original 

seven Sacraments of the Western Church; its worship is a blending of Western and Eastern liturgies and it 

espouses the three traditional and historic Catholic Creeds (i.e., Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian).. 

Polity is, of course, episcopal; bishops are in charge of dioceses or jurisdictions. Groups of dioceses form a 

Province, which is led by an Archbishop. The Primate Archbishop Metropolitan is general overseer of all the 

work of the Church, which now extends over the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Union of 

South Africa. All baptized are considered members of the Church. 

SYRIAN – MALANKARESE (AFRICAN ORTHODOX) SUCCESSION 

1. Peter, 38; 

2. Evodus 40; 


4. Aaron, 123; 


6. Eodos, 142; 





11. Philip, 201; 


13. Babylos, 237; 

14. Fabius, 250; 


16. Paul I, 259; 

17. Domnus I, 270; 


19. Cyrilus, 281; 

20. Tyrantus, 296;









29. John I, 428; 



32. Maximus, 450; 

33. Accacius, 454; 


35. Peter II, 464; 



38. Segius, 544; 




42. Paul II, 567; 

43. Patra, 571; 




47. John II, 636; 


49. Severus, 668; 



52. Elias I, 709; 




56. Joseph, 790; 



59. John III, 847; 




63. John IV, 910; 

64. Basilus I, 922; 

65. John V, 936; 



68. Abraham I, 962; 

69. John VI, 965, 


71. John VII, 1004; 




75. John VIII, 1064; 


77. Abdoone, 1076; 



80. Dionysius VI, 1088; 


82. John IX, 1131;


84. Michael I, 1167; 



87. John X, 1208; 



90. John XI, 1253; 





95. Ignatius Basilius III, 1366; 





































129. Mar Timotheus I (Joseph Rene Vilatte, 1854-1929), Archbishop-Exarch of North America for The 

American Catholic Church, assisted by Bishop Carl A. Nybladh of The Swedish Orthodox Church, 


130. Bishop George Alexander McGuire (03/26/1866 - 11/10/1934) as Bishop of The African Orthodox 

Church in The Church of Our Lady of Good Death in Chicago, Illinois. Bp. McGuire became Primate in 1924 

and took the title of Patriarch Alexander I. Bishop McGuire, assisted by Bp. Frederick Ebenezer John Lloyd 

(Primate of The American Catholic Church), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

131. Bishop William Ernest James Robertson (02/29/1875 - 1962) as Bishop of The African Orthodox 

Church in The Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd in New York City on 18 November 1923. Bp. 

Robertson became Primate of The African Orthodox Church in 1934 and took the title of Mar James I. 

Bishop Robertson, assisted by Abp. Richard Grant Robinson (Abp. of Philadelphia), Bp. Clement John Cyril 

Sherwood, Bp. Collins Gordon Wolcott, and four other Bishops, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

132. Bishop William Russell Miller (03/02/1900 - ?) as Bishop of The African Orthodox Church on 6 

August 1950 and as African Orthodox Rector in Brooklyn, N.Y. Bp. Miller became Primate of The African 

Orthodox Church in 1976. Ptr. Miller, assisted by Bp. George. Duncan Hinkson, consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

133. Bishop Richard Thomas McFarland as Bishop of The African Orthodox Church on 31 October 

1976. Bp. McFarland, assisted by Bp. Leonard J. Curreri (Tridentine Catholic Church), consecrated to the 


134. Bishop Peter Paul Brennan as Bishop in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church, Long Island, N.Y. on 

10 June 1978. Bp. Brennan, assisting Bp. Patrick J. Callahan, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

135. Bishop Howard D. van Orden (1938 - ) as Bishop of The Western Rite Orthodox Catholic Church of 

Jesus in St. Stephen's Orthodox Catholic Church of Savannah, Georgia, on 14 October 1984. Bp. van 

Orden was consecrated sub conditione for The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas 

on 10 December 1988 by Abp. Francisco de Jesus Pagtakhan (Archbishop Secretary for Missions, 

Ecumenical Relations and Foreign Affairs), assisted by Abp. Paul Schultz, Bp. Christopher Rogers, and Bp. 

Carroll Lowery. Bishop van Orden consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

136. Bishop Karl Julius Barwin (10/16/43 - ) as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on The 

Feast of Saint Addai and Saint Mari (5 August) 1989, in The Chapel of The Holy Guardian Angels in 

Glendale, California, assisting Archbishop Bertil Persson (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Archbishop 

Emile Federico Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Bishop Carroll T. 

Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), and Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate 

Ordinariate of Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America), each assisting, coöperating and coconsecrating 

by laying on hands and uttering all the words of consecration. Assisting as Co-Consecrators 

were Archbishop Paul Christian Gerald W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles, Administrator of The 

Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas, and Apostolic Administrator of the U.S.A. for The 

Apostolic Episcopal Church), Bishop Eric T. Ong Veloso (Orthodox Catholic Church in The Philippines), 

Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), and Exarch 

Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church). Bishop Karl J. Barwin did consecrated to the 

episcopate on May 12, 1990 

137. George Augustus Stallings, Jr. - Patriarch and Archbishop of the African American Catholic 

Congregation, who consecrated 

138. Carlos Enrique Harvin - Bishop in 1996 for the African American Catholic Congregation. Bishop 

Harvin consecrated on January 18, 2004 

139. Franciscus-Mariae of the Blessed Sacrament, S.F.I. - Presiding Bishop and Exarch of the Apostolic 



Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA – Archbishop & Protector of The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus.

SUCCESSION II 

129. Peter, 38; 

130. Evodus 40; 


132. Aaron, 123; 


134. Eodos, 142; 





139. Philip, 201; 


141. Babylos, 237; 

142. Fabius, 250; 


144. Paul I, 259; 

145. Domnus I, 270; 


147. Cyrilus, 281; 










157. John I, 428; 


159. Domnus II, 442; 

160. Maximus, 450; 



163. Peter II, 464; 



166. Segius, 544; 



169. Gregory I, 564; 

170. Paul II, 567; 

171. Patra, 571; 

172. Domnus IV, 586; 



175. John II, 636; 


177. Severus, 668; 



180. Elias I, 709; 


182. Evanius I, 740; 


184. Joseph, 790; 



187. John III, 847;




191. John IV, 910; 

192. Basilus I, 922; 

193. John V, 936; 



196. Abraham I, 962; 

197. John VI, 965, 


199. John VII, 1004; 




203. John VIII, 1064; 


205. Abdoone, 1076; 





210. John IX, 1131; 


212. Michael I, 1167; 


214. Michael II, 1207; 

215. John X, 1208; 



218. John XI, 1253; 


220. Philanus, 1283; 





























249. Ignatius Behanam, 1810;











257. Mar Timotheus I (Joseph Rene Vilatte, 1854-1929), Archbishop-Exarch of North America for The 

American Catholic Church, assisted by Bishop Carl A. Nybladh of The Swedish Orthodox 

Church, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

258. Samuel G. Lines 1923 

131. Howard Ellsworth Mather (1933) 

132. Joseph (Mar Narsai) Vredenburgh (1963) 

133. John-Noel Murray (1986) 

134. Thomas Clary (1994) 

135. Carl Gregory William Purvenas-Smith 

136. Anthony Hash (1995) 

137. Michael Carroll (2003) 

138. Franciscus-Mariae (2004) 

139. Michael Vincent Seneco (2006)

AN HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON THE SUCCESSIONS DERIVED 

THROUGH ARCHBISHOP HERMAN ADRIAN SPRUIT 

In 1944 and 1945 there were a series of Codicil and Concordat's leading to the formation of the Federation 

of Independent Catholic and Orthodox Bishops. The first of these united the major lines of Archbishop 

Lowell Paul Wadle (American Catholic Church +Vilatte succession), Patriarch Anthony Aneed (Byzantine 

Catholic Church-Greek Melchite succession) and Bishop Verostek (Bishop Commissary for the American 

Old Roman Catholic Church) 

In 1945 the first codicil to the American Concordat was made adding the lines of Bishop Charles Hampton, 

Regionary Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church (USA) and Archbishop Henry Joseph Kleefisch of the 

Byzantine Universal Orthodox Church who held the Primacy of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

These agreements made sure each member of FICOB held the same lines of apostolic succession with right 

of survivorship in case of untimely death or disablement thus insuring untainted lines of primacy. It was 

agreed that no Primate would raise anyone to the episcopate without all members of FICOB agreeing on the 

qualifications of the candidate. 

In 1957 Herman Adrian Spruit was consecrated a bishop for the first Church Universal by Bishops Charles 

Hampton, Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle and Bishop H. Francis Marshall. 

Archbishop Kleefisch had passed away in 1955 leaving his primacy to Archbishop-Patriarch Anthony Aneed. 

Bishop Verostek while very active during the mid 1940's later left the organization and continued to 

consecrate bishops outside of the Federation. 

Archbishop Herman Spruit became the President of the Federation of Independent Catholic and Orthodox 

Bishops as his jurisdiction had with time become the largest and most viable of the membership. 

On June 27, 1965 Archbishop Robert Raleigh (Boyle) and Archbishop Herman Spruit imposed hands on 

each other in a specific ceremony for the purpose of uniting their respective jurisdictions. +Herman was 

named coadjutor to the primacies held by Archbishop Robert Raleigh and became his successor. +Robert 

Raleigh had consecrated Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle and held the primacy of the Apostolic Christian 

Church. He had also obtained the direct line of succession of Archbishop Samuel Gregory Lines in 1927 

when they joined forces to form the Apostolic Christian Church and Archbishop Lines had been consecrated 

by +Vilatte. Archbishop Robert Raleigh retired in 1965 shortly after naming Archbishop Herman A. Spruit his 

successor. 

Upon the untimely death of Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle no successor had been appointed. The American 

Catholic Church was for a time headed by a Priest and later turned over to H. Francis Marshall by the 

claimants. Archbishop Herman Spruit elected not to get involved knowing the wreckage of many jurisdictions 

historically have caused nothing but bitterness and strife leaving nothing in their wake but antagonists. 

Upon the death of Patriarch Anthony Aneed in 1970, the primacy of the Byzantine Catholic Church passed 

to Archbishop Herman A. Spruit. Within this jurisdiction were two major primacies. +Aneed's which included 

the Greek Melchite lineage and +Kleefisch, which included the primacy of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Since Patriarch Aneed was enthroned Patriarch in 1946 the title of Patriarch then passed to +Herman by the 

last will and testament of +Anthony Aneed. Many wonderful artifacts, +Aneed's crozier and records became 

the property of the Church of Antioch. 


The Mariavite Catholic Church of Poland 

Bishop Johann Michael Kowalski was consecrated in Utrecht, Holland, on 5 October 1909 as Bishop for 

the Polish Catholic Church of the Mariavites. Bishop Kowalski consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Marc Marie (Paul Fatome) on 4 September 1938 as Regionary Bishop for France. Bishop Marc 

Marie consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Paulus (Helmut Norbert Maas) on 6 October 1949 as Bishop of the Mariavite Catholic Church in 

Germany (Katholische Kirche der Mariaviten in Deutschland). Bishop Paulus consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop Efrem Maria Mauro Fusi on 24 May 1953 as Bishop for The Mariavite Catholic Church in Italy 

(Chiesa Cattolica Mariavita). Bishop Fusi consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Bishop Clement Alfio Sgroi Marchese on 26 May 1954 as Bishop of Sicily for The Mariavite Catholic 

Church in Italy. Bishop Marchese consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Georgius (Hugh George de Willmott Newman) on 18 September 1954 as Patriarch of Glastonbury (and 

the 6th British Orthodox Patriarch). 

Mar Georgius consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Wallace David de Ortega Maxey 


Herman Adrian Spruit 


Frank Ellsworth Hughes 


Martha Theresa Mohring Shultz 


Judy Catherine Adams 


Anthony F. Hash 

Who consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate in 2003 

Michael Carroll, OSP 






The Society of Pope Saint Anaceltus


The Syrian Church 

(Church of the East) 

The Church of the East also known as The Syrian Church, The East Syrian Church, or The Church of 

Assyria, claims Apostolic origins. She traces Her existence back to a small Christian community founded by 

the Apostles Peter, Thomas, and Bartholomew, as well as St. Addai and St. Mari of The Seventy, at Edessa 

(Urfa) during the first century after Christ. Although Her list of Bishops, with their years of service to The 

Church, is even more difficult to verify than that of The Church of Rome, Her tradition of Apostolic 

Succession has never been challenged. 

The Church of the East enjoyed a limited measure of tolerance during the first few centuries after Christ 

under Persian rule. This was due primarily to the Persian's endemic and inveterate hatred of the Romans 

and the persecution of the Christian religion in The Roman Empire. 

About 280 A.D., Mar ("Lord", Abouna, Episkopos, Bishop) Papa organized The Church into a 

Metropolitanate centered around the city of Seleucia, which is about thirty miles from modern-day Baghdad. 

After the conversion of Emperor Constantine of Rome to Christianity, however, the loyalty of Persian 

Christians became suspect. For almost one hundred years (c. 330 - 440 A.D.) Christians in the Persian 

Empire suffered under intermittent persecution. One of the blessed martyrs, in fact, was The Catholicos (the 

designation for The Metropolitan of Seleucia-Ctesiphon after 280 A.D.), Shimun bar Sabbai. In the fifth 

century The Catholicos took the title of Catholicos-Patriarch of the East. The persecution of Christianity in 

the fourth and fifth centuries scattered the members of The Church across all of Asia; they brought their 

Church with them. The Church grew rapidly during these centuries, reaching Her peak of cultural 

development and influence during the reign of Catholicos-Patriarch Yabhalaha III (1283 - 1318 A.D.). The 

Church's members and missionaries by this time had carried The Church of the East across all of Asia, 

from Arabia to Ceylon, Burma, India, Thailand, Indochina and into China itself. The Assyrian Church seemed 

destined to become the sole source of Christian instruction for the oriental world. The rise of the Mongols, 

however, slowed this missionary effort, and nearly destroyed The Church. 

By the mid-fifteenth century, the core of The Assyrian Church had sought refuge in the mountains of 

Kurdistan and Azerbaijan. Political developments about this time made communication between The 

Metropolitan of Malabar, a major center of The Church, and The Catholicos-Patriarch of The East 

impossible. This eventually resulted in the conversion of the Malabar members of The Church of the East 

to The Church of Rome or to the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The sack of Baghdad was followed by 

the widespread destruction of Church property and buildings, and the wholesale slaughter of Church 

leaders. This led, of necessity, to the election (with Shim'un V or VI) of the nephew of the previous Patriarch. 

The Patriarch had been raised in his uncle's house, trained from birth for the high position to which he was 

now elected. The Patriarchate now became hereditary in the bar Mama family, with succession passing from 

uncle to nephew or sometimes to brother. After the crisis subsided, upon the death of Ishu'yabh Shim'un VIII 

in 1551 A.D. (about one hundred years after the establishment of the hereditary Patriarchate) a significant 

faction of Bishops and secular leaders attempted to restore the ancient electoral process. They chose a 

monk to be the new Catholicos-Patriarch, Sa'ud bar Dani'il, whose religious name was Yukhannan Sulaqa. 

Dinkha Shim'un bar Mama, however, was named by his family as successor to his uncle, Ishu'yabh. Thus 

The Church was split into two factions: The Church of the East and what later came to be known as The 

Chaldean Catholic Church. To complicate matters, Sulaqa immediately sought legitimacy from Rome; 

Pope Julius III ratified his election and bestowed upon him the official title of Patriarch of The Chaldeans. 

Seeking to unify The Church once again, Shim'un bar Mama engineered the arrest and subsequent 

execution of his rival, Sulaqa, in 1555 A.D. The dissident faction, however, elected 'Abdishu' Marun as 

Yukhannan Sulaqa's successor. 

Shim'un bar Mama died in 1558 A.D. His successor, Iliya Shim'un Dinkha, started the tradition of giving each 

Patriarch the same name. The rival Catholicos-Patriarch, 'Abdishu' Marun, died in 1567 A.D. (or 1571 A.D.), 

and was succeeded after some delay by Yabhalaha IV (also called Yabhalaha Shim'un).

A large faction of The Church headed by Iliya Shim'un Dinkha, led by The Metropolitan of Gelu (who was 

also called Dinkha Shim'un), rejected the authority of the bar Mama family, and submitted to Yabhalaha 

Shim'un, the rival Catholicos-Patriarch. On the latter's death in 1580 A.D., The Metropolitan of Gelu was 

rewarded by being elected his successor, the first Patriarch of the Shim'un family. Thus was established the 

second hereditary line of Patriarchs within The Church of the East. 

Through political pressure the rival Shim'uns were forced to move their See to the mountains of Kurdistan. 

Throughout the next three hundred years The Catholicos of the Shim'un family and their Church remained 

isolated from outside contact, even losing contact with Rome. The last hereditary Catholicos, Ishai Shim'un 

XXIII, succeeded in 1920 A.D. at the age of twelve. In 1933 A.D., after his return to Iraq from his English 

school, he attempted to restore the old civil authority of the patriarchate. His supporters took up arms and, in 

an unfortunate series of events, were massacred by government soldiers. Shim'un spent the rest of his life in 

exile, much of it in San Francisco, California, USA. He resigned his office in 1973 A.D., without any obvious 

successor. The Church was thrown into turmoil. Church leaders from Iraq pleaded with The Patriarch to 

renounce his resignation--at least until some provisions for the succession could be made. Shim'un agreed 

to return for a six-month period, at which point a Synod of three bishops was appointed to govern The 

Church during the interregnum. When Shim'un was murdered two years later (November of 1975 A.D.), the 

Bishops agreed to restore the ancient electoral process. A new Patriarch, Mar Dinkha IV, was chosen in 

October of 1976 A.D. at a special meeting of Church leaders in London, England. The official language of 

The Church is Syriac. The first freely-elected Patriarch in centuries, whose official title is Catholicos- 

Patriarch of the Church of the East, resided in Chicago, Illinois. 

In 1586 A.D., in contrast to the isolation of the Shim'uns, the bar Mama family began exchanging letters with 

The Patriarch of Rome. They formally submitted to papal authority in 1616 A.D. at Dyarbekir. This 

submission came to end by 1669 A.D.. The Metropolitan of Dyarbekir, Yusip, subsequently withdrew his 

allegiance from both factions of The Church (in 1672 A.D.) and fled to Rome in 1675 A.D. There he was 

granted the title of Patriarch by Pope Innocent XI in 1681 A.D. There were now three Assyrian Patriarchs. 

Yusip's successor, Yusip II (or III) was given the title Patriarch of Babylon in 1701 A.D. On the death of 

Yusip IV in 1779 A.D., the Patriarch's nephew was able to succeed his uncle as Metropolitan of Dyarbekir 

but not as Patriarch (only as Apostolic Administrator). Rome never granted him official recognition as 

Patriarch. 

Iliya XIII bar Mama died in 1804 A.D. No successor was elected; a Roman Catholic cousin of the last 

Patriarch, Yukhannan Khurmiz, tried to claim the patriarchate and even sought official recognition from The 

Pope. With two Papal claimants to two different patriarchal thrones, The Roman Church declined to 

recognize either until the death of Yusip (V) in 1828 A.D. Khurmiz was thereupon acknowledged as 

Patriarch of Babylon of The Chaldeans in 1830 A.D. To forestall the possibility of the re-establishment of 

an hereditary patriarchate, a co-adjutor Patriarch with the right of succession was appointed in 1838 A.D. 

This Uniate Chaldean Church nearly broke with Rome again in 1869 A.D. over the imposition by The Pope 

of the Bull Reversurus, which deprived The Patriarch of his prerogative to select and consecrate Chaldean 

bishops. Patriarch Yusip VI was threatened with excommunication in 1876 A.D., but managed to smooth 

over his difficulties with Rome before his death two years later. The official language of The Church is 

Syriac. The Patriarch resides at Baghdad, Iraq. 

The Church of the East recognizes only the Öcumenical Councils of Nicaea (325 A.D.) and Constantinople 

(381 A.D.), although they do teach that from the moment of His conception Our Lord was both perfect man 

and perfect God. The Church rejects the title Mother of God for The Blessed Virgin Mary and insists upon 

Mother of Christ instead. 

The doctrine of Apostolic Succession is rigorously adhered to; She teaches that apart from the apostolic 

succession "there are no sacraments, no Church, and no operation of The Holy Spirit" (Mar O'dishoo). 

Holy Baptism is administered by triple immersion, usually forty days after birth, and immediately followed by 

Chrismation and First Holy Communion. In the Mystery of Holy Communion, The Church teaches that the 

leavened bread and the fermented wine are changed into The Body and Blood of Christ our God. The 

sacrifice of The Mass is identical with that of The Cross of Calvary, and not a repetition of it. Communicants 

both fast before participating in Holy Communion as well as drink The Precious Blood directly from The 

Chalice.

A strong tradition with The Church of the East is that St. Addai and St. Mari brought with them a portion of 

the original Bread consecrated by Jesus in the Upper Room at The Last Supper. The bread made for use in 

the Sacrament of Holy Communion is leavened with a part of the loaf consecrated at a previous celebration; 

thus each celebration of The Holy Eucharist in The Church of the East today is seen as a continuous 

material succession with the first Eucharist celebrated by Jesus in Jerusalem. 

The Eucharistic Liturgy is the fourth-century Rite named after two of the traditional founders of The Church, 

St. Addai and St. Mari, and attributed to St. James of Jerusalem, the brother of The Lord. 


The Church of The East through 

The Patriarchate of Selucia-Ctesiphen & All The East 

Tooma Shlikha (St. Thomas) 

who after establishing Church in Mesopotamia, Persia and their environment, went to India (AD 3-7 and then 

consecrated 

Bar Tulmay A.D. 33 

Who then consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate 

Addai (or Taddai) Shlikha 33-45 


Agai, disciple of Addai (of the Seventy) 45-81 


Mari, disciple of Addai (of the Seventy) 48-81 


Abris, relative of the Virgin Mary 90-107 


Oraham I, of Kashkar 130-152 


Yacob 1, relative of Yosip the Carpenter 172-190 


Ebid M’shikha 


Akhu d’Awu 


Shakhlupa of Kashkar 


Papa Bar Gaggai 


Shimun Bar Sabbai 


Shahdost 


Bar Bashmin 

Who then consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate

Tumarsa 


Qaiyuma 


Eskhaq 


Akhkhi 


Yoalaha I 


Maana 


Qarabukht 


Dadishu 


Bawai or Babu 


Aqaq 


Bawai 


Sheela 


Narsai 


Elisha (dual Patriarchate) 


Polos 


Yosip 


Khazqiyil 


Eshuyow I, Arzunaya 


Sorishu I Garmaqaya 


Greghor, Partaya 


Eshuyow II (Gdalaya or Arab) 


Mar Immeh 


Eshuyow III, Kdayawaya 


Gewargis I 


Yokhannan I, Bar Marta 


Khnaishu I 


Yokhannan II, Garba 


Sliwazkha 


Pethyon 


Awa 


Surin 


Yacob II 


Khnanishu 


Timotheus I 


Eshu-barnon 


Gewargis II 


Soreshu II 


Oraham II, Margaya 


Teadasis (or Theodoros) 


Sargis, Suwaya 


Annush d’beth Garmay 


Yokhannan III, Bar Narsay 


Yokhannan IV, (nephew of Theodoros) 


Yokhannan V, Bar Ogare 


Oraham III, Abraza 


Ammanoel I 


Esrail Karkhaya 


Odishu Garmaqaya 


Mari Aturaya 


Yokhannan VI (Yoannis) 


Yokhannan VII (Bar Nazuk) 


Eshuyow IV 


Elia I (Terhan) 


Yokhannan VIII (Bar Tragala) 


Soreshu III (Bar Zanbur) 


Odishu II (Bar Ars) Aturaya 


Makkikha I (Bar Shlemon) 


Elia II (Bar Maqli) 


Bar Soma (Of Suwa) 


Bar Gabbara 


Odishu III (Nephew of Elia II) 


Eshuyow V (from Beth Zodai, Baladaya) 


Elia III (Abukhalim) 


Yoalaha II (Bar Qaiyuma) 


Sorishu IV 


Sorishu V (from Baghdad) 


Makkikha II 


Dinkha I (Arbilaya, i.e., from Arbil) 


Yoalaha III (Bar Turkaye -Turkish by race) 


Timotheus II (Arbilaya, I. e. from Arbil) 


Dinkha II 


Dinkha III 


Shimun II 


Shimun III 


Elia III 


Shimun IV 


Shimun V 


Elia V 


Shimun VI 


Eshuyow Shimun VII 


Dinkha Shimun VIII (Bar Mama) 


Yoalaha Shimun 


Dinkha Shimun IX 


Elia Shimun X 


Eshuyow Shimun XI 


Yoalaha Shimun XII 


Dinkha Shimun XIII 


Shlemon (Sulaiman) Shimun XIV 


Mikhail (Mukhattis) Shimun XV 


Yonan (Yuna) Shimun XVII 


Oraharn Shimun XIX 


Maran Mar Rubil Shimun XVIII, Catholicos-Patriarch of Selucia-Ctesphen & All The East, consecrated to 


Mar Antonius Abd-Ishu (Anthony Thondatta) as Metropolitan of India, Ceylon, Milapur, Socotra and 

Messina in The Holy Church of Mar Saba in Upper Tiari, on 17 December 1862 A.D. Mar Abd-Ishu, assisted 

by Mar Augustine (Michael Augustine) of The Syro-Chaldean Church, consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Mar Basilius (Luis Mariano Soares) as Bishop of Trichur on 24 July 1899 A.D. and head of a small body of 

Indian Christians known as Mellusians; he succeeded to the Metropolitanate upon Mar Abd-Ishu's death in 

1900 A.D. Mar Basilius consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Jacobus (Ulric Vernon Herford) as Bishop for the United Kingdom and with the Title of Mar Jacobus, 

Bishop of Mercia & Meddelesex (including the county of London) at Palithamm, near Kaliarkoli, Madura 

District, South India, on 30 November 1902 A.D. Upon his return to England, Mar Jacobus founded The 

Evangelical Catholic Communion with the hope of uniting East and West. Mar Jacobus consecrated to the 


Mar Paulus (William Stanley McBean Knight) as Bishop of Kent on 28 February 1925 A.D. Mar Paulus 


Mar Hedley (Hedley Coward Bartlett) as Bishop of Siluria on 18 October 1931 A.D. Mar Hedley consecrated 

sub conditioned to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Georgius (Hugh George de Willmott-Newman) as Metropolitan of Glastonbury on 20 May 1945 A.D., 

assisted by Bishop John Syer (Bishop of Llanthony), Mar Francis (Francis Ernest Langhelt, Bishop of 

Minster) and Bishop George Henry Brook (Order of Rievaulx). Mar Georgius consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Mar Benignus (Richard Kenneth Hurgon) as Titular Bishop of Mere (Somerset) on 22 April 1946 A.D., 

assisted by Mar Leofric (Charles Leslie Saul, Archbishop-Exarch of The Catholicate of the West), Mar David 

(Francis David Bacon, Bishop of The Catholicate of the West), and Mar Johannus (William John Eaton 

Jeffrey, General Moderator of The Evangelical Catholic Communion and Bishop of The Catholicate of the 

West). Mar Benignus consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Alexander (Nils Bertil Alexander Persson) on 7 December 1985 A.D., assisted by Bishop Ian Kirk- 

Stewart (Reformed Catholic Church). Mar Alexander consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Karl (Karl Julius Barwin) as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on 5 August 1989 A.D., 

assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica 

Mexicana), Bishop Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The 

Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America) and Archbishop Howard 

D. van Orden (Order of St. Jude), each assisting, coöperating and co-consecrating by laying on hands and 

uttering all the words of consecration. Assisting in this consecration as Co-Consecrators were Archbishop 

Paul Christian Gerald W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles and Administrator of The Philippine 

Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso, Orthodox Catholic 

Church in The Philippines), Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, The Philippine 

Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), and Bishop Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old 

Catholic Church). Bishop Karl J. Barwin did consecrated to the episcopate on May 12, 1990 











The Patriarchate of Babylonia of The Chaldeans 

SUCCESSION II 

Maran Man Yusip 'Ummanu'il II Thoma (Yosif Khayatt), Catholicos-Patriarch of Babylonia of The 

Chaldeans, who was consecrated 24 July 1892 A.D. by Maran Mar Petros Elias XIV Abu-Al-Yunan 

(Patriarch 1878-1894 A.D.), assisted by the Bishop of Salmas & Patriarchal Vicar Pierre Aziz, consecrated 

to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Antoine (Antoine Lefberne/Lefebvre) on 27 May 1917 A.D. as Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe 

and Delegate & Special Commissary in the U.S.A. Mar Antoine was a member of the Ordo Antonianus S. 

Hormisdae Chaldaeorum. Mar Antoine consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar John Emmanuel (Arthur Wolfort Brooks) on 4 May 1925 A.D. in The Chapel of The Redeemer in New 

York City, assisted by Mar James (Fernand Portal) and Mar Evodius (Edward Robert Smith), Bishops of The 

Chaldean Catholic Church. On 19 November 1930 A.D., Mar John Emmanuel became Presiding Bishop of 

The Apostolic Episcopal Church, which had been accepted in 1929 A.D. by The Armenian Patriarch of 

Jerusalem, Elisha I (Eghishe I Tourian). Mar John Emmanuel consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Mar David I (Wallace de Ortega Maxey) on 13 July 1946 A.D. at St. Michael Hellenic Orthodox Church 

"Taxiarchai" of The Holy Land as Archbishop of The Province of The West of The Apostolic Episcopal 

Church, assisted by Rev'd David Leondarides and Rev'd Stanatios Jongsoudis of The Greek Orthodox 

Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Mar David became Archbishop-Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church in 

1948. Mar David I consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate:

Mar Alexander (Nils Bertil Alexander Persson) and enthroned him as the Third Archbishop-Primate of The 

Apostolic Episcopal Church on 7 November 1986 A.D., assisted by Archbishop-Primate Juergen Bless (The 

German Old Catholic Church in America), Archbishop-Primate Emile Rodriguez y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa 

Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Archbishop-Primate Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of 

Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America), Bishop Daniel N. McCarty (The Apostolic Catholic 

Church of the Americas), Archbishop-Primate Robert Ronald Ramm (The Ancient Christian Fellowship) and 

Archbishop Paul G. W. Schultz (Iglesia Ortodoxa Apostolica Mexicana and Apostolic Administrator of The 

Province of The West of The Apostolic Episcopal Church). Mar Alexander consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Bishop Karl (Karl Julius Barwin) as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on 5 August 1989 A.D., 

assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica 

Mexicana), Bishop Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The 

Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America) and Archbishop Howard 

D. van Orden (Order of St. Jude), each assisting, coöperating and co-consecrating by laying on hands and 

uttering all the words of consecration. Assisting as Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Paul Christian Gerald 

W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles and Administrator of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in 

The Americas), Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso, Orthodox Catholic Church in The Philippines), Bishop 

Christopher J. Rogers (Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in 

The Americas), and Bishop Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church). Bishop Karl J. Barwin 

did consecrated to the episcopate on May 12, 1990 









SUCCESSION III 

Tooma Shlikha (St. Thomas) 

who after establishing Church in Mesopotamia, Persia and their environment, went to India (AD 3-7 and then 

consecrated 

Bar Tulmay A.D. 33 


Addai (or Taddai) Shlikha 33-45 


Agai, disciple of Addai (of the Seventy) 45-81 


Mari, disciple of Addai (of the Seventy) 48-81 


Abris, relative of the Virgin Mary 90-107 


Oraham I, of Kashkar 130-152 


Yacob 1, relative of Yosip the Carpenter 172-190 


Ebid M’shikha 


Akhu d’Awu 


Shakhlupa of Kashkar 


Papa Bar Gaggai 


Shimun Bar Sabbai 


Shahdost 


Bar Bashmin 


Tumarsa 


Qaiyuma 


Eskhaq 


Akhkhi 


Yoalaha I 


Maana 


Qarabukht 


Dadishu 


Bawai or Babu 


Aqaq 


Bawai 


Sheela 


Narsai 


Elisha (dual Patriarchate) 


Polos 


Yosip 


Khazqiyil 


Eshuyow I, Arzunaya 


Sorishu I Garmaqaya 


Greghor, Partaya 


Eshuyow II (Gdalaya or Arab) 


Mar Immeh 


Eshuyow III, Kdayawaya 


Gewargis I 


Yokhannan I, Bar Marta 


Khnaishu I 


Yokhannan II, Garba 


Sliwazkha 


Pethyon 


Awa 


Surin 


Yacob II 


Khnanishu 


Timotheus I 


Eshu-barnon 


Gewargis II 


Soreshu II 


Oraham II, Margaya 


Teadasis (or Theodoros) 


Sargis, Suwaya 


Annush d’beth Garmay 


Yokhannan III, Bar Narsay 


Yokhannan IV, (nephew of Theodoros) 


Yokhannan V, Bar Ogare 


Oraham III, Abraza 


Ammanoel I 


Esrail Karkhaya 


Odishu Garmaqaya 


Mari Aturaya 


Yokhannan VI (Yoannis) 


Yokhannan VII (Bar Nazuk) 


Eshuyow IV 


Elia I (Terhan) 


Yokhannan VIII (Bar Tragala) 


Soreshu III (Bar Zanbur) 


Odishu II (Bar Ars) Aturaya 


Makkikha I (Bar Shlemon) 


Elia II (Bar Maqli) 


Bar Soma (Of Suwa) 


Bar Gabbara 


Odishu III (Nephew of Elia II) 


Eshuyow V (from Beth Zodai, Baladaya) 


Elia III (Abukhalim) 


Yoalaha II (Bar Qaiyuma) 


Sorishu IV 


Sorishu V (from Baghdad) 


Makkikha II 


Dinkha I (Arbilaya, i.e., from Arbil) 


Yoalaha III (Bar Turkaye -Turkish by race) 


Timotheus II (Arbilaya, I. e. from Arbil) 


Dinkha II 


Dinkha III 


Shimun II 


Shimun III 


Elia III 


Shimun IV 


Shimun V 


Elia V 


Shimun VI 


Eshuyow Shimun VII 


Dinkha Shimun VIII (Bar Mama) 


Yoalaha Shimun 


Dinkha Shimun IX 


Elia Shimun X 


Eshuyow Shimun XI 


Yoalaha Shimun XII 


Dinkha Shimun XIII 


Shlemon (Sulaiman) Shimun XIV 


Mikhail (Mukhattis) Shimun XV 


Yonan (Yuna) Shimun XVII 


Oraharn Shimun XIX 


Maran Mar Rubil Shimun XVIII, Catholicos-Patriarch of Selucia-Ctesphen & All The East, consecrated to 


Mar Antonius Abd-Ishu (Anthony Thondatta) as Metropolitan of India, Ceylon, Milapur, Socotra and 

Messina in The Holy Church of Mar Saba in Upper Tiari, on 17 December 1862 A.D. Mar Abd-Ishu, assisted 

by Mar Augustine (Michael Augustine) of The Syro-Chaldean Church, consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Mar Basilius (Luis Mariano Soares) as Bishop of Trichur on 24 July 1899 A.D. and head of a small body of 

Indian Christians known as Mellusians; he succeeded to the Metropolitanate upon Mar Abd-Ishu's death in 

1900 A.D. Mar Basilius consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Mar Jacobus (Ulric Vernon Herford) as Bishop for the United Kingdom and with the Title of Mar Jacobus, 

Bishop of Mercia & Meddelesex (including the county of London) at Palithamm, near Kaliarkoli, Madura 

District, South India, on 30 November 1902 A.D. Upon his return to England, Mar Jacobus founded The 

Evangelical Catholic Communion with the hope of uniting East and West. Mar Jacobus consecrated to the 


Mar Paulus (William Stanley McBean Knight) as Bishop of Kent on 28 February 1925 A.D. Mar Paulus 


Mar Hedley (Hedley Coward Bartlett) as Bishop of Siluria on 18 October 1931 A.D. Mar Hedley consecrated 

sub conditioned to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Georgius (Hugh George de Willmott-Newman) as Metropolitan of Glastonbury on 20 May 1945 A.D., 

assisted by Bishop John Syer (Bishop of Llanthony), Mar Francis (Francis Ernest Langhelt, Bishop of 

Minster) and Bishop George Henry Brook (Order of Rievaulx). Mar Georgius consecrated to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Mar David I (Wallace David de Ortega Maxey) 





















The Patriarchate of Babylonia of The Chaldeans 

Maran Man Yusip 'Ummanu'il II Thoma (Yosif Khayatt), Catholicos-Patriarch of Babylonia of The 

Chaldeans, who was consecrated 24 July 1892 A.D. by Maran Mar Petros Elias XIV Abu-Al-Yunan 

(Patriarch 1878-1894 A.D.), assisted by the Bishop of Salmas & Patriarchal Vicar Pierre Aziz, consecrated 

to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar Antoine (Antoine Lefberne/Lefebvre) on 27 May 1917 A.D. as Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe 

and Delegate & Special Commissary in the U.S.A. Mar Antoine was a member of the Ordo Antonianus S. 

Hormisdae Chaldaeorum. Mar Antoine consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: 

Mar John Emmanuel (Arthur Wolfort Brooks) on 4 May 1925 A.D. in The Chapel of The Redeemer in New 

York City, assisted by Mar James (Fernand Portal) and Mar Evodius (Edward Robert Smith), Bishops of The 

Chaldean Catholic Church. On 19 November 1930 A.D., Mar John Emmanuel became Presiding Bishop of 

The Apostolic Episcopal Church, which had been accepted in 1929 A.D. by The Armenian Patriarch of 

Jerusalem, Elisha I (Eghishe I Tourian). Mar John Emmanuel consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred 

Episcopate: 

Mar David I (Wallace de Ortega Maxey) on 13 July 1946 A.D. at St. Michael Hellenic Orthodox Church 

"Taxiarchai" of The Holy Land as Archbishop of The Province of The West of The Apostolic Episcopal 

Church, assisted by Rev'd David Leondarides and Rev'd Stanatios Jongsoudis of The Greek Orthodox 

Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Mar David became Archbishop-Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church in 

1948. Who consecrated and raised to The Sacred Episcopate in 1957 



















The Order of Corporate Reunion 

At the direction of the Roman Catholic Hierarch at Milan, Italy, in the summer of 1877, a plan was initiated 

for the purpose of introducing Orders into a Pro-Uniate Movement within The Church of England which The 

Vatican would be compelled to recognize as valid. Roman Catholic Archbishop Luigi Nazari di Calabiana of 

Milan (consecrated 12 April 1847; Archbishop of Milan from 1867 - 1893), joined near the city of Venice, 

Italy, by two unnamed Bishops (Greek and Coptic, their names being kept under the confessional seal but 

their validity guaranteed by The Vatican), did consecrate three bishops in the summer of 1877 to the sacred 

episcopacy: 

Dr. Frederick George Lee (01/06/1832 - 01/22/02) as Bishop of Dorchester and Primate I of The Order of 

Corporate Reunion. 

Thomas Wimberley Mossman (1826 - 06/06/1885 ) as Bishop of Selby. 

Dr. John Thomas Seccombe (1835 - 1895 ) as Bishop of Caerleon. 

Bp. Lee, Bp. Mossman and Bp. Seccombe, assisting Mar Pelagius I (Patriarch Richard Williams Morgan, 

First British Patriarch of the Patriarchate of Antioch for the Ancient British Church, consecrated in 1874 by 

Mar Julius {Raimond Ferrette}, Bishop of Iona and Patriarchal Legate for Western Europe; at some time Bp. 

Morgan was also consecrated by Bp. Seccombe), consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 6 March 1879: 

Charles Isaac Stevens (1935 - 02/02/17) as Mar Theophilus I for The Order of Corporate Reunion; later 

Hierarch of Caerleon-on-Usk and Second Patriarch of The Ancient British Church. Mar Theophilus I, 

assisted by Bp. Alfred Spencer Richardson of The Reformed Episcopal Church, consecrated to the sacred 

episcopacy on 4 May 1890: 

Leon Chechemian (1848 - 1920) asMar Leon, Archbishop of Selsey for The Ancient British Church. Abp. 

Chechemian, assisted by Abp. James Martin, Bp. Frederick Boucher, and Bp. George W. L. Maaers, 

consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 2 November 1897: 

Andrew Charles Albert McLagen 1851 - 1928) as Colonial Missionary Bishop for Cape Colony and Titular 

Bishop of Claremont. In 1919 Bp. McLagen became the 4th Patriarch of The Ancient British Church. Ptr. 

McLagen consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 4 June 1922: 

Herbert James Monzani-Heard (1866 - 08/15/47) in St. Andrew's Church, Retreat Place, London, as Mar 

Jacobus II, Bishop of Selsey and Primate of The Ancient British Church and the United Armenian Catholic 

Church. Bp. Heard became the 5th Patriarch of The Ancient British Church/Free Protestant Episcopal 

Church in 1930. Ptr. Monzani-Heard consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 13 June 1943: 

William Bernard Crow (09/11/1895 - 06/28/76) as Mar Bernard, Bishop of Santa Sophia. On 17 October 

1943 at "The Council of London," Bp. Crow was elected by representatives of The Ancient British Church, 

British Orthodox Catholic Church, Apostolic Episcopal Church, Old Catholic Orthodox Church, Order of the 

Holy Wisdom, and Order of Antioch to the Patriarchal See of Antioch with the title of Mar Basilius Abdullah 

III. On 23 March 1944 the Ancient British Church, British Orthodox Catholic Church and the Old Catholic 

Orthodox Church banded together to form The Western Orthodox Catholic Church. Ptr. Mar Basilius 

Abdullah II consecrated to the sacred episcopacy on 10 April 1944: 

Hugh George de Willmott Newman 01/17/05 - 02/28/79) as Mar Georgius. On 29 January 1945 Mar 

Georgius became the 6th Patriarch of The Ancient British Church with the title Patriarch of Glastonbury. 

Who consecrated: 


Who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 1978












The Apostolic Society of Franciscan Communities Who consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate in 2006 


The Society of Pope Saint Anacletus 

The Russian Orthodox Succession 

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX SUCCESSION II 

1. St. Andrew – Apostle of Our Lord. Founded A.D. 38 

2. Stachys – One of the Seventy. A.D. 38-54 

3. Onesimos 54-68 

4. Polykarpos 69-89 

5. Ploutarchos 89-105 

6. Sedekion 105-114 

7. Diogenes 114-129 

8. Eleftherios 129-136 

9. Felix 136-141 

10. Polykarpos II 141-144 

11. Athenodoros 144-148 

12. Euzoios 148-154 

13. Laurentios 154-166 

14. Alypios 166-169 

15. Pertinax 169-187 

16. Olympianos 187-198 

17. Markos I 198-211 

18. Philadelphos 211-214 

19. Kyriakos I 214-230 

20. Kastinos 230-237 

21. Eugenios I 237-242 

22. Titos 242-272 

23. Dometios 272-303 

24. Roufinos 303 

25. Provos 303-315 

26. Metrophanes I 315-325 

27. Alexandros 325-340 

28. Paulos I, the Confessor 340-41, 342-34, 348-50 

29. Eusebios 341-342

30. Makedonios I 344-348, 350-360 

31. Eudoxios 360-369 

32. Demophilos 369-379 

33. Evagrios 379 

34. Maximos I 38 

35. Gregory the Theologian 379-381 

36. Nectarios 381-397 

37. John I, the Chrysostom 398-404 

38. Arsakios 404-405 

39. Attikos 406-425 

40. Sisinios I 425-427 

41. Nestorios 428-431 

42. Maximianos 431-434 

43. Proklos 434-447 

44. Flavianos 447-449 

45. Anatolios 449-458 

46. Gennadios I 458-471 

47. Akakios 471-489 

48. Favritas 489-490 

49. Euphemios 490-496 

50. Makedonios II 496-511 

51. Timotheos I 511-518 

52. John II – the Cappadocian 518-520 

53. Epiphanios 520-536 

54. Anthimos 5335-536 

55. Menas 536-552 

56. Eutychios I 552-565, 577-582 

57. John III 566-577 

58. Eutychios II 577-582 

59. John IV 582-595 

60. Kyriakos II 595-607 

61. Thomas I 607-610 

62. Serios I 610-638 

63. Pyrros 638-641, 652-654 

64. Paulos II 641-652 

65. Pyrros II (same person as Pyrros I above) 

66. Petros 652-664 

67. Thomas II 665-668 

68. John V 668-674 

69. Constantine I 674-676 

70. Theodoros I 676-678, 683-686 

71. Georgios I 678-683 

72. Paulos III 686-693 

73. Kallinikos I 693-705 

74. Kyros 705-711 

75. John VI 711-715 

76. Germanos I the Confessor 715-730 

77. Anastasios 730-751 

78. Constantine II 754-766 

79. Niketas the Slav 766-780 

80. Paulos IV 780-784 

81. Tarasios 784-806 

82. Nikephoros I 806-815 

83. Theodotos Melissenos 815-821 

84. Antonios I, Kasymatas 821-826 

85. John VIII the Grammatikos 826-842 

86. Methodios I the Confessor 842-846 

87. Prince Ignatios I 846-857, 867-878 

88. Photios I 857-867, 878-886 

89. Prince Stephanos I 886-893 

90. Antonios II, kavleas 893-895 

91. Nikolaos I, the Mystic 895-906, 911-925

92. Euthymios I 906-911 

93. Stephanos II 925-928 

94. Tryphon 928-931 

95. Theophylactos, Lakapenos 923-956 

96. Polyeuctos 956-970 

97. Vasilios I, Skamandrenos 970-974 

98. Antonios III, Skandalios 974-980 

99. Nikolaos II, Chrysoverges 984-995 

100. Michael the Syrian 990 

101. Leontius 993 

102. John 1015 

103. Theopemtus 1037 

104. Hilarion 1051 

105. George 1072 

106. John II 1080 

107. John III 1089 

108. Ephraim 1096 

109. Nicholas 1098 

110. Nicephorus 1108 

111. Nicetas 1124 

112. Michael II 1127 

113. Clement 1197 

114. Constantine 1136 

115. Theodore 1160 

116. John IV 1164 

117. Constantine II 1167 

118. Nicephorus II 1185 

119. Matthew 1201 

120. Kyrill I 1205 

121. Joseph 1240 

122. Kyrill II 1250 

123. maximus 1283 

124. Peter 1308 

125. Theognostes 1328 

126. Alexis 1353 

127. Cyprian 1380 

128. Photius 1410 

129. Isidore 1432 

130. Jonah 1448 

131. Theodosius 1462 

132. Philip I 1467 

133. Gerontius 1472 

134. Zosimus 1491 

135. Simon 1496 

136. Barlaam 1511 

137. Daniel 1522 

138. Joasaph 1539 

139. Macarius 1542 

140. Athanasius 1654 

141. Philip 1565 

142. Cyrill III 1568 

143. Anthony 1572 

144. Dionysius 1582 

145. Job 1587 

146. Hermogenes 1606 

147. Philaret 1620 

148. Joasaph I 1631 

149. Joseph 1642 

150. Nikon 1653 

151. Joasaph II 1667 

152. Pitirim 1672 

153. Joachim 1673

154. Adrian 1690 

155. Mar Stephen of Rostov 1701 

156. The Most Holy Synod 1721-1918 

157. Nikon, Patriarch of Moscow, The Most Holy Synod 

158. Macarius (Makarij) Meveskij 1884-1917 

159. Evdokim Basil Mikhailovich Meschersky 1903 

160. +Aftimos (Abdullah Ofiesh) 1917 

161. Ignatius (William Nichols) 1932 

162. Georgius (George W. Plummer) 1934 

163. Henry Joseph Kleefisch 1957 

164. Charles H. Hampton 

165. Lowell Wadle 

166. Herman A, Spruit 

167. Hughes 1978 

168. Mary Theresa Mohring Shultz 

169. Catherine Adams 1993 

170. Anthony F. Hash 1996 

171. Michael J. Carroll 2003 

172. Franciscus-Mariae of the Blessed Sacrament, SFI 

173. Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA 


The African Orthodox Church 

SYRIAN – MALANKARESE (AFRICAN ORTHODOX) SUCCESSION 

259. Peter, 38; 

260. Evodus 40; 


262. Aaron, 123; 


264. Eodos, 142; 





269. Philip, 201; 


271. Babylos, 237; 

272. Fabius, 250; 


274. Paul I, 259; 

275. Domnus I, 270; 


277. Cyrilus, 281; 










287. John I, 428; 


289. Domnus II, 442;

290. Maximus, 450; 



293. Peter II, 464; 



296. Segius, 544; 



299. Gregory I, 564; 

300. Paul II, 567; 

301. Patra, 571; 

302. Domnus IV, 586; 



305. John II, 636; 


307. Severus, 668; 



310. Elias I, 709; 


312. Evanius I, 740; 


314. Joseph, 790; 



317. John III, 847; 




321. John IV, 910; 

322. Basilus I, 922; 

323. John V, 936; 



326. Abraham I, 962; 

327. John VI, 965, 


329. John VII, 1004; 




333. John VIII, 1064; 


335. Abdoone, 1076; 





340. John IX, 1131; 


342. Michael I, 1167; 


344. Michael II, 1207; 

345. John X, 1208; 



348. John XI, 1253; 


350. Philanus, 1283; 

351. Ignatius Baruhid, 1293;







































387. Mar Timotheus I (Joseph Rene Villate) 1892 

388. Samuel G. Lines 1923 

389. Justin Joseph Andre Boyle 1927 

390. Wadle 1930 

391. Spruit 1957 

392. Hughes 1978 



395. Anthony Hash 

396. Michael Carroll 


398. Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA

The Johanine & Anglo-Roman Successions 

JOHANINE SUCCESSION – ROMAN-ANGLICAN SUCCESSION 

1. St. John the Evangelist 

2. Polycarp 

3. Pothinus 

4. Irenaeus 

5. Zaccharius 

6. Elias 

7. Faustinus 

8. Verus 

9. Julius 

10. Ptolemy 

11. Vocius 

12. Maximus 

13. Tetradus 

14. Verissimus 

15. Justis 

16. Albinus 

17. Martin 

18. Antiochus 

19. Elpidius 

20. Licarius 

21. Eucherius I 

22. Patieus 

23. Lupicinius 

24. Rusticu 

25. Stephanus 

26. Viventiolus 

27. Lucherius II 

28. Lupus 

29. Licontius 

30. Sacerdos 

31. Nicetus 

32. Priscus 

33. Aetherius 

34. St. Augustine of Canterbury 

35. LAURENTIUS 

36. MELLITUS 

37. JUSTUS 

38. HONORIUS 

39. DEUSDEDIT 

40. THEODORE 

41. BERHTWALD 

42. TATWINE 

43. NOTHELM 

44. CUTHBERT 

45. BREGOWINE 

46. JAENBERT 

47. ETHELHARD 

48. WULFRED 

49. FEOLOGELD 

50. CEOLNOTH 

51. ETHELRED

The direct Papal line enters into Canterbury with Pope Nicholas I. 

52. POPE St. NICHOLAS I (consecrated in 858) in 864 consecrated 

53. FORMOSUS as Bishop of Porto (later Pope in 891) who in 891 consecrated 

54. St. PLEGMUND as Archbishop of Canterbury who in 909 consecrated 

55. ALTHELM as Bishop of Wells ( Canterbury) who in 914 consecrated 

56. WULFHELM as Bishop of Wells ( Canterbury) who in 927 consecrated 

57. ODO as Bishop of Ramsbury ( Canterbury) who in 957 consecrated 

58. St. DUNSTAN as Bishop of Worcester ( Canterbury) who in 984 consecrated 

59. St. AELPHEGE as Bishop of Winchester ( Canterbury) who in 990 consecrated 

60. ELFRIC as Bishop of Ramsbury ( Canterbury) who in 1003 consecrated 

61. WULFSTAN as Bishop of Worcester and York who on the 13th November 1020 consecrated 

62. ETHELNOTH as Archbishop of Canterbury who in 1035 consecrated 

63. EADSIGE as Bishop of St. Martin's, Canterbury who on the 3rd April 1043 consecrated 

64. STIGAND as Bishop of Elmham ( Canterbury) who in 1058 consecrated 

65. SIWARD as Bishop of Rochester on the 29th September 1070 assisted William, Bishop of London 

at the consecration of 

A NOTE: from this point on you will see an increase of French bishops. After 1066 most of the bishops 

in England were Norman. The Church in Wales and Ireland remained Anglo-Saxon-Celtic for much 

longer. 

66. Bl. LANFRANC as Archbishop of Canterbury, who in 1070 consecrated 

67. THOMAS as Archbishop of York, who on the 4th December 1094 consecrated 

68. ST. ANSELM as Archbishop of Canterbury, who on the 26th July 1108 consecrated 

69. RICHARD DE BELMEIS as Bishop of London, who on the 18th February 1123 consecrated 

70. WILLIAM OF CORBEUIL as Abp. of Canterbury, who on the 17th Nov 1129 consecrated 

71. HENRY OF BLOIS as Bishop of Winchester, who on the 3rd June 1162 consecrated 

72. ST. THOMAS BECKET as Archbishop of Canterbury, who on the 23rd Aug1164 consecrated 

73. ROGER OF GLOUCESTER as Bishop of Worcester, who on the 7th Nov 1176 consecrated 

74. PETER DE LEIA as Bishop of St. David's, who on the 29th September 1185 assisted Baldwin, 

Archbishop of Canterbury, at the consecration of 

75. GILBERT GLANVILLE as Bishop of Rochester, who on the 23rd May 1199 assisted Hubert Walter, 


76. WILLIAM OF S. MERE L'EGLISE who on the 5th October 1214 assisted Stephen Langton, 


77. WALTER DE GRAY as Bishop of Worcester ( Archbishop of York), who on the 5th December 1249 

consecrated 

78. WALTER KIRKHAM as Bishop of Durham, who on the 7th February 1255 consecrated 

79. HENRY as Bishop of Whithern, who on the 9th January 1284 assisted William Wickwane, 

Archbishop of York, at the consecration of 

80. ANTHONY BECK as Bishop of Durham ( Patriarch of Jerusalem) who on the 14th September 1292 

consecrated 

81. JOHN OF HALTON as Bishop of Carlisle, who on the 27th June 1322 assisted Thomas Cobham, 

Bishop of Worcester, at the consecration of ROGER NORTHBOROUGH as Bishop of Lichfield, 

who on the 15th July 1330 assisted Henry Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, at the consecration of 

82. ROBERT WYVIL as Bishop of Salisbury, who on the 12th March 1340 consecrated 

83. RALPH STRATFORD as Bishop of London, who on the 15th May 1346 assisted John Stratford, 

Archbishop of Canterbury , at the consecration of 

84. WILLIAM EDENDON as Bishop of Winchester, who on the 20th March 1362 consecrated

85. IMON SUDBURY as Bishop of London, (later Archbishop of Canterbury) who on the 12th of May 

1370 consecrated 

86. THOMAS BRENTINGHAM as Bishop of Exeter, who on the 5th January 1382 consecrated 

87. ROBERT BRAYBROOKE as Bishop of London, who on the 3rd February 1398 consecrated 

88. ROGER WALDEN as Archbishop of Canterbury, who on the 14th July 1398 consecrated 

89. HENRY BEAUFORT as Bishop of Lincoln, who in 1405 became Bishop of Winchester and on the 

15th May 1435 consecrated 

90. THOMAS BOURCHIER as Bishop of Worcester ( Ely, 1454 Canterbury) who on the 31st January 


91. JOHN MORTON as Bishop of Ely ( Canterbury) who on the 21st May 1497 consecrated 

92. RICHARD FITZJAMES as Bishop of Rochester ( Chichester, 1506 London) who on the 25th 

September 1502 consecrated 

93. WILLIAM WARHAM as Bishop of London ( Canterbury) who on the 15th May 1521 consecrated 

94. JOHN LONGLANDS as Bishop of Lincoln who on the 30th March 1533 consecrated 

95. THOMAS CRANMER as Archbishop of Canterbury who in June 1536 consecrated 

96. WILLIAM BARLOW as Bishop of St. David's ( Bath, 1559 Chichester), who on the 17th December 


97. MATTHEW PARKER as Archbishop of Canterbury who, four days later, consecrated 

98. EDMUND GRINDAL as Bishop of London ( York, 1576 Canterbury) who on the 21st April 1577 

consecrated 

99. JOHN WHITGIFT as Bishop of Worcester ( Canterbury) who on the 8th May 1597 consecrated 

100. RICHARD BANCROFT as Bishop of London ( Canterbury) who on the 3rd December 1609 

consecrated 

101. GEORGE ABBOT as Bishop of Lichfield ( London, 1611 Canterbury) who on the 14th December 


102. GEORGE MONTAIGNE as Bishop of Lincoln ( London, 1628 Durham, 1628 York)who on the 18th 

November 1621 consecrated 

103. Bl. WILLIAM LAUD as Bishop of St. David's ( Bath, 1628 London, 1633 Canterbury) who on the 

17th June 1638 consecrated 

104. BRIAN DUPPA as Bishop of Chichester ( Salisbury, 1660 Winchester) who on the 28th October 


105. GILBERT SHELDON as Bishop of London ( Canterbury) who on the 6th December 1674 

consecrated 

106. HENRY COMPTON as Bishop of Oxford ( London) who on the 27th January 1678 consecrated 

107. WILLIAM SANCROFT, Archbishop of Canterbury who was a "non-juror" (Please look at this page. 

A discussion of the NONJURORS ) who on the 25th October 1685 did consecrate 

108. THOMAS WHITE as Bishop of Peterborough, who was deposed in 1690 as a non-juror and on the 

24th February 1693, under Royal Warrant from the exiled King James II, consecrated

109. GEORGE HICKES as Bishop of Thetford, a Non-juror who on the 24th February 1712 consecrated 

110. JAMES GADDERAR (consecrated without a See; later Bishop of Aberdeen and Moray), who on 

the 4th June 1727 consecrated 

111. THOMAS RATTRAY as Bishop of Dunkold, of the Scottish Episcopal Church who in 1741 

consecrated 

112. WILLIAM FALCONAR as Bishop of Ross and Caithness, of the Scottish Episcopal Church who on 

the 21st September 1768 consecrated 

113. ROBERT KILGOUR as Bishop of Aberdeen, who was consecrated 12 Feb 1775 by Frederick 

Corwallis, who was consecrated 19 Feb 1750 by Thomas Herring... on the 14th November 1784 

consecrated 

114. SAMUEL SEABURY - A crucial date for members of the Episcopal Church in the United States of 

America is the consecration of the first Bishop of the Anglican Communion in the United States. In 

Aberdeen, 14 November 1784, Samuel Seabury was consecrated to the Episcopate by the Bishop 

and the Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen and the Bishop of Ross and Caithness. He thus became 

part of the unbroken chain of bishops that links the Church today with the Church of the Apostles. 

SAMUEL SEABURY, Bishop of Connecticut, of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA, on the 

17th September 1792 did consecrate +Claggett of PECUSA 

115. T. J. CLAGGETT as Bishop of Maryland, who on the 7th May 1797 consecrated 

116. EDWARD BASS as Bishop of Massachusetts who on the 18th October 1797 consecrated 

117. ABRAHAM JARVIS as Bishop of Connecticut, who on the 29th May 1811 consecrated 

118. V. GRISWOLD as Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, who on the 31st October 1832 consecrated 

119. J. H. HOPKINS as Bishop of Vermont, 

120. LEON CHECHEMIAN 1879 

121. WILLIAM CROW 1943 

122. HUGH GEORGE DeWILLMOTT NEWMAN 1944 

123. Wallace David de Ortega Maxey 

124. Lowell Paul Wadle - April 7, 1957 

125. Herman Adrian Spruit - June 22, 1957 

126. Frank Ellsworth Hughes 1978 






132. Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA 

ANTIOCHEAN-JACOBITE SUCCESSION 

1. Peter, 38; 

2. Evodus 40; 


4. Aaron, 123; 


6. Eodos, 142;





11. Philip, 201; 


13. Babylos, 237; 

14. Fabius, 250; 


16. Paul I, 259; 

17. Domnus I, 270; 


19. Cyrilus, 281; 










29. John I, 428; 



32. Maximus, 450; 



35. Peter II, 464; 



38. Segius, 544; 




42. Paul II, 567; 

43. Patra, 571; 




47. John II, 636; 


49. Severus, 668; 



52. Elias I, 709; 




56. Joseph, 790; 



59. John III, 847; 




63. John IV, 910; 

64. ()Basilus I, 922; 

65. John V, 936; 



68. Abraham I, 962;

69. John VI, 965, 


71. John VII, 1004; 




75. John VIII, 1064; 


77. Abdoone, 1076; 



80. ()Dionysius VI, 1088; 


82. John IX, 1131; 


84. Michael I, 1167; 



87. John X, 1208; 



90. John XI, 1253; 






































Peter III as Syrian Antioch Bishop of Kottayam and Metropolitan of Malabar (India).




129. Joseph Rene Vilatte was consecrated on May 29, 1892 in Columba, Ceylon at Our Lady of Good 

Death Cathedral by Mar Julius I, under authority of a Bull of Mar Ignatius Peter III, to serve as 

Archbishop of North America. 

130. Fredrick E. Lloyd, 1915; 

131. Samuel Gregory Lines, 1923; 

132. Justin Boyle, 1927; 

133. Lowel Paul Wadle, 1940; 

134. Herman Adrian Spruit, 1957; 

135. Frank Ellsworth Hughes, 1978; 

136. Martha Theresa Mohring Shultz, 1982; 

137. Judy C. Adams, 1993; 

138. Anthony Francis Hash, 1995. 

139. Michael Carroll, 2002 

140. Franciscus-Mariae of the Blessed Sacrament, SFI, 2004 

141. Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA, 2006 

HEBREW-CELTIC SUCCESSION 

1. JAMES the less: recognised by the other Apostles as the Bishop of Jerusalem 

2. Simeon 

3. Justus I 

4. Zaccheus 

5. Tobias 

6. Benjamin 

7. John I 

8. Matthias 

9. Philip 

10. Seneca 

11. Justus II 

12. Levi 

13. Ephraim 

14. Joseph 

15. Judas 

16. Marcus 

17. Cassianus 

18. Publius 

19. Maximus I 

20. Julian 

21. Caius 

22. Symmachus 

23. Caius II 

24. Julian II 

25. Maximus II 

26. Antonius 

27. Capito 

28. Valius 

29. Daleanus 

30. Narcissus 

31. Dius 

32. Germanio 

33. Gordius 

34. Alexander 

35. Nazabancs 

36. Hymenacus 

37. Zamboas

38. Herman 

39. Marcarius I 

40. Maximus III 

41. Cyril 

42. Herenius 

43. Hilary 

44. John II 

45. Praglius 

46. Juvenal 

47. Anastacius 

48. Martyrius 

49. Salutis 

50. Elias 

51. John III of Jerusalem 

52. ST. DAVID: consecrated first Celtic Bishop of Mineva, St. David's, Wales (AD 519) 

53. Cynog 

54. Teilo 

55. Ceven 

56. Morfall 

57. Haerwneu 

58. Elwaed 

59. Gwrnwen 

60. Llumverth 

61. Gwrgwyst 

62. Gwgan 

63. Eineon 

64. Clydawg 

65. Elfod 

66. Ethelman 

67. Elane 

68. Magelsgwyd 

69. Made 

70. Cadell 

71. Sadwrnfen 

72. Novis 

73. Sulhaithnay 

74. Idwall 

75. Asser 

76. Arthwael 

77. Samson 

78. Reubin 

79. Rhydderch 

80. Elwin 

81. Morbiw 

82. Llunwerth 

83. Hubert 

84. Enerius 

85. Ivor 

86. Morgeneu I 

87. Nathan 

88. Jenan 

89. Arwystl 

90. Morgeneu II 

91. Ervin 

92. Trahacarn 

93. Joseph 

94. Bleiddud 

95. Salien 

96. Abraham 

97. Rhyddmarch 

98. Wilfrid 

99. Bernard

100. D. Fitzgerald 

101. P. deLeia 

102. G. Camb 

103. G. deHenelawe 

104. Jowerth 

105. Gross 

106. deCarew 

107. T. Hech 

108. D. Martin 

109. H. Gower 

110. J. Thorsby 

111. R. Brian 

112. F. Fastolfe 

113. H. Doughton 

114. J. Gilbert 

115. G. deMona 

116. H. CHICHELEY: Bishop of of the Celtic Church in Wales made Archbishop of Canterbury by Rome 

(1408) 

117. J. Stalford 

118. J. Kemp 

119. THOMAS BOURCHIER as Bishop of Worcester (1443 Ely, 1454 Canterbury) who on the 31st January 


120. JOHN MORTON as Bishop of Ely (1486 Canterbury) who on the 21st May 1497 consecrated 

121. RICHARD FITZJAMES as Bishop of Rochester (1503 Chichester, 1506 London) who on the 25th 

September 1502 consecrated 

122. WILLIAM WARHAM as Bishop of London (1503 Canterbury) who on the 15th May 1521 consecrated 

123. JOHN LONGLANDS as Bishop of Lincoln who on the 30th March 1533 consecrated 

124. THOMAS CRANMER as Archbishop of Canterbury who in June 1536 consecrated 

125. WILLIAM BARLOW as Bishop of St. David's (1549 Bath, 1559 Chichester), who on the 17th December 


126. MATTHEW PARKER as Archbishop of Canterbury who, four days later, consecrated 

127. EDMUND GRINDAL as Bishop of London (1570 York, 1576 Canterbury) who on the 21st April 1577 

consecrated 

128. JOHN WHITGIFT as Bishop of Worcester (1583 Canterbury) who on the 8th May 1597 consecrated 

129. RICHARD BANCROFT as Bishop of London (1604 Canterbury) who on the 3rd December 1609 

consecrated 

130. GEORGE ABBOT as Bishop of Lichfield (1610 London, 1611 Canterbury) who on the 14th December 


131. GEORGE MONTAIGNE as Bishop of Lincoln (1621 London, 1628 Durham, 1628 York)who on the 18th 

November 1621 consecrated 

132. Bl. WILLIAM LAUD as Bishop of St. David's (1626 Bath, 1628 London, 1633 Canterbury) who on the 

17th June 1638 consecrated 

133. BRIAN DUPPA as Bishop of Chichester (1641 Salisbury, 1660 Winchester) who on the 28th October 


134. GILBERT SHELDON as Bishop of London (1663 Canterbury) who on the 6th December 1674 

consecrated

135. HENRY COMPTON as Bishop of Oxford (1675 London) who on the 27th January 1678 consecrated 

136. WILLIAM SANCROFT, Archbishop of Canterbury who was a "non-juror’ who on the 25th October 1685 

did consecrate 

137. THOMAS WHITE as Bishop of Peterborough, who was deposed in 1690 as a non-juror and on the 24th 

February 1693, under Royal Warrant from the exiled King James II, consecrated 

138. GEORGE HICKES as Bishop of Thetford, a Non-juror who on the 24th February 1712 consecrated 

139. JAMES GADDERAR (consecrated without a See; later Bishop of Aberdeen and Moray), who on the 4th 

June 1727 consecrated 

140. THOMAS RATTRAY as Bishop of Dunkold, of the Scottish Episcopal Church who in 1741 consecrated 

141. WILLIAM FALCONAR as Bishop of Ross and Caithness, of the Scottish Episcopal Church who on the 

21st September 1768 consecrated 

142. ROBERT KILGOUR as Bishop of Aberdeen, who was consecrated 12 Feb 1775 by Frederick 

Corwallis, who was consecrated 19 Feb 1750 by Thomas Herring... on the 14th November 1784 

consecrated 

143. SAMUEL SEABURY - A crucial date for members of the Episcopal Church in the United States of 

America is the consecration of the first Bishop of the Anglican Communion in the United States. In 

Aberdeen, 14 November 1784, Samuel Seabury was consecrated to the Episcopate by the Bishop and the 

Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen and the Bishop of Ross and Caithness. He thus became part of the unbroken 

chain of bishops that links the Church today with the Church of the Apostles. 

SAMUEL SEABURY, Bishop of Connecticut, of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA, on the 17th 

September 1792 did consecrate +Claggett of PECUSA 

144. T. J. CLAGGETT as Bishop of Maryland, who on the 7th May 1797 consecrated 

146. EDWARD BASS as Bishop of Massachusetts who on the 18th October 1797 consecrated 

147. ABRAHAM JARVIS as Bishop of Connecticut, who on the 29th May 1811 consecrated 

148. A. V. GRISWOLD as Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, who on the 31st October 1832 consecrated 

149. J. H. HOPKINS as Bishop of Vermont, 

150. LEON CHECHEMIAN 1879 

151. WILLIAM CROW 1943 

152. HUGH GEORGE DeWILLMOTT NEWMAN 1944 





157. Mary Theresa Shultz 





162. Michael Vincent Seneco

Armenian Succession 

1. St. THADDEUS (circ. A.D. 50) 

2. St. BARTHOLOMEW 50-68 

3. St. Zakaria 68-76 

4. St. Zementus 76-81 

5. St. Atirnerseh 81-97 

6. St. Mousche 97-128 

7. St. Schahen 128-154) 

8. St. Schavarsch (154-175) 

9. St. Ghevondius (175-193) 

10. St. Mehroujan (230-260) 

Armenia is Illuminated and the 

Armenian Catholic Church established. 

11. St. Gregory the Illuminator 301-325 

12. St. Aristakes I Parthian 325-333 

13. St. Vertanes I Parthian 333-341 

14. St. Houssik I Parthian 341-347 

15. Paren I Aschtischat 348-352 

16. St. Nerses I The Great 353-373 

17. Sahak I of Manazkert 373-377 

18. Zaven I of Manazkert 377-381 

19. Aspourakes of Manazkert 381-386 

20. St. Sahak I The Great 387-439 

21. St. Hovsep I of Hoghotzim 440-452 

22. Melitus I of Manazkert 452-456 

23. Movses I of Manazkert 456-461 

24. St. Gut I of Araheze 461-478 

25. St. Hovhannes I Mandakouni 478-490 

26. Babken I of Othmous 490-515 

27. Samuel I of Ardzke 516-526 

28. Mousche I of Ailaberk 526-534 

29. Sahak II of Ouhki 534-539 

30. Kristapor I of Tiraritch 539-545 

31. Ghevont I of Erast 545-548 

The Monophysite Schism is formalized: 

Catholicoi vary for or against Chalcedon 

32. Nerses II of Bagrevand 548-557 

33. Hovhannes II Gabeghian 557-574 

34. Movses II of Eghivart 574-607 

35. Abraham I of Aghbatank 607-615 

36. Comitas I of Aghtzik 615-628 

37. Kristapor II Apahouni 628-630 

38. Yezer I of Parajcnakert 630-641 

39. Nersess Ill of Ischkhan 641-661 

40. Anastasius I of Akori 661-667 

41. Israel I of Othmous 667-677 

42. Sahak III of Tzorapor 677-703 

43. Eghia I of Ardjcsch 703-717 

44. St. Hovhannes III of Otzoun 717-728 

45. David I of Aramonk 728-741 

46. Tirdat I of Othmous 741-764 

47. Tirdat II of Dasnavork 764-767 

48. Sion I of Bavonk 767-775 

49. Yessai I of Eghipatrouschc 775-788 

50. Stepanos I of Douinc 788-790 

51. Hovab I of Douinc 790-791 

52. Soghomon I of Garni 791-792 

53. Gueorg I of Oschakan 792-795 

54. Hovsep II of Parpi 795-806 

55. David II of Gagagh 806-833 

56. Hovhannes IV of Ova 833-855

57. Zakaria I of Tzak 855-877 

58. Gueorg II of Garni 878-898 

59. St. Maschtotz I of Eghivart 898-899 

60. Hovhannes V of Draskhonakert 899-931 

61. Stepanos II Rischtouni 931-932 

62. Theodoros I Rischtouni 932-938 

63. Yeghische I Rischtouni 938-943 

64. Anania I of Moks 943-967 

65. Vahan I Suni 967-969 

66. Stepanos III of Sevan 969-971 

67. Khatchik I Arscharouni 972-992 

68. Sarkis I of Sevan 992-1019 

69. Petros I Guetadartz 1019-1054 

70. Khatchik II of Ani 1054-1060 

Catholicoi seat moved to Cilicia. Union 

with Rome is re-established 

71. Grigor II Vikaiasser 1065-1105 

72. Barsegh I of Ani 1105-1113 

73. Grigor III Pahlavouni 1113-1166 

74. St. Nerses IV Schnorhali 1166-1173 

75. Grigor IV Tegha 1173-1193 

76. Grigor V Karavege 1193-1194 

77. Grigor VI Apirat 1194-1203 

78. Hovhannes VI Medzabaro 1203-1221 

79. Constantine I of Bartzrberd 1221-1267 

80. Hacob I of Kla 1267-1286 

81. Constantine II Pronagortz 1286-1289 

82. Stepanos IV of Rhomkla 1290-1293 

83. Grigor VII of Anavarza 1293-1307 

84. Constantine III of Caesarea 1307-1322 

85. Constantine IV of Lambron 1322-1326 

86. Hacob II of Tarsus 1327-1341 

87. Mekhitar I of Grner 1341-1355 

88. Mesrob I of Ardaze 1359-1372 

89. Constantine V of Sis 1372-1374 

90. Poghos I of Sis 1374-1377 

91. Theodoros II of Cilicia 1377-1392 

92. Karapet I of Keghy 1393-1408 

93. Hacob III of Sis 1408-1411 

94. Grigor VIII Khantzoghat 1411-1416 

95. Poghos II of Garni 1416-1429 

96. Constantine VI of Vahka 1429-1439 

97. Grigor IX Moussabeguian 1439-1441 

The Etchmiadzin Schism: the original succession 

of Catholicoi continue in Cilicia 

98. Grigor I. Moussabeguian 1441-1450 

99. Garabed Yevtogatsi 1446-1477 

100. Stepanos Saratsortsi 1475-1483 

101. Hovhannes I Andiokatsi 1483-1488 

102. Hovhannes II Tulgurantsi 1489-1525 

103. Hovhannes III Kilistsi 1525-1539 

104. Simeon Zeitountsi 1539-1545 

105. Ghazar Zeitountsi 1545-1577 

106. Toros Sisetsi 1578-1553 

107. Khachadour I Chorig 1553-1558 

108. Khachadour II Zeitountsi 1560-1584 

109. Azaria I Jughayetsi 1584-1601 

110. Hovhannes IV Aintabtsi 1602-1621 

111. Bedros I Gargaretsi* 1602-1608 

112. Minas Gonnetsi 1621-1632 

113. Simeon II Sebastiatsi 1633-1648 

114. Nerses Sebastiatsi 1648-1654

115. Toros II Sebastiatsi 1654-1657 

116. Khachadour III Sebastiatsi 1657-1677 

117. Sahak I Meykhaneji 1677-1683 

118. Azaria II Gargaretsi 1683-1686 

119. Grigor II Adanatsi 1686-1695 

120. Asdvadzadour Sasuntsi 1695-1703 

121. Madteos Gesaratsi 1703-1705 

122. Hovhannes V Hajentsi 1705-1721 

123. Grigor III Gesaratsi 1721/2-1729 

124. Ghougas Sisetsi Atchabahian 1731-1737 

The Renewed Patriarchate: 

Armenian Catholics choose autonomy to 

definitively re-unite with Roman Church 

125. Abraham Peter Ardzivian 1737-1749 

126. Jacob Peter Hovsepian 1749-1753 

127. Michael Peter Kasparian 1753-1780 

128. Basil Peter Avkadian 1780-1788 

129. Gregory Peter Kupelian 1788-1812 

130. Gregory Peter II Djeranian 1812-1841 

131. Jacob Peter II Holassian 1841-1843 

132. Gregory Peter III Derasdvazadourian 1843-1866 

133. Anthony Peter Hassoun 1866-1880 

134. Chorchorunian 1874 

135. Leon Chechemian, 23 April 1878 

136. Andrew Charles Albert McLagen - November 2, 1897 

137. James Heard - June 4, 1922 

138. William Bernard Crow - June 13, 1943 

139. Hugh George De Willmott Newman - April 10, 1944 










149. Michael Vincent Seneco, SPSA

ADDITIONAL LINES DERIVED FROM BISHOP MICHAEL CARROLL 

Bishop Michael Carroll’s consecrator, Archbishop Anthony Hash imparted the following lines of Succession 

through Mar Georgius I, Patriarch of Glastonbuery and Catholicos of the West: 

During and after the Second World War, Mar Georgius I, Patriarch of Glastonbury and Catholicos of the 

West began unifying the various strands of Old Catholics and independent Catholics. By 1956, through sub 

conditione consecrations, he had accumulated all sixteen lines of Apostolic succession known to exist: 

Syrian-Antiochene, Syrian-Malabar, Syrian-Gallican, Syro-Chaldean, Chaldean-Uniate, Coptic Orthodox, 

Armenian-Uniate, Order of Corporate Reunion, Old Catholic, Mariavite, Nonjuring, Anglican, Russian 

Orthodox, Russo-Syrian Orthodox, Greek-Melkite, and Liberal Catholic. 

1. Armenian Uniate 

2. Syro-Chaldean 

3. Byzantine Uniate 

4. Orthodox Patriarchate: (Constantinople) 

5. Russian Orthodox 

6. Syrian-Malabar 

7. Syrian-Gallican: Alvares (Mar Julius I) 

8. Coptic/Coptic Uniate 

9: Old Greek Melchite (Byzantine) 

11: Syrian-Melkite Uniate 

12: Malankara Orthodox

Official Record of Apostolic Succession of

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