Official Record of Apostolic Succession of

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.