Official Record of Apostolic Succession of

Apostolic Succession from
The Russian Orthodox Church
through Bishop Joseph A. Zuk (William Propheta Succession)
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. Archbishop Makarij (Macarius) 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 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
Sacred Episcopate:
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 ,