The Apostolic
Succession and Episcopal Lineage
of
The Evangelical Catholic Church
The history of Old Catholic and Independent Rite Catholic consecrations in the
previous 300 years is very complex and convoluted. Many bishops were
consecrated, and then later consecrated sub conditione numerous times in
an effort to insure valid Apostolic Succession. Often they exchanged
consecrations, as problematic as that practice is (this Church does not
recognize the practice as constituting a valid conditional consecration).
Consequently, great circular loops of consecrations will be found in this
lineage, with several bishops’ names appearing over and over again.
I have striven to keep this history as simple as possible. It proceeds from
chronologically earlier consecrations to later ones, limited to principal
consecrating Bishops, and listing co-consecrating Bishops only where necessary.
I have attempted to illustrate the previously mentioned circular loops of
consecrations, but consecrations that have occurred after a particular bishop
consecrated another one have been omitted, since they are irrelevant to this
lineage. In other words, if Bishop A. consecrated Bishop B., and at a later date
Bishop C. conditionally consecrated Bishop A., Bishop C. will not appear in this
lineage since his conditional consecration of Bishop A has no bearing on the
consecration of Bishop B.
As with any “family tree,” this Apostolic Heritage includes a large number of
persons and characters, including Carlos Duarte Costa and Joseph René Vilatte,
among the most important of the major figures in Independent Catholic history.
Most were men of great caliber, dedicated to the service of God and humanity.
Regrettably, a few were of dubious character, and a very few were manifestly
heretical. Some are very well known, but many are virtually unknown. We are
justifiably proud of most of these men, and embarrassed by a very few. Be that
as it may, the historic record of this complex “family” stands as is, or at
least as best remembered and documented.
The Episcopal Lineage of the Independent Evangelical Catholic Church brings
together lines of valid Apostolic Succession from various Churches and
Traditions. Several lines come from the Roman Catholic Church, including
the Armenian Catholic Church; the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate;
and the Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch; which are Eastern
Rites of the Roman Catholic Church, the Igréja Católica Apostólica
Brasileria; the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht (Oud Katholicke
Kerk van Nederland); and the Order of Corporate Reunion. The
lines from the Orthodox Tradition come from the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate
of Moscow through the Syrian Orthodox Mission to North America; the
Apostolic See of Saint Peter at Antioch through the Malankara
(Malabar) Orthodox Church of India; and the Apostolic See of Saint Mark
the Evangelist at Alexandria through the Greek Orthodox Church and
the Iglésia Ortodóxa Apostólica Costaricense; as well as the
Greek Orthodox See of New Justiniana and all Cyprus. The line from the
Anglican Tradition comes from the See of Saint Augustine at Canterbury (The
Church of England) through the Episcopal Church of the United States;
and the Iglésia Filipina Independiente.
Unfortunately, there is no central registry of Independent Rite Catholic
consecrations and ordinations. Some are very well documented, others are
completely undocumented or even disputed. This Episcopal Lineage relies heavily
on the history contained in Apostolic Succession in the Ecumenical
Catholic Church by His Excellency, the Most Reverend Mark Steven
Shirilau, Ph.D., Archbishop and Primate of the Ecumenical Catholic Church,
Healing Spirit Press, P.O. Box 64, Villa Grande, CA., 95486-0094. Used by
permission.
I would also like gratefully to acknowledge the assistance of His Excellency,
the Most Reverend X Peter Paul Brennan, Prime-Bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic
Diocese of America, and Bishop of the African Orthodox Church, who established
the format for this Apostolic Lineage and shed much light on the Order of
Corporate Reunion, and who highlighted several errors of names and dates in this
Lineage, which have been corrected.
Some persons may doubt our claim to be a part of the authentic Apostolic
Succession due to the presence of several persons whose consecrations are
admittedly undocumented or even disputed, but this would be an error. Apostolic
Succession can best be viewed as a rope connecting the original twelve Apostles
of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Bishops of today. Each Bishop in this Lineage
represents one strand in that rope, and if a few of those strands are weak or
even defective and broken, those Bishops whose Succession is undisputed keep the
rope strong.
Because of the lack of documentation of many Independent Rite Catholic consecrations, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of several parts of this Apostolic Lineage, especially events occurring more than two centuries ago. We welcome your comments, criticisms, and corrections.
Lines of Apostolic Succession
| 1. | From the Apostolic See of Saint Peter at Rome through the Igréja Católica Apostólica Brasileira |
| 2. | From the Apostolic See of Saint Peter at Rome through the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht (Oud Katholicke Kerk van Nederland) |
| 3. | From the Apostolic See of Saint Peter at Rome through the Order of Corporate Reunion |
| 4. | From the Apostolic See of Saint Peter at Rome through the Armenian Catholic Church |
| 5. | From the Apostolic See of Saint Taddeus at Edessa through the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate |
| 6. | From the Roman Catholic See of Saints Peter and Paul through L’Église Johannite des Chretiens Primitifs and the Knights Templar |
| 7. | From the Apostolic See of Saint Peter at Antioch through the Malankara (Malabar) Orthodox Church of India |
| 8. | From the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow through the Syrian Orthodox Mission to North America |
| 9. | From the See of Saint Augustine at Canterbury (Church of England) through the Episcopal Church of the United States |
| 10. | From the See of Saint Augustine at Canterbury through the Episcopal Church of the United States and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente |
Researched by James Cwan