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 uneconomical 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:

Antonio Cardinal Barberini, as Archbishop of Rheims, 1657. He consecrated in the Church of the Sorbonne, Paris, the son of the Grand Chancellor of France,

Charles Maurice Latellier, succeeding as Archbishop of Rheims, November 12, 1668. He, in turn, consecrated in the church of the Cordeliers, Pontois,

James Benigne Bossuet, as Bishop of Condom, September 21, 1670. He was transferred to the See of Meaux by Pope Clement X, 1671. He, in turn, consecrated in the church of Chartreuse, Paris,

James Goydon de Matignon, Bishop of Condom, 1693, son of Count De Thoringy. He was Doyen of Lisieux and Abbey Commendantaire De St. Victor, Paris. By order of Pope Clement XI, he consecrated at Paris,

Dominic M. Varlet, as Bishop of Ascalon in partibus, and coadjutor to the Bishop of Babylon, Persia, February 12, 1719. Retiring later to Holland , he died 23 years after in the Cistercian Abbey of Rhijnwick. In response to the appeals of the Chapter of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, he consecrated,

Peter John Meindaerts, as Archbishop of Utrecht, October 17, 1739. He had been one of several priests ordained in Ireland by Luke Fagan, Bishop of Meath, afterwards Archbishop of Dublin, with the view of sustaining independence of the ancient Church of the Netherlands , founded by St. Willibrord in the 7th century. By his consecration to the Episcopate, the succession of the Old Catholic Church in Holland has been perpetuated. Archbishop Meindaerts consecrated,

John van Stiphout, as Bishop of Haarlem, July 11, 1745. He, in turn, consecrated,

Wwalter Michael van Nieuwenhuizen, as Archbishop of Utrecht , February 7, 1768. He consecrated,

Adrian Broekman, as Bishop of Haarlem, June 21, 1778. He consecrated,

John James van Rhijin, as Archbishop of Utrecht, November 7, 1805. He consecrated,

Gilbert De Jong, as Bishop of Deventer, November 2, 1805. He consecrated,

Willibrod van Os, as Archbishop of Utrecht, April 24, 1814. He consecrated,

John Bon, as Bishop Haarlem, April 22, 1819. He consecrated,

John van Santen, as Archbishop of Utrecht, June 14, 1825. He consecrated,

Herman Heykamp, as Bishop of Deventer, July 17, 1854. He consecrated,

Gaspard John Rinkel, as Bishop of Haarlem, August 11, 1873. He consecrated,

Gerard Gul, as Archbishop of Utrecht, May 11, 1892. He consecrated,

Arnold Harris Mathew, as Regional Old Catholic Bishop for Great Britain , April 28, 1908, at St. Gertrude's Church, Utrecht . He was elected Archbishop in 1911. He had been ordained to the Priesthood by Archbishop Eyre, at St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Glasgow , June 24, 1877. He consecrated,

Landas Berghes, on June 29, 1913. He consecrated,

Henry Carmel Carfora, on October 4, 1916. Carfora was elected Archbishop of the United States for all Old Catholics. He consecrated,

Robert Alfred Burns in 1956. He consecrated,

Robert Lane in 1970. He consecrated,

Floyd Anthony Kortenhof, of the Old Roman Catholic Church, English Rite in 1991. He consecrated,

Thomas Edward Abel on May 25, 2003 as Auxiliary Bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church, English Rite. Bishop Abel came under his own Jurisdiction; the Old Roman Catholic Church Diocese of San Diego later changed to the Catholic Church of America, on August 8, 2004. In January 2008 during the Church's Annual General Conference of the American Catholic Church Diocese of California, The Most Reverend Thomas E. Abel was elected to serve as Presiding Bishop for a three year term. Bishop Abel was re-elected to serve another five year term at the Annual General Conference in January of 2011.

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 semi-independent 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.

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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Leon Chechemian on 23 April 1879 A.D. as "a Bishop at Malatia, Asia Minor". Bishop Chechemian consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

James Martin on 2 November 1890 A.D. as Archbishop of Caerleon-upon-Usk. Archbishop Martin consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Benjamin Charles Harris on 25 July 1915 A.D. as Bishop of Essex . Bishop Harris consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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:

Nils Bertil Alexander Persson on 12 December 1971 A.D. with the title of Mar Alexander, Titular Bishop of Smyrna . Bishop Persson is Director of St. Ephrem's Institute for Eastern Christianity Studies (founded in 1896 A.D.). He was enthroned as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church on 7 November 1986 A.D. Archbishop Persson consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Karl Julius Barwin on 5 August 1989 A.D. as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church, 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), 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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Thomas E. Abel on May 25, 2003 as Auxiliary Bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church, English Rite. Bishop Abel came under his own Jurisdiction on August 8, 2004. Bishop Abel is head of the Catholic Church of America.

In January through our Declaration of Unity Agreement, Bishop Abel became a member of the American Catholic Church Diocese of California. At the Synod General Conference at the same time of the merger, Bishop Abel was elected Presiding Bishop

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 a 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 20th century by the atheistical government of the former Soviet Republic 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 reactionary 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 Ecumenical 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 cooperation. 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 cooperation 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 20th 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 rapprochement 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.

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 ), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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:

Bishop Bertil (Nils Bertil Alexander Persson, 11/10/1941 -- ) as Archbishop of The Apostolic Episcopal Church on 28 February 1989). Archbishop Bertil, together with 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), each assisting, coöperating and co-consecrating by laying on hands and uttering all the words of consecration, and assisting in this consecration as Co-Consecrators by 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), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Karl (Karl Julius Barwin, 10/16/1943 -- ) 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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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:

Bishop Karl (Karl Julius Barwin, 10/16/1943 -- ) 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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Thomas E. Abel on May 25, 2003 as Auxiliary Bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church, English Rite. Bishop Abel came under his own Jurisdiction on August 8, 2004. Bishop Abel is head of the Catholic Church of America.

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 Patriarchal 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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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 Catholic Church of America) 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 (Catholic Church of America--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:

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), together with 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 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 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 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 , 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 co-operation 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 Sacred Episcopate:

Bishop Karl Julius Barwin (10/16/1943 - ) in The Holy Guardian Angels Chapel, Glendale, California, on 5 August 1989, as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church, assisting Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), together with Archbishop Emile Federico Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Bishop Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Bishop Howard D. van Orden (Order of St. Jude; Archbishop of Albuquerque and Dependencies, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), 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. 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 Christopher J. Rogers (Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), and Exarch Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Thomas E. Abel on May 25, 2003 as Auxiliary Bishop of the Old Roman Catholic, English Rite. Bishop Abel came under his own Jurisdiction on August 8, 2004. Bishop Abel is head of the Catholic Church of America.

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. Anti-imperial, 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 the Sacred Episcopate:

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 Sacred Episcopate:

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:

Bishop Karl (Karl Julius Barwin, 1943--) as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on 5 August 1989, assisting Archbishop Bertil Persson (Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church; Missionary-General for Scandinavia and all Europe of both the Iglesia Filipina Independiente [a member Church of The Anglican Communion] and the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasiliera), 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 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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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.

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:

Bishop Karl (Karl Julius Barwin, 1943--) as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on 5 August 1989, assisting Archbishop Bertil Persson (Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church; Missionary-General for Scandinavia and all Europe of both the Iglesia Filipina Independiente [a member Church of The Anglican Communion] and the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasiliera), 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 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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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 Sacred Episcopate:

Karl J. 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 Rodriguez 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, 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 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 Episcopate:

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.

Pope Benedictus XIV (Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 19 March 1743:

Carlo della Torre Rezzoni (Pope Clement XIII) assisted by Archbishop Scopio Borghese & Ignatius Reali Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 April 1767:

Cardinal Bernardinus Giraud assisted by Archbishop Marcus Antonius Conti & Bishop Iosefus Maria Carafa Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 23 February 1777:

Cardinal Alexander Matthaeus assisted by Bishop Geraldus Macioti & Bishop Franciscus Albertini Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 12 September 1819:

Cardinal Petrus Franciscus Galeffi assisted by Abp. Ioanne Franciscus Falzacappa & Abp. Iosephus della Porta Rodiani Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1822:

Cardinal Iacobus Philippus Fransoni assisted by Patriarch Joseph Valerga of Jerusalem & Bishop Rudesindus Salvado Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 June 1851:

Cardinal Carolus Sacconi assisted by Archbishop Salvator Nobili Vitelleschi and

Archbishop Franciscus Xaverius Fridericus de Morode Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 30 June 1872:

Cardinal Eduard Howard assisted by Archbishop Alessandro Sanminiatelli Zabarella & Bishop Giulio Lenti Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1882:

Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 October 1890:

Cardinal Joaquin Arcoverde de Albuquerque-Cavalcanti Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 June 1911:

Archbishop Sebastiao Leme da Silveira Cintra assisted by Dom Alberto Jose Goncalves & Dom Benedito Paulo Alves de Souza Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 December 1924:

Dom Carlos Duarte Costa Patriarch, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (1945) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 May 1948:

Dom Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez Patriarch, Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira (1961) 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 Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 June 1987:

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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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. 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 of Pennsylvania ) and Dr. Samuel Provoost (Bishop 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.

Pope St. Nicolas I (consecrated in 858) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 864:

Formosus (Bishop of Porto ; Pope 891) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 891:

St. Plegmund (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 909:

Althelm (as Bishop of Wells; 914 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate 914:

Wulfhelm (as Bishop of Wells; 923 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 927:

Odo (as Bishop of Ramsbury; 942 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcope in 957:

St. Dunstan (as Bishop of Worcester ; 960 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 984:

St. Aelphege (as Bishop of Winchester ; 1005 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 990:

Elfric (as Bishop of Ramsbury; 995 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 1003:

Wulfstan (as Bishop of Worcester and York) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 13 November 1020:

Ethelnoth (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 1035:

Eadsige (as Bishop of St. Martin's, Canterbury ; 1038 Archbishop of Canterbury )
Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 April 1043:

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:

Thomas (as Archbishop of York ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 December 1094:

St. Anselm (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 26 July 1108:

Richard de Belmeis (as Bishop of London ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 18 February 1123:

William of Corbeuil (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 17 November 1129:

Henry of Blois (as Bishop of Winchester ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 June 1162:

St. Thomas Becket (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 23 August 1164:

Roger of Gloucester (as Bishop of Worcester ) assisting
Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 7 November 1176:

Peter de Leia (as Bishop of St. David's, Wales) assisting Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury John Cumin, Archbishop of Dublin Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 29 September 1185:

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) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 23 May 1199:

William de Sainte Mere L'Eglise (as Bishop of London ) assisting
Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (consecrated 17 June 1207 by Pope Innocent III) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 October 1214:

Walter de Gray (as Bishop of Worcester ; 1216 Archbishop of York ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 December 1249:

Walter Kirkham (as Bishop of Durham ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 7 February 1255:

Henry (as Bishop of Whithern) assisting William Wickwane, Archbishop of York (consecrated 17 September 1279 by Pope Nicholas III) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 9 January 1284:

Anthony Beck (as Bishop of Durham ; 1306 Patriarch of Jerusalem ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 September 1292:

John of Halton (as Bishop of Carlisle ) assisting Thomas Cobham, Bishop of Worcester Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 27 June 1322:

Roger Northborough (as Bishop of Lichfield ) assisting
Henry Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 15 July 1330:

Robert Wyvil (as Bishop of Salisbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 12 March 1340:

Ralph Stratford (as Bishop of London ) assisting John Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 15 May 1346:

William Edendon (as Bishop of Winchester ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 20 March 1362:

Simon Sudbury (as Bishop of London ; 1375 Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 12 May 1370:

Thomas Brentingham (as Bishop of Exeter ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 January 1382:

Robert Braybrooke (as Bishop of London ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 February 1398:

Roger Walden (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 July 1398:

Henry Beaufort (as Bishop of Lincoln ; 1405 Bishop of Winchester ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 15 May 1435:

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 ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 21 May 1497:

Richard Fitzjames (as Bishop of Rochester ; 1503 Chichester; 1506 London ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 25 September 1502:

William Warham (as Bishop of London ; 1503 Cant) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 15 May 1521:

John Longlands (as Bishop of Lincoln ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 30 March 1533:

Thomas Cranmer (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in June 1536:

William Barlow (as Bishop of St. David's, Wales ; 1549 Bath ; 1559 Chichester ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 17 December 1559:

Matthew Parker (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 21 December 1559:

Edmund Grindal (as Bishop of London ; 1570 York ; 1576 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 21 April 1577:

John Whitgift (as Bishop of Worcester ; 1583 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 8 May 1597:

Richard Bancroft (as Bishop of London ; 1604 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 3 December 1609:

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 ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 December 1617:

George Montaigne (as Bishop of Lincoln; 1621 London ; 1628 Durham ; 1628 York ) assisted by John Howson (Bishop of Oxford) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 18 November 1621:

Bl. William Laud (as Bishop of St. David's, Wales ; 1626 Bath ; 1628 London ; 1633 Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 17 June 1638:

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 ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 6 December 1674:

Henry Compton (as Bishop of Oxford ; 1675 London ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 27 January 1678:

William Sancroft (as Archbishop of Canterbury ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 25 October 1685:

Thomas White (as Bishop of Peterborough , who was deposed in 1690 as a non-juror)
Under Royal Warrant from the exiled King James II Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 24 February 1693:

George Hickes (as Bishop of Thetford) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 24 February 1712:

James Gadderar (consecrated without a See because of penal conditions; later Bp. of Aberdeen and Moray) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 June 1727:

Thomas Rattray (as Bishop of Dunkold) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate in 1741:

William Falconar (as Bishop of Ross and Caithness ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 21 September 1768:

Robert Kilgour (as Bishop of Aberdeen) assisted by Bishop Coadjutor John Skinner (Aberdeen) & Bishop Arthur Petrie (Ross & Caithness) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 November 1784:

Samuel Seabury (as Bishop of Connecticut) assisted by Bishop William White, Bishop Samuel Provoost and Bishop James Madison Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 17 September 1792:

Thomas John Claggett (as Bishop of Maryland ) assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel Provoost Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 7 May 1797:

Edward Bass (as Bishop of Massachusetts ) assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel Provoost Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 18 October 1797:

Abraham Jarvis (as Bishop of Connecticut ) assisted by Bishop William White and Bishop Samuel Provoost Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 29 May 1811:

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 Hnery Hopkins (as Bishop of Vermont ) assisted by Bishop Benjamin B. Smith and Bishop Lee Henry Washington Consecrated to The Sacred piscopate on 15 November 1866:

George David Cummins (as Assistant Bishop of Kentucky ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 14 December 1873:

Charles Edward Cheney (for the Reformed Episcopal Church) assisted by Bishop George David Cummins Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 24 February 1876:

William Rufus Nicholson (Reformed Episcopal Church) assisted by Bishop Samuel Fallows Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 22 June 1879:

Alfred Spencer Richardson (Reformed Episcopal Church) assisting Bishop Charles Isaac Stevens (2nd 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) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 2 November 1897:

Andrew Charles Albert McLagen (as Titular Bishop of Claremont ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 June 1922:

Herbert James Monzoni Heard (as Mar Jacobus II, Archbishop of Selsey; 1930 Primate, Free Protestant Episcopal Church) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 13 June 1943:

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 ) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 10 April 1944:

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) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 6 June 1946:

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) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 August 1989:

Karl Julius Barwin(Primate, the Evangelical Catholic Church) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 25 May 2003;

John Moore (1730 - 1805) (Archbishop of Canterbury , 1783) assisted by William Markham (Abp. of York ), Bp. Charles Moss & Bp. John Hinchliffe Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 4 February 1787:

William White (1748 - 1836) Presiding Bishop, PECUSA: 1789, 1795 - 1835) assisted by Bishop Henry Hobart, Bishop James Kemp, Bishop John Croes & Bishop Nathaniel Brown Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 25 October 1827:

Henry Ustick Onderdonk (1789 - 1858) (Bishop of Pennsylvania ) assisted by Bishop George Washington Doane & Bishop Jackson Kemper Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 7 July 1836:

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 Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 6 December 1875:

William Edward McLaren (1831 - 1905) (Third PECUSA Bishop of Illinois ) assisted by Bishop George F. Seymour & Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 24 June 1898:

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 Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 2 January 1927:

Wallace David de Ortega Maxey (1902 - 1992)(Retired Primate, Apostolic Episcopal Church in America ) assisted byArchbishop 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) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 5 August 1989:

Karl Julius Barwin (1943 - ) (Primate, the Evangelical Catholic Church) Consecrated to The Sacred Episcopate on 25, May, 2003

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 Independents 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 Church-operated 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 Catholic Church of America.

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, TX.

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.

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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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 Catholic Church of America) 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 Catholic Church of America). Bp. Antonio Benicio López y Sierra was named Coadjutor 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.

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 Catholic Church of America. 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:

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, cooperating 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 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 Episcopate:

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 a hereditary patriarchate, a coadjutor 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 Ecumenical 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.

Maran Mar Rubil Shimun XVIII, Catholicos-Patriarch of Selucia-Ctesphen & All The East, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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 Sacred Episcopate:

Mar Paulus (William Stanley McBean Knight) as Bishop of Kent on 28 February 1925 A.D. Mar Paulus consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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 Reverend David Leondarides and Reverend 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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

Believing that Blacks should have a Church of their own, a PECUSA priest (the Reverend 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 uneconomical 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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

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 Sacred Episcopate:

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:

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:

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 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, 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) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:

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) as Mar 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 consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate: