The Evangelical Catholic Church sees Episcopal administration and Apostolic Succession as analogous to the formulation of the doctrines of the Trinity, Christology, Grace and the sacraments, i.e., a divinely willed, Spirit-directed development within The Church, the character of which is really and truly ecumenical because it took place uniformly both in the East and in the West. In the tripartition of the priestly office (deacon, priest, bishop) vibrates the triadic rhythm of the eternal divine life; in the monarchial bishop the ascended Christ, the invisible Head of The Church, becomes visible; and in the chain of bishops, consecrated by episcopal imposition of hands, the unbroken continuity is visualized, which unites The Church of this century with The Church of The Apostles. Thus the bonds of The Evangelical Catholic Church with those first days in Nazareth and Galilee remain unbroken, assured both by its faithful proclamation of The Gospel in all its apostolic purity and by its regular episcopal ordination of Bishops in Apostolic Succession. The ministry of our Bishops is in direct continuity with that of the Apostles of Jesus our God and only Redeemer. The Evangelical Catholic Church possesses both a valid Apostolic Succession and a faithful transmission of The Gospel in all its truth and purity.
The Evangelical Catholic understanding of The Church is based upon the principle, attested to in the Canons and Tradition of the Primitive Church, that each local community of The Faithful, gathered around Her Bishop and celebrating The Eucharist, is the local realization of the whole Body of Christ. "Where Christ is, there is the Catholic Church," ( Ignatius of Antioch, c. AD 100).
In the office of The Bishop is the fullness of the priesthood; the presbyter (priest) and deacon have the right to exercise only a portion of The Bishop's responsibilities and duties--they cannot function at all unless they are canonically subject to a Catholic and Orthodox Bishop (from whom they derive their rights, powers and responsibilities and to whom they are accountable).
The life and vitality of The Body of Christ, realized in each local community, is identical with that of all the other local churches in the present and in the past. This reality and continuity is manifested in the act of the consecration of bishops -- an act that requires the presence of several other bishops in order to constitute a conciliar act and to witness to the continuity of apostolic succession, faith and tradition.
Since the Bishop is primarily the guardian of the faith and, as such, the center of the sacramental life of The Faithful committed into his care, The Evangelical Catholic Church (with Dr Martin Luther and the other conservative Reformers of the Occidental Church) maintains the doctrine of apostolic succession -- i.e., the understanding that the ministry of the Bishop is in direct continuity with that of The Apostles. The Evangelical Catholic Church values Her ability to trace the consecration and ordination of Her clergy back to the Twelve Apostles of Christ and Her Beliefs to those espoused by the Catholic and Orthodox Church of all times and all places. Some of Her Apostolic Lines come from the following jurisdictions:
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).
In the ninth century the Rus (or Varangians) became masters of what is now western Russia and the indigenous Slavic population. Their chief centers of population were Novgorod, in the north, and Kiev, in the south (now part of the Ukraine). This ruling minority of mostly Swedish Vikings soon adopted the Slavonic tongue and customs of their subjects.
Tradition credits Saint Andrew The First-Called with planting the seeds of Christianity in the area about Kiev. These seeds were nurtured by the ministry of Saints Cyril & Methodius, now known as the Apostles of the Slaves, in The Ukraine beginning in AD 864, using the native language. They invented a Slavic alphabet (based upon the Greek), which is still used today. The north shore of The Black Sea had been settled by Christians at least as early as the fourth century. The Khazars, rulers of what is now southern Russia, had adopted Judaism. However, the missionary efforts supported by Patriarch Photius of Constantinople to the Khazars was so successful that they soon asked for a Bishop of their own. Just a
few years later Emperor Basil I ("The Macedonian") and Patriarch Ignatius commissioned a missionary
Bishop to the Russians, who made many converts.
The first known Christian ruler over the Kievan State is Saint Olga (Olha), dowager regent, who received Christian baptism in AD 950. Although she sent to Emperor Otto I of Germany for missionaries, they seemed to have had no marked success. It is Saint Vladimir (Volodymyr The Great), the grandson of St. Olga, who accepted baptism himself about AD 986 and then in AD 988 commanded the Christianization of his entire State, who is recognized as having initiated the conversion of Russia. Although St. Vladimir received delegates from The Pope and sent representatives to Rome, it was The Church of Constantinople which won his support. At the time of his death, in AD 1015, there were three bishoprics in his domains; based upon the foundations laid by St. Vladimir, Christianity continued its gradual, steady spread throughout Russia. The Metropolitan of Kiev, for centuries the administrative head of The Russian Church, was appointed by the Patriarch of Constantinople; he was usually a Greek, unfamiliar with The Faithful of Russia. The clergy were poorly trained and almost always too few for the size of the country.
The priests were chosen by their parishioners, while the bishops (a substantial minority of whom were also
foreigners with little understanding of the customs or language of their flocks) were selected by the local
princes.
The establishment of an independent Russian Church coincided with the decline of The Byzantine
Empire, and the simultaneous rise of The Russian Empire. This process was helped when Kiev was
destroyed during the Tartar invasion, and the Metropolitan consequently forced to move to Moscow (AD
1320). After the Grand Duke of Moscow (Ivan III) married a daughter of the nearest relative of the last
Emperor of Constantinople, he claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Emperors. He even
adopted the double-headed eagle, symbol of Imperial Byzantine power. Later, beginning in AD 1547, the
princes of the Russian State, as successors of the Byzantine Emperors, began calling themselves Czar (i.e., "Caesar"). It was only natural that they would seek the prestige of a self-governing independent Church in order to bolster their own temporal claims. Although the Russian Church claimed autocephaly from AD 1448, when the Russian Bishops began electing their own Primate (the Metropolitan of Moscow), official recognition of this independence by the ancient and historic patriarchates was not secured until AD 1590 (one year after Jeremiah II, Patriarch of Constantinople, was persuaded to invest Iob, the 46th Metropolitan of Moscow, as the first Russian Patriarch -- although Iob had been promoted to the rank of Patriarch by the Russian Bishops in AD 1453) at a meeting in Constantinople of all the Patriarchs of the historic Sees. When Constantinople fell to the Moslems on 29 May 1453, Russia became the only nation where the freedom of
The Orthodox Church remained unrestricted; this favorably influenced their claim for an independent
Patriarchate.
The Time of Troubles (civil war) which began in AD 1598 upon the death of Czar Fedor (Theodore), the childless son of Ivan IV, increased the Patriarch's political influence. It reached its height under Patriarch Filaret, whose son, Michael, at the age of sixteen, became the first Czar of the Romanov Dynasty. When
Patriarch Adrian died in AD 1700, Czar Peter The Great refused to allow the election of a new Patriarch,
leaving Stefan Iavorskii as Locum Tenens for 21 years. In AD 1721 Czar Peter finally promulgated a new constitution for The Church, which suspended the office of Patriarch and placed the governance of The
Church under an Holy Synod.
Copying the example of Henry VIII of England, the government-imposed new Church constitution
made The Czar the Head of The Church of Russia. It went further than King Henry, however, by providing
for a Lay Procurator (a government official) to administer The Church's day-to-day affairs. This
"constitutional" subjugation of The Church to the Russian State established the precedent of direct
governmental control over and interference in all the affairs of The Russian Orthodox Church -- a practice
continued until the end of the 20th century by the atheistical government of the U.S.S.R.
After the overthrow of Czar Nikolai II in March of AD 1917, The Russian Orthodox Church
immediately convened a national Sobor to reform The Church and revive the Patriarchate of Moscow, which Czar Peter The Great had suspended. Metropolitan Tikhon, who had earlier been Russian Archbishop in
America, won the election and assumed the office of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in November of
that year, almost simultaneously with the outbreak of the Communist Revolution. This All-Russian Council
(Sobor) attempted to restore sobornost -- the active participation of the whole Church (bishops, clergy, and laity) in every aspect of the Church's life, in contrast to the bureaucratic centralization which had ruled The Church under the secular and often hostile government of Russia since the creation of The Holy Synod by Czar Peter The Great.
The new reäctionary Communist government of Russia immediately placed severe restrictions upon the revitalized and reforming Church of Russia. In view of the vigorous anti-religion activities of the new Russian government, Patriarch Tikhon issued a statement in AD 1917 urging The Russian Faithful to act
independently to preserve The Church. Some of the Bishops of The Russian Church attempted to heed The
Patriarch's advice by establishing a separate independent Church administration in southeastern Russia.
The advance of the Bolsheviks, however, forced these faithful shepherds into exile.
In November of 1920 these refugee Bishops organized The Supreme Church Administration for Churches Outside of Russia in Istanbul (Constantinople), with the approval of The Öcumenical Patriarch. At the invitation of The Patriarch of Serbia, The Supreme Church Administration moved to Yugoslavia.
Twelve of these Bishops, with representatives of the clergy and laity, organized a Sobor at Sremski
Karlovtsi, Yugoslavia, on 21 November to 2 December 1921, under the presidency of Anthony Khrapovitski,
Metropolitan of Kiev and Galich and under the canonical authority of an ukase (i.e., an Edict having the
force of law) issued in AD 1920 by Patriarch Tikhon. The result of this meeting was the organization of The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, sometimes called The Synodal Church.
Patriarch Tikhon, who vigorously opposed the inhumane and atheistic policies of the revolutionary
regime, was cruelly imprisoned on 9 May 1922. The Communists refused to permit an election for his
successor when he died in AD 1925. Metropolitan Petr of Krutica became Locum Tenes (Patriarchal Vicar), but he, too, was almost immediately imprisoned. He was succeeded later that year by Sergii, the
Metropolitan of Nizhni-Novgorod, who tried to make peace with the new Soviet government. Although he
suffered temporary imprisonment (December AD 1926 to April 1927), he issued a declaration in July of AD
1927 changing The Church's official stance towards the Communist government from one of hostility to one
of praise and coöperation. Outside observers have called this declaration of The Metropolitan either the great betrayal or the great salvation of The Russian Church.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia naturally disapproved of the coöperation between the Patriarchal Church and the atheistic Communist government in Russia, as first formulated in the letters issued by Metropolitan (later Patriarch) Sergii in AD 1926 and AD 1927. Because of the inappropriate influence seemingly exercised by the anti-religious government of Russia, The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia refused to recognize The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in any way on the grounds that the Communist government completely controlled the patriarchate.
With the invasion of Mother Russia by the Nazis (Russia's former ally in the partition of Poland at
the beginning of World War II), the political climate changed in Moscow. Metropolitan Sergii urged The
Faithful to sincerely support the Russian war effort against the Nazis; he issued calls to arms, organized fund
raising rallies, and did everything possible to ensure the protection of his people and the defense of The
Church. By 1 October 1944 The Church had donated 150,000,000 rubles, as well as gifts "in kind," to the Communist government. These many sacrifices and contributions for Russia gained him the favorable
attention of the then current Communist Dictator, Josef Stalin, who finally granted the Metropolitan's request
for new patriarchal elections. Sergii was elected Patriarch on 7 September 1943; he unfortunately died
within six months. After that The Kremlin permitted subsequent elections within a year of each vacancy and
had made The Orthodox Church of Russia one of the few officially recognized Christian organizations in the
Soviet Union -- following the precedent established by Czar Peter The Great. The Sobor to elect the new
Patriarch was held 31 January to 2 February 1945. The Patriarch of Alexandria, Patriarch of Antioch, and
the Catholicos of Georgia attended this Sobor, together with 44 Russian Bishops, 126 clergy, and
representatives of the laity. The Sobor elected Alexis as the new Russian Patriarch. They thus established
a "working model" for the other European Communist countries to follow in dealing with Religion. However, all other potential national Orthodox jurisdictions within the then-U.S.S.R., with the exception of the ancient and historic patriarchates of Armenia and Georgia, were merged into the Moscow Patriarchate, as were some Eastern-Rite Roman Catholics and many other Christian jurisdictions and sects.
The Orthodox Church of Russia has been increasingly active in international Orthodox and
ecumenical affairs during the last few decades of the 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 rapproachment between the exile-jurisdictions and their mother
churches.......yet. With the Moscow Patriarchate's vigorous pursuit of the return of Church property in
foreign lands which has been administered since the Communist Revolution in Russia by The Synodal
Church, the rift between the Synodal Church and the Moscow Patriarchate may never be healed. 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. 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). Bishop Makarij (Michael Nevskij, 1835 - 02/16/26) was consecrated in 1884 by Bishop Nikon of The Russian Orthodox Church. He was elected Archbishop in 1906 and served as Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomenskoe from 1912-1917. Archbishop Makarij (Macarius) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Bishop Evdokim (Basil Michaelovic Meschersky, 1869 - 1935) as Vicar Bishop, Diocese of Moscow, on 4 January 1904. Bishop Evdokim became Archbishop of Alaska and North America for The Russian Orthodox Church in 1914. Archbishop Evdokim consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Bishop Aftimios (Abdullah Ofiesh, 1880 - 1966) as Bishop of Brooklyn on 13 May 1917, assisted by Bishop Stephen Alexander Dzubay of Pittsburgh and Bishop Alexander Alexandrovich Nemolovksy, Bishop of Canada. Bishop Aftimios became Archbishop of The Syrian Orthodox Mission of The North American Diocese of The Russian Orthodox Church in 1923. In 1927, urged on by the chaotic conditions in Russia, the canonical Russian Patriarchial Bishops in the U.S.A. acted upon instructions and advice issued earlier by Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, and emphasized by his successor, the Locum Tenens (Sergius), and Commissioned Bishop Aftimios to be Archbishop and to found and head an autocephalous American Orthodox Catholic Church. Archbishop Aftimios consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
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 Old Roman Catholic Church) as Bishop for The Orthodox Catholic Patriarchate of America. He later left Ptr. Zhurawetsky's jurisdiction in 1961 and founded the American Orthodox Catholic Church. In 1964 he resigned as Primate of that jurisdiction while remaining Archbishop Metropolitan of Denver. On 10 August 1976, Abp. Zeiger was consecrated at St. Paul's Monastery, La Porte, Indiana, by Abp/Primate Joseph John Skureth (Western Orthodox Catholic Church) assisted by Bishop Joseph Gabriel Sokolowski, O.S.B. (Abbot General, St. Paul's Monastery, La Porte, Indiana; consecrated 16 March 1970 by Abp. Joseph John Skureth & Bp. Frank Blevins). Abp. Zeiger consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate:
Bishop Andre Leon Zotique Barbeau (11/22/12 - 2/14/94) on 8 August 1976, assisted by Bishop Gordon Albert Da Costa (Anglican Church of the Americas; consecrated 19 June 1971 by Bp. Benjamin C. Eckardt of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church, assisted by Bp. Charles Kennedy Samuel Steward Moffat and Bp. Albert J. Fuge). He was earlier consecrated on 14 May 1968 at the Pro-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, by Bp. Charles Brearley (Old Holy Catholic Church; consecrated 16 June 1954 by Marziano II, Basileus of Constantinople and of All the Christian Orient {Prince de Deols, Alessandro Licastro de la Chastre Grimaldi-Lascaris}, claimant to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire of the Orient as the 269th Emperor) and later on 26 July 1973 by Bishop Garry Robert Armstrong (Liberal Catholic Church International; consecrated 8 October 1972 by Bp. William Henry Daw of the Liberal Catholic Church International). He was further consecrated sub conditione on 19 August 1976 by Abp. Josef Maria Thiesen (Alt Roemisch Katholische Kirche in Germany; consecrated 17 April 1949 by Bp. Aloysius Stumpfl) and on 12/12/76 s.c. at the Cite de Marie, Mirabel, Quebec, Canada by Bp. George Bellemare (Eglise Universelle de la Nouvelle Alliance; consecrated 7 July 1975 by Bp. Roger Caro, assisted by Bp. Maurice Auberger and Bp. Patrick LeBar). Patriarch Barbeau consecrated sub conditione to the Sacred Episcopate:
Archbishop Leonard J. Curreri (07/27/46 - ) on 30 July 1977 at Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, assisted by Archbishop Rainer Laufer (Old Holy Catholic Church of Canada; Abp. Laufer was consecrated 18 November 1975 by: Bp. Charles Brearley of The Old Holy Catholic Church; Abp. Andre LeTellier, Titular Archbishop of Hippo and Archbishop Coadjutor of Montreal, Canada, Catholic Charismatic Church of Canada; and Bp. Jean-Marie Breault, Titular Bishop of Bethlehem and Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal, Catholic Charismatic Church of Canada), as Primate of The Tridentine Catholic Church. Abp. Curreri was first consecrated at Holy Cross Polish Catholic Church, New York City, on 23 April 1977 by Bp. Francis Joseph Ryan (Ecumenical Orthodox Catholic Church--Autocephalous; Bp. Ryan was consecrated in 1965 by Ptr. Udladyslau Ryzy-Ryski), assisted by Bp. Holmes Bennett Dayhoff (Tridentine Catholic Church) and Bp. John Basilo (American Orthodox Catholic Church; Bp. Basilo was consecrated by Walter Myron Propheta). Archbishop Curreri consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Bishop Peter Paul Brennan (1941 - ) on 10 June 1978 at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church, Long Island, New York, assisting Bishop Richard Thomas McFarland (African Orthodox Church). He was consecrated sub conditione on 4 October 1979 by Archbishop Leonard J. Curreri (Tridentine Catholic Church), assisted by Archbishop Peter James G. Grazeloa (American National Catholic Church) and Bp. Holmes Bennett Dayhoff. In 1984 Abp. Brennan became head of the Ecumenical Catholic Diocese of the Americas based in West Hempstead, New York. Abp. Brennan consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Bishop Howard D. van Orden (1938 - ) on 14 October 1984, assisting Bp. Patrick J. Callahan (Old Roman Catholic Church--Utrecht Succession; Bp. Callahan was consecrated on 17 April 1984 by Abp. Emile Federico Rodriguez y Fairfield and Abp. Paul G. W. Schultz) as Bishop of The Western Rite Orthodox Catholic Church of Jesus in St. Stephen's Orthodox Catholic Church of Savannah, Georgia. Bishop van Orden consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
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).
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).
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). 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). Cyrillos VIII Jeha (Petros Geha, 1840--1916), the Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Athanasios (Melece Saouaya/Sawoya, 3/15/1870 -- 4/6/1919) on 5 February 1905 in The Chapel of St Michael at Cairo, Egypt, as Metropolitan Archbishop of Beirut and Gebeil, Lebanon. Abp. Athanasios (Sawoya) consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Antoun Anid (Anthony Aneed, 2/27/1881 -- 8/24/1970) on 9 October 1911 in New York as Assistant Bishop (although not recognized by Rome, this consecration was later recognized by Patriarch Kirillus IX Mughabghab of The Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch). On 1 January 1946 Bishop Anid was enthroned as Patriarch of The Byzantine Universal (Catholic) and Orthodox Church of the Americas. Patriarch Anid, together with Primate Lowell Paul Wadle (The American Catholic Church), Bishop Henry Joseph Kleefisch (The Byzantine Universal Orthodox Church), and Bishop Charles H. Hampton (The Old Roman Catholic Church), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Mar David I (Wallace David de Ortega Maxey, 02/22/1902 - 03/12/1992) on 23 August 1945. He became the Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church in America on 7 July 1948 but later resigned from that office, not returning to The Apostolic Episcopal Church in America until the early 1970's. Mar David, assisted by Primate Robert Ronald Ramm (The Apostolic Episcopal Catholic Church), consecrated to the Sacred Episcopate:
Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson and enthroned him as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Church on 7 November 1986. Abp. Persson succeeded Abp. Robert Ronald Ramm on 11 November 1986 as Primate of The Apostolic Episcopal Catholic Church. Archbishop Persson also serves as the Missionary General for Scandinavia and All Europe for both the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Catholic Church, confirmed 15 June 1988; this is a member jurisdiction of The Anglican Communion) and the Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasiliera (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, confirmed 14 June 1987). Archbishop Persson consecrated de novo to the Sacred Episcopate:
Bishop Karl J. Barwin as Primate of The Evangelical Catholic Church on 5 August 1989, assisted by Archbishop Emile Federico Rodrigues y Fairfield (Iglesia Ortodoxa Catolica Apostolica Mexicana), Bishop Carroll T. Lowery (The Apostolic Episcopal Church), Archbishop Arthur J. Garrow (The Archiepiscopate Ordinariate of Healing Arts Missionaries & Chaplains in America) and Bishop Howard D. van Orden (Order of St. Jude; Archbishop of Albuquerque and Dependencies, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), each assisting, coöperating and co-consecrating by laying on hands and uttering all the words of consecration. Assisting in this consecration as Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Paul Christian Gerald W. Schultz (Archbishop of Los Angeles and Administrator of The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), Bishop Petros (Eric Tan Ong Veloso, Orthodox Catholic Church in The Philippines), Bishop Christopher J. Rogers (Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), and Bishop Marciel (Michael Marshall, Orthodox Old Catholic Church). 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). 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. The Church of England was planted in North America in 1607, at the foundation of the Jamestown
Colony. It achieved quasi-establishment in Maryland and Virginia, and was "tolerated" in the other
colonies, with the exception of New England, where the few Anglicans living there were bitterly
persecuted and harassed.
The foundation for control of the Church by the laity (congregational form of polity) was firmly laid
at this time. The appointment of clergy to serve parishes was almost totally in the hands of the laity who
refused to allow priests a title to the benefits of their office which appointment/installation would allow,
but preferred to pay Chaplains whom they could "fire" at will. This resulted in the ranks of the clergy being filled with very unworthy men and reduced the priest to the position of being an
hireling/employee of the laity, consequently resulting in the laity's contempt.
As there were no resident bishops in North America, the Anglican parishes here were under the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, who governed them by means of commissaries. The power of
the laity was so strong, however, and the class of men willing to serve as hirelings rather than priests
so inferior, that the spiritual state of Anglicanism in the American colonies was very weak.
At the close of The War of Independence, Episcopalians, as they were then commonly called, realized that The Church must have a national organization if it was to prosper and grow. The biggest obstacle
to creating a National Church was the lack of a national hierarchy. In Connecticut, the former
Congregational converts to Anglicanism considered a bishop to be of absolute necessity. The
Connecticut clergy therefore elected the Rev'd Samuel Seabury as their Bishop and gave him the
mandate to go abroad and obtain valid Apostolic Orders.
The Anglican Bishops in England could not by law consecrate any one who would not take the Oath of Allegiance to the Monarch of the Realm, however. It would have been impossible, therefore, for Bishop-elect Seabury to return to America if he had received consecration as a British subject who had sworn allegiance to the King of England. With the refusal of the English bishops to bestow episcopal consecration, Fr. Seabury proceeded to Scotland. After prolonged negotiations with the Nonjuring bishops of Scotland, he finally obtained their consent to confer Apostolic Succession upon him.
The Nonjuring Bishops of Scotland were the remnant of the Church which the Stuarts had endeavored to establish in Scotland but which had lost the protection of the State as well as all Church endowments by remaining supporters of James II. The average Scotsman considered them to be almost as obnoxious as Roman Catholics and certainly just as dangerous.
The Nonjuring Bishops of Scotland were extremely High Church. They abandoned the Calvinistic doctrine of the Holy Eucharist espoused in The 39 Articles of The Church of England and returned to the "Lutheran" doctrine of the 1549 Articles. They used Holy Chrism in Confirmation, were considered firm believers in the sacerdotal character of the Holy Priesthood, and adamant in the necessity of Apostolic Succession and Episcopal Ordination.
Dr. Seabury was consecrated by the Nonjuring Bishops on 14 November 1784. Immediately after his consecration to the office and work of Bishop, he signed a Concordat with the Nonjurors (on 15 Nov. 1784) agreeing to introduce the liturgical and doctrinal beliefs and practices of the Nonjurors into the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. He specifically promised to persuade the American Church to use the Prayer of Consecration taken largely unchanged by The Episcopal Church of Scotland from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. Upon his return to Connecticut he organized and governed his Diocese according to the doctrine and practice of his Consecrators. The "children" were no longer allowed to rule and control The Church. Bishop Seabury governed and ruled the Episcopal Church in Connecticut according to Biblical and ancient canonical practices; the laity was excluded from all deliberations, ecclesiastical councils and control of ecclesiastical affairs. In effect, Bishop Seabury is the Father of the traditional High Church party within PECUSA, marked by evangelical piety united with high sacramental ideals.
In stark contrast to the understanding of The Church adopted by Bishop Seabury in Connecticut, a very non-Catholic and non-historic view of Church polity was adopted in New York, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia. Dr. William White, Rector of Christ Church, believed that the Episcopal Church must assent
to and adopt the secular, non-Biblical principle of "representative government." He was even willing to employ the practice of Presbyterian Ordination until such time as a valid Apostolic Succession could be obtained from The Church of England. Surprisingly, Presbyterian Ordination found little favor among the Faithful of Pennsylvania. Fortunately an Act was passed in the English Parliament allowing English bishops to confer the Episcopacy upon men not subject to the British Crown. Consequently, Dr. William White (Bishop-Elect of Pennsylvania) and Dr. Samuel Provoost (Bishop-Elect of New York) were consecrated at the hands of the 88th Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. John Moore, on Septuagesima Sunday, 4 February 1787.
Upon the return of Bishops White and Provoost to the United States, there were so many differences between the Connecticut Church and that of the Middle and Southern States, that a merger or union could not be immediately effected. When Dr. James Madison was elected to be Bishop of Virginia, he was forced to go to England to be consecrated since Bishop Provost of New York (perhaps the Father of what later came to be known as the Broad Church party within PECUSA) refused to act in conjunction with the Bishop of Connecticut. (Bishop White might be considered the Father of the Evangelical party within PECUSA, with its belief in the desirability -- rather than the necessity -- of Apostolic Succession and its desire to closely coöperate with all other churches of the Reformation.) The foundation for differing doctrines of The Church were already evident at this early time within The Protestant Episcopal Church. The union was finally cemented in 1792, when Dr. Thomas John Claggert was elected Bishop of Maryland. There were now three "valid" Anglican bishops in the U.S.A. (excluding Dr. Seabury). Bishop Provoost of New York therefore withdrew his objections to allowing Dr. Seabury to participate in Dr. Claggert's consecration. Had Bishop Seabury not been invited to participate in the consecration of Dr. Claggert, the result would have been a schism between Connecticut and the other States.
With a membership well in excess of one million members, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente has long been considered one of the largest Catholic jurisdictions not under obedience to Rome.
Sometimes called the "Aglipayan" Church, this national Church is the daughter Church of The Roman Catholic Church of The Philippines rather than a result of the movement to restore Orthodoxy to the Occidental Church of Europe during the Middle Ages. Her history, however, is firmly linked to the history of Spain.
Almost four centuries ago the power of Spain overshadowed all other European nations in the Americas. In the same year that Cortes conquered Mexico, Magellan discovered the Philippines in the Pacific - which Spain governed, robbed, and oppressed for three hundred and seventy-five years (until she lost control on May 1, 1898, when the U.S. fleet, under Commadore George Dewey, sailed into the Bay of Manila and won a victory as complete and astonishing as that of Cortes in Mexico).
Spain's misrule in her colonies (Magellan began his rule in The Philippines by decapitating the beloved native ruler) produced a chronic state of insurrection; one after another, her colonies slipped from her grasp (Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, The Argentine, Mexico, Louisiana, Florida, and the greater part of the East Indies). She ceded Louisiana to France in 1800, Florida to the United States in 1819, and a few years later Mexico achieved her independence. Yet Spain still had the rich islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the West Indies and The Philippines in the East Indies; but these were quickly lost after her humiliating defeat by the Americans.
Just as the Spanish colonial government had oppressed the Filipino people, so also the Church of Rome (thru the rule of the local parishes by the Friars) greatly oppressed the native population. When Commadore Dewey won The Battle of Manila and occupied the city, he had to set up an American defense force to protect the former Spanish colonial rulers (civil and religious) and allow them to leave the islands. The National Philippine Militia was at the gates of Manila and had vowed to kill all Spaniards. Commadore Dewey was later commended by most European powers for the honorable way in which he had handled this matter.
It was not that The Church of Rome and Her clergy, even the Friars, had worked in vain. The native population had been brought the hope of The Gospel, which survives today in the vigorous folk devotion in the villages and the equally vigorous intellectual life of the larger cities of The Philippines.
Never the less, the Spanish colonial system, which identified The Church of Rome with the official colonial government (State), had put into the hands of the religious a tempting power which bore seeds of abuse and corruption. By the nineteenth century, the Spanish Friars enjoyed such a suffocating monopoly on farmland that they became the main target of the revolutionary literature which finally united the Filipino people in armed rebellion in 1896.
Within the Church of Rome in The Philippines, the Filipino clergy agitated against the arbitrary power of the foreign Friars. They also suffered from what might be called "racial discrimination" in that native clergy always occupied second-rate positions, and none were ever elevated to the episcopal rank.
In 1872 three native priests were executed for taking an anti-friar stand, an act not forgotten by the native clergy.
But Commadore Dewey's arrival in Manila Bay revived the stalemated native Filipino-Spanish hostilities. After the Battle of Manila and the occupation of Manila by Dewey, Father Gregorio Aglipay (of Illocos Norte) was appointed Vicar General of the Revolutionary Army by General Emilio Aguinaldo. In addition, the Spanish Bishop Jose Hevia Campomanes, a prisoner of the Filipino forces, named Fr. Aglipay the Ecclesiastical Governor of Nueva Segovia, a huge Episcopal See covering all of Northern Luzon.
The growing ranks of rebel native priests, now led by Fr. Aglipay, petitioned the Papal Nuncio for a native episcopacy. He promptly told them that "the Pope would never agree because . . . Filipinos were not capable of episcopacy."
The same day the Filipino native clergy received the insulting dictum of the Papal Nuncio in 1901, they announced their withdrawal from The Church of Rome under the slogan "An Independent Church in an Independent Philippines." The fiery Don Isabelo de los Reyes, a journalist, folklorist and labor organizer who led the lay delegates of the native clergy (and whose son some fifty years later was to become the Obispo Maximo of the Independent Church) urged an independent Church be founded immediately.
After some days of deliberation, the native clergy proceeded to elect seventeen native clergy as bishops and Fr. Gregorio Aglipay as The Supreme Bishop (Obispo Maximo). Thus was born the Iglesia Catolica Filipina Independiente, which is also termed the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.
At the time of its formation the language of the realm was Spanish. In the English language the
Church is known as The Philippine Independent Catholic Church or The Independent Catholic Church of The Philippines.
Father Aglipay, who was now called Monsignor Aglipay by his followers, was not only a loyal patriot but also a priest in Holy Orders of The Church of Rome. Although he realized that, in Rome's view, he could transmit to new priests valid presbyterial orders and thus establish a valid priesthood, he sought for a "regular" consecration to the episcopacy that would bring in line the Apostolic Succession of the ancient and truly Catholic Church.
He corresponded with the Old Catholics of Europe, the Episcopalians of the United States, and The Apostolic Episcopal Church of Bishop Wolfert Brooks of New York without success.
The native Church, however, grew rapidly, and was encouraged by the American presence in The Philippines. Governor-General William H. Taft was appointed and accepted the position of Honorary President of the Independent Church before he left for the United States in 1903.
The two million Filipinos who had joined Msgr. Aglipay in his revolt against The Church of Rome took possession of the buildings in which they had been worshipping for generations. Challenged by The Church of Rome in U.S. courts, all properties were taken away from the people and handed back to The Church of Rome.
Starting all over again, the Independientes nevertheless built Chapels and Churches throughout the country. Yet compared to The Church of Rome, they were a Church in poverty and could provide no 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 Old Roman Catholic Church.
Although three Bishops were consecrated to initiate the Mexican hierarchy (Jose Joaquin Perez y Budar, Antonio Lopez Sierra and Dr. Macario Lopez Valdes), the "Nationalistas" (as they were called), failed to replace The Church of Rome in Mexico and today only one remnant parish in Mexico and the East Los Angeles parish of Bishop Emil F. Rodriquez y Fairfield remain. Unlike the Filipinos, the Mexicans demanded continued celibacy in their national independent Church and were unable to recruit new priests.
Near the turn of the nineteenth century, some Protestant Episcopal Bishops (such as Charles Chapman Grafton, who became Bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1888), espoused the so-called "Three Branch Theory" of the Church. The idea was that one branch was The Church of Rome, another branch was the Orthodox Church under Constantinople, and the third branch was The Church of England. Thus, it was thought, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. would eventually become the TRUE American Catholic Church; and in a time before The Church of Rome was firmly established in the United States, PECUSA had high hopes.
It was the echo of this Branch Theory of Bishop Grafton that prevented the PECUSA from acting in the case of Mexico, and thus lost to the non-papal Christians the whole country of Mexico which, having cast out The Church of Rome and Her clergy, might have brought into the country the enlightenment that PECUSA claimed was Hers. But they did nothing until it was too late to do anything. The ideal was one branch only per country, and this idea blinded PECUSA's eyes at that time.
PECUSA did not again want to miss the opportunity for missionary advancement. When, after several years of correspondence, Isabelo de los Reyes, Jr., became the leader of the Philippine national Church, PECUSA set aside the Branch Theory for one of "side-by-side" jurisdictions in the same land.
On April 7, 1948, Isabela de los Reyes, Jr., and two other native bishops were consecrated to the Sacred Episcopacy by Bishop Norman S. Binstead of the PECUSA Missionary District of The Philippines, assisted by his suffragan (Bishop Robert F. Wilner) and the Rt. Rev'd Harry S. Kennedy (PECUSA Bishop of Honolulu).
The three newly consecrated Philippine prelates then consecrated all the other native Bishops and ordained all priests and deacons according to the PECUSA rite.
The Apostolic Succession obtained by the Philippine Independent Church was that of PECUSA - from The Church of England. A few years later, when European Old Catholics assisted in Filipino Episcopal consecrations, the Old Catholic Lines of the European Bishops were added.
For many years the Independents and the Philippine Episcopalians walked side by side in harmony. However, over the years, differences developed. The "High Church" versus the "Low Church" problems of the Episcopalians in the USA did not appear as such in The Philippines, the conflicting parties rather seemed to be grouped as Pro-Protestant (or Pro-PECUSA) and Pro-Catholic.
More recently groups have favored former President Ferdinand Marcos who, as an infant, was baptized into the Independent Church
