TTTt Apostolic Succession

(Old Catholic)

 

 

The Right Reverend Seán Manchester, O.S.G.

 

“Have you an Apostolic Succession? Unfold the line of your Bishops.”

~ Tertullian, 3rd Century.

 

“If Catholic doctrine is true, every priest validly ordained derives his orders in an unbroken

line of laying of hands, through the bishop who ordains him, back to the twelve Apostles.”

~ Anthony Kenny, A Path From Rome, 1985.

 

 

The historical continuity of the apostolic succession here imparted cannot be questioned. It can be traced in an unbroken line to the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, Cardinal Antonio Barberini the Younger, prior to which it unfolds backwards to the Holy Apostles and Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (following the widely known and much published Roman Catholic line).

 

From 1657 until his death in 1671, Cardinal Barberini, Archbishop of Rheims, consecrated as his coadjutor Charles-Maurice Le Tellier.

 

On 21 September 1670, by the orders of Pope Clement X, Le Tellier consecrated, (episcopally ordained and raised to the episcopate) Jacques-Benigne Bossuet.

 

Bossuet, as Bishop of Meaux, consecrated Jacques Goyon de Matignon on 24 October 1693 who, as Bishop of Condom, passed the succession on 12 February 1719 to Dominque-Marie Varlet.

 

Varlet, as Bishop of Babylon, on 17 October 1739 consecrated Petrus Jonhannes Meindaerts, Archbishop of Utrecht, who on 11 July 1745 consecrated Johannes van Stiphout, Bishop of Haarlem, who on 7 February 1768 consecrated Walter Michael van Nieuwenhuisen, Archbishop of Utrecht, who on 21 June 1778 consecrated Adrian Johannes Broekman, Bishop of Harlaam, who on 5 July 1797 consecrated Johannes Jacobus van Rhijn, Archbishop of Utrecht, who on 7 November 1805 consecrated Gisbert Cornelius de Jong, Bishop of Deventer, who on 24 April 1814 consecrated Willibrord van Os, Archbishop of Utrecht, who on 12 April 1819 consecrated Johannes Bon, Bishop of Harlaam, who on 14 June 1825 consecrated Johannes van Santen, Archbishop of Utrecht, who on 17 July 1854 consecrated Herman Heykamp, Bishop of Deventer, who on 11 August 1873 consecrated Gaspard Johannes Rinkel, Bishop of Haarlem, who on 11 May 1892 consecrated Gerardus Gul, Archbishop of Utrecht.

 

On 28 April 1908, Gerardus Gul consecrated Arnold Harris Mathew as Regionary Old Catholic Bishop for Great Britain and Ireland, thus bringing the Utrecht succession of the Old Catholic Church to the British Isles. This is known as the Mathew Line.

 

Arnold Harris Mathew, as Archbishop of London, on 28 October 1914 consecrated Frederick Samuel Willoughby, Bishop of St Pancras, who on 9 July 1922 consecrated James Bartholomew Banks, Bishop of Mercia, Primate of the Old Catholic Orthodox Church, who on 28 May 1940 consecrated Sidney Ernest Paget Needham, Bishop of Mercia, who on 4 January 1945 consecrated Hugh George de Willmott Newman, Archbishop of Glastonbury, who on 27 May 1950 consecrated Harold Percival Nicholson, Archbishop of Karim, who on 20 March 1955 consecrated Jan Frederick Assendelft-Attland, Archbishop of the Ancient Catholic Church of France, who on 20 May 1955 consecrated Irenaeus d’Eschevannes, Archbishop of Arles, who on 5 May 1957 consecrated Jean Pierre Danyel, Bishop of Redon, Primate of the Holy Celtic Church, who on 15 August 1966 consecrated John Nicholas Collins, Auxiliary of the Old Roman Catholic Church of Canada, who on 15 December 1968 consecrated Peter Cockburn Distin, Auxiliary of the Holy Celtic Church, Superior of the Order of the Atonement, who on 26 April 1969 consecrated Anthony Walter John Williams, Primate of the Holy Celtic Church, who on 20 May 1979 consecrated Illtyd Thomas, Primate of the Celtic Catholic Church, who, together with Michael Weston and James Henry Vermeulen, on 4 October 1991, consecrated Seán Manchester, Superior General for Ordo Sancti Graal*, Founder of the Sacerdotal Society of the Precious Blood, Primate/Bishop (with dignity of Archbishop) for Ecclesia Apostolica Jesu Christi (an autocephalous Old Catholic jurisdiction). On 1 July 1993 Seán Manchester was enthroned at the Abbey ruins as Bishop of Glastonbury. On 20 February 2002, he became Presiding Bishop for the British Old Catholic Church.

 

Those named in the above paragraph are Old Catholic bishops in the Mathew Line of the Utrecht Succession. However, several were further consecrated, eg  Illtyd Thomas was subsequently consecrated sub conditione on 27 July 1985 by Bertil Persson whose Holy Orders are accepted by the Utrecht Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands. Thus on 4 October 1991 Bishop Seán Manchester inherited Archbishop Bertil Persson’s lines of apostolic succession; plus, of course, those of Illtyd Thomas held prior to his consecration sub conditione  in 1985 by Archbishop Persson. This apostolic succession, and the Holy Orders held by those properly ordained and consecrated within it, are beyond question and, moreover, are accepted as valid by the Old Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, the Orthodox Churches, Episcopal and Anglican Communions.

 

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When Bishop Seán Manchester was consecrated by Bishop Illtyd Thomas, Bishop Michael Weston and Bishop Henry Vermeulen on 4 October 1991 at a Church in Hertfordshire, he inherited multifarious lines of apostolic succession for which the above table is but one single strand in the Old Catholic table alone. He also inherited the Chaldean Catholic line, the Armenian Catholic line, the Russian Orthodox line, the Syrian Orthodox line, the Assyrian line, the Greek-Melkite line, the Syro-Gallican line, the Anglican and Non-Juring lines, etc.

 

Upon his episcopal consecration Bishop Seán Manchester received congratulations from many church leaders, notably the late Cardinal Basil Hume’s ecumenical advisor for the Roman Catholic Church, Father Michael Seed of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, many Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Old Catholic Archbishops, including Archbishop Nils Bertil Alexander Persson of Sweden who stressed the importance of being “able to refer to many different valid successions” when “working ecumenically.” Dr Persson was Primate Emeritus of the Apostolic Episcopal Church and Missionary General to the Philippine Independent Catholic Church (which is in full communion with Canterbury and Utrecht) until his retirement. He was also the Primate VIII of the Order of Corporate Reunion (see below).

 

The Rt. Rev’d Seán Manchester, Bishop of Glastonbury

Presiding Bishop: British Old Catholic Church

Primate: Ecclesia Apostolica Jesu Christi

Superior General: Ordo Sancti Graal *

 

 

*Ordo Sancti Graal is a dispersed Order of disciples that exists to teach true and sound doctrine, according to Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, including the Holy Councils and Decrees of the Church and Her lawful authority, to provide community and normalcy, which shall foster the spirit of charity and unity amongst those faithful to tradition, to help bring about Christ’s Kingdom through prayer, penance, service and devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

 

Dr Persson was the Primate VIII of the Order of Corporate Reunion. He does not connect his Order of Corporate Reunion lines back to the efforts of Mar Georgius to re-establish the Order of Corporate Reunion, but directly back to Bishop Frederick George Lee. The fruit from the Mar Georgius line too often has ended up in dark places outside of the Light of the Blessed Trinity.

Dr Persson also has direct lines back to the American Orthodox Church through his main consecrator.

Thus Dr Nils Bertil Alexander was consecrated by Archbishop Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm on 12 December 1971. Dr Persson thereafter became the Primate Emeritus of the Apostolic Episcopal Church.

Bertil Persson was consecrated by Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm who was consecrated by John Chrysostom More-Moreno of the American Orthodox Church on 6 December 1949.

John Chrysostom More-Moreno of the American Orthodox Church was consecrated in November 1933 by Sophronios Bishara of the American Orthodox Church.

Sophronios Bishara was consecrated as the American Orthodox Bishop of Los Angeles and the West on 26 May 1928, in New York City, by Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh, the first Primate of the American Orthodox Church.

Aftimios Ofiesh also consecrated Nichols and it is from Nichols that many of the Old Roman Catholic lines come to American and Canadian Catholic-Orthodox bishops.

Bishop Georgius, Archbishop Ignatius (William Albert) Nichols was the USA Provincial I of the Order of Corporate Reunion. A William Nichols line descends to Francis J Ryan and from there to Compton-Caputo .

 

Francis Spataro is the present Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, North America, and he was also directly consecrated by Bertil Persson as his main consecrator. Francis Spataro also has other lines from Mar Georgius which intersect with Nichols.

 

Arthur William Howarth (Primate IV of the Order of Corporate Reunion) was consecrated 13 June 1910 by Arnold Harris Mathew, assisted by Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare and Henry Arthur Stanton (Primate II of the Order of Corporate Reunion).

A historic note: There are some who claim that Arnold Harris Mathew and Percy Dearmer were never members of the Order of Corporate Reunion. However, Bertil Persson indicates that they were.

Arnold Harris Mathew (Primate III of the Order of Corporate Reunion) was consecrated 1 November 1909 , by Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, assisted by Percy Dearmer and Henry Arthur Stanton (Primate II of the Order of Corporate Reunion).

Percy Dearmer was consecrated by the founding Bishops of the Order of Corporate Reunion on 15 August 1894.

Henry Arthur Stanton (Primate II of the Order of Corporate Reunion) was consecrated 26 December 1882 by the founding bishops of the Order of Corporate Reunion, Bishop Thomas (Frederick Lee) of Dorchester (Primate I of the Order of Corporate Reunion); Bishop Joseph (Thomas Mossman) of Selby, and Bishop Laurence (John Seccombe) of Cærleon (whose surname is often misspelled "Seecombe").

Bishop Frederick George Lee (Primate I of the Order of Corporate Reunion) and Bishop Thomas Wimberley Mossman, were consecrated according to the ancient Ambrosian Rite in Italy, in June of 1877. The consecrators were the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Venice, Patriarch Dominicus Agostino, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milan, Italy, Luigi Nazari di Calabiana, and by the Abbot-General of Ordo Mechitaristarum Venetiarum from the Island of Saint Lazarus near Venice, Archbishop Ignatios Ghiurekian, a Byzantine Catholic Bishop.

 

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Postscriptum: Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers, in whose memory Seán Manchester would dedicate one of his works in print, entered the Old Catholic priesthood (having been diaconated in 1908 in the Church of England, and joining the diaconate in the Roman Catholic Church which he entered a year later). Montague Summers was consecrated for the Order of Corporate Reunion on 21 June 1927 by Dominic Albert Godwin. He was later consecrated sub conditione on 21 March 1946 by Roger Stephen Matthews and appointed Nuncio for Great Britain. Like Seán Manchester, he wrote books about demonology whilst placing great emphasis on exorcism. His biographer is Carmelite Father Brocard Sewell.