Table of Apostolic Succession

 

 

The records of Episcopal Consecration for all Roman Catholic Bishops in our Line of Succession, prior toHis Eminence, Scipione Cardinal Rebiba are located in the Archives of the Vatican.  

 

All of the Popes since December 8, 1700, except for two, trace their Apostolic Succession from the sameHis Eminence, Scipione Cardinal Rebiba.

 

Archbishop Ford shares a common Ecclesiastical Source of Holy Orders with these Roman Pontiffs; the vast majority of Roman Catholic Bishops in the United States, Europe, Australia and South America; the Bishops of the Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches; and the Bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church.

 

Most of the Traditionalist Catholic Bishops throughout the world, including those descended from Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, and Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa share this same Ecclesiastical Source and Heritage, as also a number of Bishops of the “continuing” Anglican Churches and the Philippine Independent Catholic Church.

 

Dates recorded below indicate the Date of Episcopal Consecration.

 

SCIPIONE CARDINAL REBIBA   (see footnote #1)

Archbishop of Albano; Prelate to the Papal Court consecrated Bishop - May 14, 1541

 

GIULIO CARDINAL SANTORO

Archbishop of Saint Severine; Prelate to the Papal Court - March 12, 1566

 

GIROLAMO CARDINAL BERNERI, O.P.

Bishop of Albano; Prelate to the Papal Court - September 7, 1586

 

GALEAZZO SANVITALE

Archbishop of Bari; Prelate to the Papal Court - April 4, 1604

 

LUDOVICO CARDINAL LUDOVISI

Camerlengo pf the Holy Roman Church; Prelate to the Papal Court - May 2, 1621

 

LUIGI CARDINAL CAETANI

Titular Patriarch of Antioch; Prelate to the Papal Court - June 12, 1622

 

GIOVANNI-BATTISTA SCANNAROLO

Titular Bishop of Tyre and Sidon; later Bishop of Sidonia; Prelate to the Papal Court - October 7, 1630

 

ANTONIO CARDINAL BARBERINI (Junior)

Bishop of Frascati; Papal Legate at Avignon; Archbishop of Rheims - October 24, 1655

 

CHARLES MAURICE LE TELLIER

Archbishop of Rheims - November 11, 1668

 

JACQUES-BENIGNE BOSSUET

Bishop of Condom; Author of The Exposition of the Faith; Bishop of Meaux - September 21, 1670

 

JACQUES GOYON DE MATIGNON

Bishop of Condom - April 16, 1673

 

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

Titular Bishop of Ascalon; Bishop of Babylon - February 19, 1719

 

PETRUS JOHANNES MEINDAERTS

Archbishop of Utrecht - October 17, 1739

 

JOHANNES VAN STIPHOUT

Bishop of Haarlem - July 11, 1745

 

GUALTERIUS MICHAELIS VAN NIEUWENHUIENZ

Archbishop of Utrecht - February 7, 1768

 

ADRIANUS JOHANNES BROCKMAN

Bishop of Haarlem - June 21, 1778

 

JOHANNES JACOBUS VAN RHIJN

Archbishop of Utrecht - July 5, 1797

 

GISBERTUS DE JONG

Bishop of Deventer - November 7, 1805

 

WILLIBRORDUS VAN OS

Archbishop of Utrecht - April 24, 1814

 

JOHANNES BON

Bishop of Haarlem - April 12, 1819

 

JOHANNES VAN SANTEN

Archbishop of Utrecht - June 14, 1825

 

HERMANNUS HEYKAMP

Bishop of Deventer - July 17, 1854

 

GASPARDUS JOHANNES RINKEL

Bishop of Haarlem - August 11, 1873

 

GERARDUS GUL

Archbishop of Utrecht - May 11, 1892

 

ARNOLD HARRIS MATHEW

Regionary Bishop for Great Britain and Ireland; Old Roman Catholic Archbishop of London - April 28, 1908

 

RUDOLPHE, PRINCE DE LANDAS BERGHES, ET DE RACHE

Missionary Bishop for Scotland; Archbishop and First Metropolitan-Primate of the NAORCC -  June 29, 1913

 

CARMEL HENRY CARFORA, O.F.M. Cap.

Bishop in Chicago; Archbishop and Second Metropolitan-Primate of the NAORCC - October 4, 1916

 

HUBERT AUGUSTUS ROGERS

Archbishop of New York; Third Metropolitan-Primate of the NAORCC - July 30, 1942

 

JAMES EDWARD BURNS

Bishop of Staten Island - January 21, 1967

 

EDWARD JAMES FORD, T.O.R.  (see footmote # 2)

Titular Archbishop of Amida; Ordinary of New England;Sixth Metropolitan-Primate of the NAORCC; Re-elected as the Eighth Metropolitan-Primate of the NAORCC; Archbishop of the Primatial See of Nova-Terra - May 30, 1978

 

More than 91% of the more than 4,900 Roman Catholic Bishops alive today, trace their episcopal lineage back to one bishop who was appointed in 1541 - Scipione Rebiba. Why so many bishops trace their lineages to this one bishop can be explained in great part by the intense sacramental activity of Pope Benedict XIII, who consecrated 139 bishops during his episcopate and pontificate, including many cardinals, papal diplomats, and bishops of important dioceses, who in turn, consecrated many other bishops. Today all of the Old Catholic/Old Roman Catholic bishops derived through the Utrecht succession, also share this exact same ecclesiastical progenitor, as the source of their episcopal lineage in the Apostolic Succession, further demonstrating our common origins with our Roman Catholic brother bishops, and solidifying our unquestionable membership and continuity in the same Catholic Faith and Church.

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

#1 - Formal documentary evidence is presently lacking, but it is reliably, widely, and commonly believed that SCIPIONE CARDINAL REBIBA, who was a preferred member of the ecclesiastical family of Gianpietro Cardinal Carafa, Bishop of Chieti, and who later became Pope Paul IV, was consecrated by him on May 14, 1541, in accord with the provisions of Canon Law, which required consecration within 90 days following his appointment as Bishop. Scipione Rebiba was appointed Titular Bishop of Amicle and Auxiliary to the Bishop of Chieti, Gianpietro Cardinal Carafa on March 16, 1541.

• GIAN PIETRO CARAFA was consecrated on September 18, 1506, most probably by his uncle Oliviero Cardinal Carafa, Archbishop Emeritus of Napoli.

• OLIVIERO CARAFA, Archbishop of Napoli is believed to have been consecrated on December 29, 1458 at Torre del Greco by Leone de Simone, Bishop of Nola, assisted by Leone Cortese, Bishop of Acerra, and Benedetto, Bishop of Dragonara.

• LEONE De SIMONE, Bishop of Nola was named Bishop on March 23, 1442 and died in July 1469.

 

#2 -  Archbishop Edward J Ford has consecrated:

• EDMUND FLOYD LEEMAN, T.O.R. on September 8, 1984 as the Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey (later the 7th Primate of the NAORCC; deceased May 18, 2011).

• BELDON EDWARD GANNON on May 11, 1985 as the Missionary Bishop for New York State; also serving as Auxiliary Bishop of New England. (deceased June 6, 2017)

• HERVE LIONEL QUESSY on June 14, 1986 as the Bishop of the Diocese of French Canada (later the 5th Primate of the NAORCC; deceased February 13, 2008).

• WAYNE ROBERT MATTHEW PRICE on October 3, 1992 as Vicar Apostolic of Niagara Falls (inactive, deceased).

• IRVIN NICHOLAS PLANT on October 15, 2011 as the First Bishop of the Diocese of the Southeast. (deceased August 11, 2021).

• WALDEMAR KAMIL MAJ on August 14, 2021 as the Bishop of the Old Catholic Church in the Republic of Poland [in full union with the North American Old Roman Catholic Church].

• JOHN ODELL FINNEY on September 8, 2021 as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of the Southeast.