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The College of Bishops of the

North American Old Roman Catholic Church

 

The College of Bishops of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church is composed of all bishops in good canonical standing within the Church. The Primate, the Metropolitans, the Bishops-Ordinary, the Auxiliary Bishops, the Missionary Bishops and the Bishops Co-adjutor enjoy both voice and vote in all meetings of the College. Retired Bishops and those bishops who are inactive and who hold no office within the Church are entitled to a voice but not a vote in all meetings of the College of Bishops of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church. The College of Bishops is charged with the duty of overseeing and protecting the Church's faith, worship, ministry and government and has the special duty of electing a Metropolitan-Primate whenever the Primatial See becomes vacant.

 

The Bishops-Ordinary, the Metropolitans and the Metropolitan-Primate constitute the Sacred Consistory according to the Constitution and Canons of the Church and exercise ecclesastical jurisdiction according to the prescriptions of the Constitution and Codex of Canon Law of the Church.

Archbishop
Edward J. Ford, T.O.R., S.T.D.
Metropolitan-Primate
Ordinary of the Diocese of New England

Archbishop Ford, a solemnly professed Franciscan Friar of the Third Order Regular, was born and educated in Boston, Massachusetts. He was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in Boston and served as Pastor of several parishes and established a number of missions throughout the New England and Hampton Roads areas. Through the many years of his ministry, he has worked in the fields of education, child guidance, community service, insurance and accounting. During those years he was also blessed to have been able to serve as an unofficial foster-father to several boys whose mothers asked him to assist them and to guide them as they grew up into young men with families of their own. He remains a constant and regular figure in their and in  their children's lives. He now counts eight young men as his foster-sons, and through them he has twenty-five foster-grandchildren and eighten foster great-grandchildren.  He was first elected as an Auxiliary Bishop in 1978 and later was elevated to the Office of Ordinary of New England, and subsequently was elected as the Metropolitan-Primate of the Church. He has re-organized and re-vitalized St Francis Seminary, co-ordinated the revision and publication of the Church's current Constitution and Codex of Canon Law, as well as missalettes and service booklets for the official liturgical services and rituals of our Church. He has authored numerous articles, booklets, pamphlets and devotional materials currently in use throughout the Church and also was the principal compiler of the Church's catechism: Our Catholic Faith and Practice. He currently lives in Springvale, Maine; is Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Old Roman Catholic Church in Sanford, Maine; and is also the Director of the Prince of Peace Christian School, a private Christian School serving students in grades K through 12, which is  also located in Sanford, Maine. In addition to serving as the Director, Archbishop Ford also  teaches English, French, Latin, Spanish, Christian Studies, Philosophy, Ethics, Apologetics and Constitutional Law to the High Schoolers there.

OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGE OF BISHOPS

(Biographies and Photos to follow)

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Bishop John O. Finney

Bishop Dieudonne Nitonde

Bishop Jean de la Crox Ondigui

Bishop George Odhiamba

Bishop Simonpeter Nnolumfu

Bishop Alberto Biondo

Bishop Waldemar K. Maj

​Bishop Raphael Villareal Falquez

​Bishop Luis Amado Báez 

Bishop
Irvin N. Plant, D.D.
Ordinary of the Diocese of the Southeast

Deceased: August 11, 2021
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