Apostolic Successions

The Apostolic Succession is the means by which sacramental validity is assured in all Catholic churches. Put simply, it means that a valid bishop is one who is consecrated by the laying on of hands in an unbroken line that stretches back to the twelve Apostles and to Jesus Christ Himself. The Apostolic Succession is as important spiritually as it is historically.

Tertullian writes, "Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [that first bishop of theirs] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men." In the case of the Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church, these original records lie with the historic Churches of the East and with the Roman Catholic Church, since our descent from those churches occurs as recently as the twentieth-century. For this reason, it is necessary only to show the latter stages of this descent, the earlier stages being well-documented in standard references elsewhere.

The value of the union of the different strands of the Apostolic Succession as they have been transmitted to various churches is considerable in ecumenical terms, since it transcends differences in theology and belief, and acts to unite the Church as the Body of Christ. Mar Georgius, Patriarch of Glastonbury, "saw, in what he himself calls "non-Ultramontane Catholicism", a potential instrument for assisting the process of Christian Unity by the provision of a "bridge" between Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and even Protestantism of the Anglican and Lutheran types. Eventually, he arrived at the view that the various lines of Apostolic Succession must have been permitted to overflow their normal boundaries, and to have been preserved, sometimes merely by a thread, for the furtherance of the Divine Plan."

The principal successions of the Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church are via the Apostolic Episcopal Church. The Apostolic Episcopal Church has signed Concordats of Intercommunion with many Christian Churches which thereby recognise the validity of its orders and sacraments. These include The Catholic Apostolic Church [”The Irvingites”] (through Rev. Norman Priddle, Int. HQ, Gordon Square, London, UK), The Syrian Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (through Patriarchs Moran Mor Ignatius XXXIX Yacoub III and Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwaz), The Ancient Church of the East (through Patriarch Maran Mar Adhai II), Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, Eparchy of France (through Amba Marcos; Archbishop Persson has also been honoured with the Croix de St Antoine du Désert awarded by the Patriarchate), The Melkite-Greek Catholic Church (through Patriarch Maximos V Hakim), Iglesia Católica Apostólica Méxicana (through Archbishop-Primate Emile Rodriguez Fairfield), Iglesia Filipina Católica Independiente (through Obispo Maximo Macario Vilches Ga), and the Igreja Católica Apostólica Brazileira (through Archbishop-Primate Luís Castillo Méndez).

As will be seen, the principal orders present in the Church today derive from Orthodox missions planted in the UK and USA during the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries. They do not originate in schism, and the agreements of intercommunion referred to above indicate that their validity is accepted by a number of mainstream denominations. This widespread recognition is unique to the Apostolic Episcopal Church among independent Catholic churches today. However, although it is welcomed as a bridge towards ecumenism, it should be understood in that context only. The Apostolic Episcopal Church and the LCAC are autonomous, independent churches, and do not depend on any other church for their internal definitions of sacramental validity.

The present-day Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church has successions from many other historic and modern churches, and an idea of the scope of these successions is given in the study by Archbishop Philippe de Coster. A new edition of the book in which the successions of the LCAC are traced in detail is also in preparation. For reasons of space, only the most prominent of the successions are given below.

Succession from the Chaldean Catholic Church

The primary Apostolic descent from the Chaldean Catholic Church derives from the mission established by that church in the United States in 1917 (The Apostolic Episcopal Church) which still continues today. The LCAC enjoys a close relationship with the AEC.
  • Yosif Khayatt (Maran Mar Yosif VI Emmanuel II Thoma) (1852-1947), Patriarch of Babylon, The Chaldean Catholic Church (1900) and in succession from ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE. Assisted by the Bishop of Salmas and Patriarchal Vicar Pierre Aziz, Maran Mar Yosif Emmanuel II Thoma consecrated on 27 May 1917:
  • Antoine Lefebvre [Lefberne] (Mar Antoine) (1862-1953), Member, Ordo Antonianus S. Hormisdae Chaldaeorum, Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe (1917), Delegate and Special Commissary in the USA (1917). Assisted by Mar James (Fernand Portal) and Mar Evodius (Edward Robert Smith), Bishops of The Chaldean Catholic Church, Mar Antoine consecrated on 4 May 1925:
  • Arthur Wolfort Brooks (Mar John Emmanuel) (1889-1948), First Archbishop-Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church (1930), which appointment had been approved by the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Elisha I (Eghishe I Tourian) in 1929. Assisted by the Revd. David Leondarides and the Revd. Stanatios Jongsoudis of The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem., Archbishop Brooks consecrated at St. Michael Hellenic Orthodox Church "Taxiarchai" of The Holy Land as Archbishop of The Province of The West of The Apostolic Episcopal Church on 13 July 1946:
  • Wallace de Ortega Maxey (Mar David I) (1902-1992) Second Archbishop-Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church (1948). Assisted by Archbishop-Primate Jürgen W. Bless, The German Old Catholic Church in America, Archbishop-Primate Emile F. R. Fairfield, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana, Archbishop-Primate Arthur Garrow, The Tridentine Old Catholic Church of the Americas, Bishop Daniel N. McCarty, The Apostolic Catholic Church of the Americas, Archbishop-Primate Ronald R. Ramm, The Ancient Christian Fellowship, Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz, Iglesia Ortodóxa Apostólica Méxicana and Apostolic Administrator of the USA of The Apostolic Episcopal Church, Archbishop de Ortega Maxey consecrated and enthroned as the third Archbishop-Primate on 7 November 1986:
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Syrian-Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch

The Apostolic Episcopal Church is likewise directly descended from the mission established by the Syrian-Orthodox Patriarchate in the British Isles in 1866, and is the only church descended from this mission to remain in intercommunion with its founding Patriarchate (through agreements with Patriarchs Moran Mor Ignatius XXXIX Yacoub III and Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwaz).

For further details of this succession, see Mar Georgius' "The Man from Antioch" and Marianno Gervase's "A Notable Episode in Church History". These works contain full details of the instruments of consecration of the bishops up to Mar Georgius. For an account of the ministry of Mar Georgius, see this page.

Mar Georgius's church, the Catholic Apostolic Church (Catholicate of the West), entered into a formal Act of Union with the Apostolic Episcopal Church in 1946 and as Patriarch of Glastonbury he and his successor became members of the AEC Synod in perpetuity. However, this affiliation ended in 1994 when, under his successor, his church was received into union as an English Rite diocese of the Coptic Orthodox Church and by that act resigned all affiliation with the AEC.
  • Ignatius Boutros IV al-Ma’usili (Mar Ignace Peter) (1798-1894), then Metropolitan of Emesa (Homs), later 116th Syrian-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in succession to ST PETER THE APOSTLE, consecrated as Mar Julius, Bishop of Iona and its dependencies, 6 June 1866:
  • Jules Raimond Ferrette (Mar Julius) (1828-1904), who consecrated on 6 March 1874:
  • Richard Williams Morgan (Mar Pelagius) (1815-89), First Patriarch, The Ancient British Church (1874). Assisted by Frederick G. Lee, Thomas W. Mossman and John T. Seccombe, all bishops of the Order of Corporate Reunion, Mar Pelagius consecrated on 6 March 1879:
  • Charles Isaac Stevens (Mar Theophilus) (1835-1917), Second Patriarch, The Ancient British Church (1889); Second Primus, The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (1900). Assisted by Bishop Alfred S. Richardson, The Reformed Episcopal Church, Mar Theophilus consecrated sub conditione on 8 May 1890:
  • Leon Checkemian [Khekemian] (Mar Leon) (1848-1920), Archbishop of Selsey; First Primus, The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (1897). Mar Leon consecrated on 2 November 1897:
  • Andrew Charles Albert McLaglen (Mar Andries) (1851-1928), Archbishop of Claremont and Fourth Patriarch, The Ancient British Church; Fourth Primus, The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (1919). Mar Andries consecrated on 4 June 1922:
  • Herbert James Monzani-Heard (Mar Jacobus II) (1866-1947), Archbishop of Selsey and Fifth Patriarch, The Ancient British Church; Fifth Primus, The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (1928). Mar Jacobus II consecrated on 13 June 1943:
  • William Bernard Crow (Mar Basilius Abdullah III) (1895-1976), Patriarch of Antioch (1943). Mar Basilius Abdullah III consecrated on 10 April 1944:
  • Hugh George de Willmott Newman (Mar Georgius) (1905-79), Patriarch of Glastonbury, who assisted by John Sebastian Marlow Ward (Archbishop of Olivet), Richard Kenneth Hurgon (Titular Bishop of Mere), John Syer (Mar John, Bishop of Verulam), Charles Leslie Saul (Mar Leofric, Archbishop of Suthronia in the Eparchy of All the Britons), Francis Ernest Langhelt (Mar Francis, Bishop of Minster), consecrated on 6 June 1946 as Supreme Hierarch of the Catholicate of the Americas:
  • Wallace de Ortega Maxey (Mar David I) (1902-1992) Second Archbishop-Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church (1948). Assisted by Archbishop-Primate Jürgen W. Bless, The German Old Catholic Church in America, Archbishop-Primate Emile F. R. Fairfield, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana, Archbishop-Primate Arthur Garrow, The Tridentine Old Catholic Church of the Americas, Bishop Daniel N. McCarty, The Apostolic Catholic Church of the Americas, Archbishop-Primate Ronald R. Ramm, The Ancient Christian Fellowship, Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz, Iglesia Ortodóxa Apostólica Méxicana and Apostolic Administrator of USA of The Apostolic Episcopal Church, Archbishop de Ortega Maxey consecrated and enthroned as the third Archbishop-Primate on 7 November 1986:
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Coptic Orthodox Church

The Apostolic Episcopal Church has signed an agreement of intercommunion with Amba Marcos, Metropolitan of France of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
  • Azer Joseph Atta (Abba Kirillus/Kirollos VI) (1902-1971). Consecrated by Abba Athanasios as the main consecrator 10 May 1959, Pope of Alexandria and 116th Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church in succession to ST MARK THE APOSTLE (1959). Abba Kirollos VI consecrated and enthroned as the first Patriarch-Catholicos of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church), 28 June 1959:
  • Gebre Giyorgis Wolde Tsadik (Abuna Basiliyos) (1891-1970) who had been consecrated as Archbishop of Ethiopia by Pope Yusab II of Alexandria on 14 January 1951. Assisted by Abuna Markos, Patriarch of Gojjam, and His Grace Petros, Metropolitan of Gondar, he consecrated as chorepiscopus on July 12, 1959, and Abuna Basilyos further enthroned as a full bishop on 18 July 1962:
  • LaVon Miguel Haithman [Leo Haithman] (Abba Gabre Mikael Kristos), (1927-1986), Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America. Assisted by Gabre Kristos Jeremiah (David William Worley) and Marcos Kristos (Lennard Lares), The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America, Metropolitan Gabre Mikael Kristos consecrated on 16 February 1982:
  • Philip Lewis (1950-), Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe (1990), who on 23 November 2008 with the bishops named above consecrated:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Russian Orthodox Church

  • Patriarch Alexei I (Sergiy Vladimirovich Simanskij) (1877-1970), Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (1945), who 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 on 28 December 1958:
  • John (Konstantin Nikolaevich Wendland) (1909-1989), Patriarchal Exarch of The Russian Orthodox Church in America. 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 on 17 April 1966:
  • Joseph John Skureth (1933-92), 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). Exarch Joseph was also affiliated with The Syrian-Antiochian Orthodox Church. Bishop Joseph, assisted by Archbishop Francisco de Jesus Pagtakhan (The Philippine Independent Catholic Church) and Bishop Lawrence Lee Shaver (The Philippine Independent Catholic Church in The Americas), consecrated on 28 February 1989:
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Melkite-Greek Patriarchate of Antioch and all East

The Apostolic Episcopal Church has signed an agreement of intercommunion with Patriarch Maximos V Hakim of the Melkite-Greek Church. Archbishop Bertil Persson is also Chaplain of Scandinavia for the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem of the Melkite-Greek Church, and a bishop of the Templar Order inducted by Patriarch Maximos.
  • Cyrillos VIII Jeha (Petros Geha) (1840-1916), Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, consecrated as Metropolitan Archbishop of Beirut and Gebeil, Lebanon on 5 February 1905:
  • Athanasios (Melece Saouaya/Sawoya) (1870-1919) who on 9 October 1911 consecrated as Assistant Bishop:
  • Antoun Anid (Anthony Aneed) (1881-1970). This consecration was later recognized by Patriarch Cyrillos 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 on 23 August 1945:
  • Wallace de Ortega Maxey (Mar David I) (1902-1992) Second Archbishop-Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church (1948). Assisted by Archbishop-Primate Jürgen W. Bless, The German Old Catholic Church in America, Archbishop-Primate Emile F. R. Fairfield, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana, Archbishop-Primate Arthur Garrow, The Tridentine Old Catholic Church of the Americas, Bishop Daniel N. McCarty, The Apostolic Catholic Church of the Americas, Archbishop-Primate Ronald R. Ramm, The Ancient Christian Fellowship, Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz, Iglesia Ortodóxa Apostólica Méxicana and Apostolic Administrator of USA of The Apostolic Episcopal Church, Archbishop de Ortega Maxey consecrated and enthroned as the third Archbishop-Primate on 7 November 1986:
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Roman Catholic Church

The Apostolic Episcopal Church has signed an agreement of intercommunion with Patriarch Luis Castillo-Mendez of the Brazilian National Catholic Church.
  • Carlos Duarte Costa (1888-1961), Bishop of Botucatu (1924) and Maura (1937) in the Roman Catholic Church; excommunicated by the Vatican after criticising its support of the Nazi regime and was founder of the Brazilian National Catholic Church (ICAB) in 1945, on 3 May 1948 consecrated:
  • Luis Fernando Castillo-Mendez, (1922-), Patriarch, ICAB (1988), who assisted by Melquiades Rosa Garcia and Bartolomeu Sebastiao Vileda on 30 January 1985 consecrated as Primate of the Igreja Católica Apostólica Dominicana:
  • Forest Ernest Barber (1922-92), who assisted by Archbishop-Primate Emile F. Rodriguez Fairfield, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana, and Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana and Apostolic Administrator of The Apostolic Episcopal Church of USA, consecrated on 14 June 1987: 
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Anglican Communion

The Philippine Independent Church has been in full communion with the Anglican Communion since 1960, and a member of the Utrecht Union since 1965.
  • Randall Thomas Davidson (1848-1930), KCVO, Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England, Baron Davidson of Lambeth, consecrated in 1909: 
  • Arthur Lea (1868-1958) as Bishop of Kyushu, who assisted by Rolleston S. Fyffe, Bishop of Rangoon, and John McKim, Bishop of North Tokyo, consecrated in 1912: 
  • Henry St. George Tucker as Bishop of Kyoto (later Virginia in ECUSA), who, assisted by John McKim, Bishop of North Tokyo, and John G. Murray, Bishop of Maryland, consecrated in 1928: 
  • Norman Spencer Binsted (1890-1961), missionary bishop for the Philippines (ECUSA), who, assisted by ECUSA bishops Robert Franklin and Harry Sherbourne Kennedy, on 7 April 1948 consecrated: 
  • Isabelo de los Reyes, Jr., (1900-71), Obispo Maximo of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) (Philippine Independent Church) (elected 1946), who assisted by Manuel N. Aguilar and Alejandro Remollino of the IFI on 22 September 1957 consecrated: 
  • Francisco de Jesus Pagtakhan (1916-), Archbishop of the IFI (1984), who assisted by Archbishop-Primate Emile F. R. Fairfield, Iglesia  Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana, and Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana and Iglesia Filipina Independiente of USA and Apostolic Administrator of The Apostolic Episcopal Church of USA, consecrated on 15 June 1988,
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Liberal Catholic Church

For an account of the history of the Liberal Catholic movement see this page. The LCAC has many successions from both the LCC and the LCCI, as well as from the former Liberal Catholic Church of Ontario.
  • James Ingall Wedgwood (1883-1951), 1st Presiding Bishop of The Liberal Catholic Church (consecrated as The Regionary Bishop of The Old Catholic Church in England) assisted by Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854-1934), 2nd Presiding Bishop, LCC (1923), and the Jonkheer Julian Adriaan Mazel (1869-1928), Regionary Bishop for the Netherlands, LCC (1924), on 13 July 1919 consecrated:
  • Irving Steiger Cooper (1882-1935), Regionary Bishop for the United States, LCC (1919), who with Ray Marshall Wardall (1877-1953), 4th Presiding Bishop, LCCI (1947) and George Sydney Arundale (1878-1945), Regionary Bishop for India, LCC (1926), on 13 July 1931 consecrated:
  • Charles Hampton (1886-1958), Regionary Bishop for the United States, LCC (1935), who with Archbishop-Primate Henry J. Kleefisch, The Byzantine Universal Orthodox Church, Archbishop-Primate Lowell P. Wadle, The American Catholic Church, and Patriarch Antoun Aneed, The Byzantine Catholic Church, exchanged consecrations on 23 August 1945 with:
  • Wallace de Ortega Maxey (Mar David I) (1902-1992) Second Archbishop-Primate, The Apostolic Episcopal Church (1948). Assisted by Archbishop-Primate Jürgen W. Bless, The German Old Catholic Church in America, Archbishop-Primate Emile F. R. Fairfield, Iglesia Ortodóxa Católica Apostólica Méxicana, Archbishop-Primate Arthur Garrow, The Tridentine Old Catholic Church of the Americas, Bishop Daniel N. McCarty, The Apostolic Catholic Church of the Americas, Archbishop-Primate Ronald R. Ramm, The Ancient Christian Fellowship, Bishop Paul G. W. Schultz, Iglesia Ortodóxa Apostólica Méxicana and Apostolic Administrator of USA of The Apostolic Episcopal Church, Archbishop de Ortega Maxey consecrated and enthroned as the third Archbishop-Primate on 7 November 1986:
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

Succession from the Ancient Catholic Church

For an account of the history of the Ancient Catholic Church see this page.
  • Hugh George de Willmott Newman (Mar Georgius) (1905-79), Patriarch of Glastonbury (for whose antecedents see above), consecrated and enthroned on 27 May 1950, assisted by Richard Kenneth Hurgon (Mar Dominic-Benignus):
  • Harold Percival Nicholson (Mar Joannes I) (1905-68), as Founder and Primate of the Ancient Catholic Church, who assisted by Mar Georgius consecrated as Titular Bishop of Hebron in the Ancient Catholic Church on 14 April 1952:
  • Philip Charles Stuart Singer (Mar Philippus) (1910-71), who assisting Mar Georgius consecrated on 25 October 1953:
  • Ronald Powell (Richard John Christian, Duc de Palatine) (1916-78), Archbishop-Primate, The Pre-Gnostic Catholic Church, who on 10 August 1958 consecrated:
  • Count George William Boyer (1921-2008), Archbishop-Primate, The Church of the Ascension, Archbishop of Great Britain in the Apostolic Episcopal Church, who on 28 May 1983 consecrated:
  • Nils Bertil Alexander Persson (Mar Alexander) (1941-), Third Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church (1986), who assisted by Philip Lewis, Metropolitan-Archbishop-Primate, The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North & South America & Europe, and Paget E.J. Mack, Archbishop, The Franciscan Order of St Benedict the Moor, consecrated on 23 November 2008:
  • John Kersey (Mar Joannes) (1972-), Bishop of the AEC; Andrew Linley (Mar Andreas), Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Bishops of the LCAC, consecrated on 26 September 2009:
  • Adrian Stephen Glover (Mar Trimlett) (1960-).

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Memberships

The Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church is a founder member of the Independent Catholic Churches Council (ICCC).


The Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church is a denominational member of the Independent Liberal Catholic Fellowship (ILCF).

The Bishops of the Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church are all members of the Sophia Circle, a non-prescriptive gathering of free bishops in the esoteric tradition.