Photo above: Anglican Monks and Oblates of New Llanthony Abbey, Wales, (late 19th century)
The Order of Corporate Reunion
The Rt Revd Frederick George Lee
Most clerical members of the Holy Celtic Church International, share in the Order of Corporate Reunion lines of succession, one of which is traced below. This order was originally founded by three Anglo-Catholic clergymen who hoped for the eventual reunion of Rome and Canterbury and to that end were consecrated clandestinely by the RC church in order to ensure that Anglo-Catholics had valid sacraments. We consider that the APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS of Pope Benedict XVI now makes sufficient provision for any Anglicans who wish to be united with Rome and consequently there is no further purpose for the Order of Corporate Reunion, which in any case is no longer fit for purpose. We are, however, proud to have a connection with some of our forefathers in faith who served the OCR in its glory days:
Frederick George Lee, Thomas Wimberley Mossman, and John Thomas Seccombe, bishops of the Order of Corporate Reunion, were consecrated according to the ancient Ambrosian Rite on the Feast of St John the Baptist, 24th June 1877, in Venice, by the RC Patriarch of Venice Dominicas Agostini, assisted by a Byzantine Catholic Bishop; the Archbishop of Milan, ++Luigi Nazario di Calabiana; Melchite Abbot-Archbishop Ignatius Ghiurekian and the Archishop of Ravenna, ++Vincentius Moratti.
Bishops Lee, Mossman and Seccombe on the 26th of December 1882 consecrated Henry Stanton, 2nd Primate of OCR, and on the 15th August 1894 all three consecrated Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare and Percy Dearmer.
Frederick George Lee, Thomas Wimberley Mossman, and John Thomas Seccombe, bishops of the Order of Corporate Reunion, were consecrated according to the ancient Ambrosian Rite on the Feast of St John the Baptist, 24th June 1877, in Venice, by the RC Patriarch of Venice Dominicas Agostini, assisted by a Byzantine Catholic Bishop; the Archbishop of Milan, ++Luigi Nazario di Calabiana; Melchite Abbot-Archbishop Ignatius Ghiurekian and the Archishop of Ravenna, ++Vincentius Moratti.
Bishops Lee, Mossman and Seccombe on the 26th of December 1882 consecrated Henry Stanton, 2nd Primate of OCR, and on the 15th August 1894 all three consecrated Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare and Percy Dearmer.
The Rt Revd Percy Dearmer
Bishops Conybeare, Dearmer and Stanton, on the the 1st November 1909, consecrated:
Arnold Harris Mathew, who on the 28th of October 1914 consecrated Frederick Samuel Willoughby, who assisted by Rupert Gauntlett and Robert King, on the 13th of February 1916 consecrated:
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), who 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). 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:
• Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Primus of the Holy Celtic Church International.
Arnold Harris Mathew, who on the 28th of October 1914 consecrated Frederick Samuel Willoughby, who assisted by Rupert Gauntlett and Robert King, on the 13th of February 1916 consecrated:
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), who 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). 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:
• Alistair Herrick Bate (Mar Alexei) - Primus of the Holy Celtic Church International.
