For many the issue of validity is an important one. As for the orders via the UCC, the Roman Catholic Church has issued various pronouncements on specific groups of clergy. We can be sure that from the Roman point of view, those groups should be regarded as true or validly ordained in the case of Priests, consecrated in the case of Bishops.

For your information, according to Roman Catholic laws only validly ordained and recognized priests fall under the provisions of Canon 844 from whom Catholics may seek sacraments under specific conditions.

However, the fact is that the Roman Catholics claim that historically but one group broke apostolic succession: the Anglicans by using an ordinal called "The Edwardine Ordinal." The reality is that this ordinal didn't specifiy why hands were being laid on the candidate. Confirmation? Baptism? Unction? Priesthood? Regardless of the arguments of the Anglicans being invalid from the Roman Catholic point of view, the fact remains that the Eastern Orthodox (whom Rome considers valid) regard Anglican and Episcopalean clergy as properly ordered. We will err on the side of Anglican/Episcopal validity.

The Society's Orders

The Society's Orders derive from two direct lines, one openly recognized in official print from the Vatican, the other implicitly by an act of receiving a certain Brazilian Bishop.

The first direct line stems from Old Roman Catholicism through Great Britain from Bishop Arnoldus Matthew, a graduate of the Pontifical University.

The second direct line is as recent as the 1960's. Several groups, both liberal and traditional, derive apostolic succession from Bishop Costa of Brazil, known there as the Apostle of the Poor.

Both lines are direct because the ordaining Bishop had been consecrated "sub-conditione" (conditionally) in case the first consecration lacked validity.


As a side note, a Bishop consecrated by Bishop Costa was received into full communion with full episcopal dignity. In short the validity is unquestionably sound.


We happily display our apostolic lineage so that the Faithful may see in black and white that the Vatican both today and long before Vatican II declares our Priests and Bishops - without prejudice - to be 100% true and valid.


OLD CATHOLIC - Recognized by Canon 844

+HENRY CARMEL CARFORA the Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church was consecrated in 1916. He consecrated,

+EARL ANGLIN JAMES, on June 17, 1945 as a bishop in the North American Old Roman Catholic Church. He consecrated,

+GRANT TIMOTHY BILLET, December 25, 1950. He consecrated,

+NORMAN R. PARR, D.D. on October 23, 1979. He consecrated,

+MAURICE DARRYL McCORMICK on July 14, 1991. He consecrated,

+ORLANDO HYPPOLITUS LIMA Y AGUIRRE, June 3, 1995 He consecrated,

+ROBERT M. BOWMAN on March 29, 1998, who ordered

JASON RICHARDSON+ to the Catholic Priesthood on July 22, 2001, who later adopted the Religious name Gregory Bellarmine in honour of the Great Pope who gave us the Latin Mass much as it is today, and the Doctor of the Church St. Bellarmine whose writings discuss the canonical actions one can take should there ever be a crisis of authority in the papacy, such as the past four decades or so.


BISHOP DUARTE COSTA SUCCESSION
(The most recent and trustworthy line despite the affirming official pronouncements on Old Catholics)

+CARLOS DUARTE COSTA had been ordained a Roman Catholic priest on April l, 1911. Costa was consecrated a Roman Catholic bishop in 1924 and remained such until he retired in 1945. Costa retired because Rome refused to take a stand against the relocation of War Criminals from the Nazi regime to his homeland of Brazil. He served as the Patriarch of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church from 1945 to 1961. Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa consecrated:

+MILTON CUNHA on June 5, 1960. He was a bishop of the Igreja Catolica Apostlica Brasileira 1960-196x; since 196x he has been a bishop of the American Orthodox Catholic Church. Bishop Cunha consecrated Propheta and:

+GIUSEPPE SANTO EUSEBIO PACE on October 3, 1968.
Consecrated sub conditione a bishop on 10/03/1968 at by +Milton Cunha, a bishop of the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Brasileira. He had already been consecrated a bishop by Walter Myron Propheta, a bishop and the founder of the American Orthodox Catholic Church.
He has been a bishop of the American Orthodox Catholic Church since 1968, working in Italy. Bishop Pace consecrated:

+IGNAZIO ANTONIO TEODOSIO PIETROBURGO on October 15, 1978. Consecrated a bishop on 10/15/1978 by Giuseppe Santo Eusebio Pace, a bishop in Italy of the American Orthodox Catholic Church. Bishop Pietroburgo consecrated:

+DONALD LAWRENCE JOLLY-GABRIEL on June 25,1980. Servantsinchrist@aol.com Consecrated sub conditione a bishop on 06/25/1980 at Rome, Italy, by Ignazio Antonio Teodosio Pietroburgo, a bishop in Italy of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, assisted by Helmut Clemens Kyrillus Minihofer-Windisch, a bishop of the American Orthodox Catholic Church. Bishop Jolly-Gabriel had already been consecrated a bishop on 12/31/1973 by John Lawrence Brown, a bishop of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church in The Philippines. Since the mid-1980s he has been a bishop for the Independent Catholic Church International, living in San Bernardino, California. Bishop Jolly-Gabriel consecrated:

+DENIS ARMAND MARTEL July 8, 1995. bshdenis@home.com. Consecrated a bishop for the Ecumenical Catholic Church on 07/08/1995 at Santa Rosa, California, by Mark Steven Henry Shirey Shirlau, the archbishop and Primate of the Ecumenical Catholic Church, assisted by Donald Lawrence Jolly-Gabriel, a bishop of the Independent Catholic Church International, and by John Ellis Isabell III, a bishop serving as a pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church. Bp. Martel is the Diocesan bishop of the Catholic Church of the Americas. Bishop Martel consecrated:

+JOHN ROBERT REEVES on September 23, 1996 at Jacksonville, Illinois. jrrdjl@worldnet.att.net
Assisted by Paul David C. Strong, a bishop of the Apostolic Catholic Church in America. Bp. Reeves is Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Church of the Americas. Bishop Reeves consecrated:

+ROBERT M. BOWMAN on April 18, 1996. Consecrated a bishop by John Robert Reeves, a bishop of the Catholic Church of the Americas, assisted by Bp. Orlando Hyppolitus Lima Y Aguirre, Bp. Marice Darryl McCormick Patriarch of the Agape of Jesus Independent Catholic Church, President of the American Association of Independent Catholic Bishops, Bp. William Donovan, Cover. Bishop Bowman ordered:

REV. FR. JASON RICHARDSON+ to the Holy Catholic Priesthood on July 22, 2001 at St. Cloud Florida. Assisted by Archbishop Karl Rodig, Primate, The Reformed Roman Catholic & Apostolic Catholic Church and Bp. Bernardo Morales, Sts Felicity & Perpetua Catholic Church, and Bp. Chuck Leigh, Pastor of Christ the Servant Apostolic Catholic Church; Bishop of the Apostolic Catholic Church, Diocese of Florida; and Dean of the College of Judicatory Leaders of the Florida Council of Churches. As is customary in traditional catholicism, Fr. Jason Richardson later adopted the Religious name Gregory Bellarmine.