The term "apostolic succession" refers to the doctrine in Catholic and Orthodox churches that holds that certain spiritual powers, who Jesus Christ first entrusted to the twelve apostles, is passed on in an unbroken line of succession from apostle to bishop to bishop, and from these bishops to the priests who assist them in their pastoral duties. The validity of apostolic succession is a key factor in determining the sacredotal powers of the Church.
The principal line of apostolic succession of the Church of Antioch comes from the Roman Catholic Church, through the Dutch Old Catholic Church and the Liberal Catholic Church in England. The validity of this line of succession is widely recognized, the earliest recorded member being Roman Catholic bishop Scipione Rebiba. More than 91 percent of all Roman Catholic bishops world-wide trace their own lineage to Rebiba (Bransom, 1990). The founder of our Church, Archbishop Herman Adrian Spruit, as you below, is in direct succession.
In addition, the Church of Antioch has made an effort to unite eastern and western lines of apostolic succession. The Church of Antioch derives additional lines of succession from Archbishop Spruit's co-consecrators (in addition to our name). These additional lines include the Syrian Jacobite Patriarchate of Antioch, the Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon at Baghdad, the Catholicate-Patriarchate of Assyria, the Greek Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch, Patriarchate of Moscow, Armenian Catholicate-Patriarchate of Cilicia, the Metropolitan-Archbishops of Albania, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the nonjurring Anglicans. Joseph Aneed, a Greek Melkite bishop with a claim to a patriarchate for North America willed his claim to Archbishop Spruit, thereby giving our church a similar claim.
We make our principal line of succession available here for those who wish to gain a better understanding of the sacramental authority on which our independent branch of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is founded. All Christians are grafted into the one vine, the mystical body of Jesus Christ.
