The Old Roman Catholic Church
in North America
Origins and
Development
Part III
Shortly
after the death of Archbishop Carmel Henry Carfora, the North
American Old Roman Catholic Church evolved into five autonomous,
but cooperating ecclesial bodies, one of which is the Old Roman
Catholic Church in North America. As the ecclesiastical descendants
of the Catholic Old Diocese of Utrecht, the ecclesial bodies which
constitute the Old Roman Catholic Church retain and exercise the
papal grants given that See by Pope Eugene III and Pope Leo X.
The jurisdiction of
the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America extends to three
dioceses: The Diocese of Michigan and the Central States, The
Diocese of Guadeloupe (The French West Indies), and the Western
Regionary Diocese, each with its own Bishop Ordinary. The Synod
of the Midwestern Province of the Old Roman Catholic Church (English
Rite) created the Diocese of Michigan and the Central States in
1975 from the territory formerly administered by Archbishop Robert
Alfred Burns. With the death of Archbishop Burns in November 1974,
the Provincial Synod confirmed the succession of The Most Reverend
Andrew G. Johnston-Cantrell and elected The Most Reverend Francis
P. Facione, Ph.D. as Titular Bishop of Devon and Coadjutor to
Johnston-Cantrell who consecrated Bishop Facione on St. Andrew's
Day in 1974.
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Burns |
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Johnston-
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Facione |
Archbishop
Johnston-Cantrell resigned his office on January 5, 1975 whereupon
Bishop Facione succeeded as Presiding Bishop. The Provincial Synod,
during its meeting on April 19, 1975, confirmed Bishop Facione's
succession and elected him Titular Archbishop of Devon as well
as first Bishop of Michigan and the Central States.
In order to effect
more perfect unity within the Old Roman Catholic Church, the Western
Regionary Diocese, created by mandate of Archbishop Carfora in
1945 as an autonomous diocese, entered into union with the Old
Roman Catholic Church in North America in 1989. The Western Regionary
Diocese was under the administration of Archbishop Frederick L.
Pyman, S.O.A.R. As a further sign of visible unity, the Synod
of the Western Regionary Diocese elected the Right Reverend Donald
R. Currie, a priest of the Diocese of Michigan and the Central
States, bishop-elect. He was to succeed upon Archbishop Pyman's
planned retirement. Tragically, Bishop-elect Currie died June
21, 1990, prior to the date of his consecration. Archbishop Pyman
died on January 23, 1993. The Synod of the Western Regionary Diocese
elected The Most Reverend Patrick H. King, second Bishop of the
Diocese. He was consecrated to the episcopacy and installed on
June 5, 1993.
In
order to promote further visible unity of the Old Roman Catholic
Church, the Diocese of Guadeloupe, French West Indies, affiliated
with the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America on January
21, 1998. Created a diocese on September 29, 1994, The Diocese
of Guadeloupe is under the administration of The Most Reverend
William Francis Luke Amadeo Iezzi who had been appointed Missionary
for the West Indies in 1981 by Archbishop Edgar Ramon Verostek
and the Good Samaritan Franciscans of New Jersey.