Order of Corporate Reunion

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Order of Corporate Reunion
Christian, Ecumenical, and Fraternal Order of Corporate Reunion
Abbreviation
  • OCR
Established1877;148 years ago (1877)
Founder Frederick George Lee, Thomas Wimberley Mossman, John Thomas Seccombe
Type Ecumenical association
Purpose Reordination
Headquarters United Kingdom
Origins Oxford Movement
Prelate
John Kersey
Superior-General
Robert Chung
Key people
SecessionsOrder of Corporate Reunion (1911-1912)
Order of Corporate Reunion (1998)
Order of Corporate Reunion (2016)
Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christendom (2023)
Website https://www.ocr1874.org

The Order of Corporate Reunion (OCR), officially the Christian, Ecumenical, and Fraternal Order of Corporate Reunion, was an ecumenical association of clergy and laity of Anglican origin. The OCR was initially founded by Frederick George Lee, Thomas Wimberley Mossman, and John Thomas Seccombe between 1874-1877 in London. [2] : 23  Established as an Anglo-Papalist society to continue the work of the Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christendom, [3] its founders sought to restore an apostolic succession recognized by the Catholic Church through reordinations as a means for reunion. [4] [ page needed ]

Contents

The founders of the Order of Corporate Reunion claimed to have been consecrated as bishops by Roman Catholic bishops. However, they did not state in public the names of their consecrators. Over a century after their deaths it was revealed that cardinals Luigi Nazari di Calabiana, Domenico Agostini, and Vincenzo Moretti allegedly consecrated Lee and Mossman. [2] : 22 

Following the deaths of its founders, the order fell dormant until it was revived between 1911-1912 by Arnold Harris Mathew. [2] : 24–26  Prominent members and leaders of the revived order and its successive organizations were believed to have included Hugh George de Willmott Newman and Peter Paul Brennan. [5] As of 2016, the revived Order of Corporate Reunion's leadership has been disputed between at least 3 separate organizations. [6] In 2023, the primary branch associated with the Apostolic Episcopal Church received a registered trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. [7] [8]

History

Foundation and dormancy

Following the dissolution of the Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christendom, the Order of Corporate Reunion was established in response to Apostolicae curae , which declared all Anglican ordinations "absolutely null and utterly void". [9] Its founders were Frederick George Lee, Thomas Wimberley Mossman, and John Thomas Seccombe. [2] : 23  Its founders claimed consecration through Roman Catholic bishops, yet their alleged consecrators were not revealed until 2000. [2] : 22 

During the initial existence of the Order of Corporate Reunion, Richard Williams Morgan and Charles Isaac Stevens were both allegedly consecrated within the OCR on 6 March 1879. [2] : 24  Morgan had been previously consecrated by Jules Ferrette of the Ancient British Church. According to Church of England priest Henry R. T. Brandreth, however, "it is very unlikely, however, that any of the OCR bishops performed a consecration" of Stevens. [10] According to one claimed successor of the original OCR, following Arnold Mathew's controversy with the Old Catholic Churches of Utrecht, he was conditionally ordained and consecrated in November 1909 by Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare. [11] Conybeare was consecrated in 1894 by Lee, Mossman, and Seccombe. [11]

Becoming later disillusioned with the OCR and believing that he had made a mistake, [4] [ page needed ] Lee was received into the Catholic Church, shortly before his death. Mossman and Seccombe were also received into the Catholic Church, yet neither of the three were formally recognized as bishops. Following their deaths, the original order fell dormant until its revival between 1911 and 1912. [2] : 24–26 

Revivals and schisms

Arnold Mathew, a former Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Old Catholic turned Independent or Old Roman Catholic bishop, re-established the OCR. According to Brandreth, it "seems still to exist in a shadowy underground way" in 1947, but disconnected. [10] : 18 Colin Holden, through Ritualist on a Tricycle, placed Mathew and his attempted revival of the OCR into perspective, writing that Mathew was an episcopus vagans, lived in a cottage provided for him, and performed his conditional OCR acts in this cottage—sometimes called according to Holden, "bedroom ordinations". [12]

Mathew questioned the validity of Anglican holy orders and became involved with the members of the order—in 1911 according to Edmonds—and he openly advertised his offer to reordain Anglican clergy who requested it, which angered the Church of England. [13] Questioning the validity of Anglican orders, Mathew, in his newspaper The Torch, stated "that the ordinations of the Church of England are not recognized by any church claiming to be Catholic". [2] : 25 

According to D. J. Scannell O'Neill's observations of Mathew, the Old Roman Catholic Church of Great Britain, and his revival of the OCR, the "most charitable construction to be placed on this latest move of Mathew is that he is not mentally sound. Being an Irishman, it is strange that he has not sufficient humor to see the absurdity of falling away from the Catholic Church in order to assist others to unite with the Holy See". [14] It was reported that "anything between 4 and 265 was suggested" as to how many took up his offer of reordination through the OCR. [13]

According to one successor body of Mathew's revived OCR, the order grew in the United States of America through the conditional consecration of Ignatius Nichols—a former bishop of the American Orthodox Catholic Church led by Aftimios Ofiesh. [15] [5] This OCR's membership would later claim the membership of Hugh George de Willmott Newman of the Catholicate of the West. [5] Newman would also later become the head of this order, according to the successive claimant.

In 1998, another branch of the OCR was established by Diederik Quatannens; his leadership was succeeded by Bertil Persson. [16] [5] After Persson's retirement, this division of the order was then led by Archbishop Peter Paul Brennan of the Old Catholic Confederation, who died in 2016. [17] During Brennan's primacy, this branch of the OCR was incorporated in Missouri. [6]

Following Brennan's death, Independent Catholic bishop Michael Kline—registered agent of the Missouri corporation—claimed to have been entrusted as Brennan's successor of the revived and branched order by an appointment from Francis Spataro—a former prelate of the OCR—during Brennan's incapacitation; he claimed this appointment after Brennan's alleged silence following personal requests to succeed him; and in 2017, Spataro and other clergy from the Apostolic Episcopal Church formally restated their positions. [6]

In 2019, Spataro reversed his earlier position and appointment of Kline; and he would also consider himself retired from all religious affiliations. In the United Kingdom, the Apostolic Episcopal Church's OCR branch repudiated Kline and his successors' claims in the early 2020s, citing "legally invalid" appointments and lack of documentation. [6] This branch, incorporated in California as Order of Corporate Reunion Corp. and the UK as The Order of Corporate Reunion, [18] [19] has been led by John Kersey—also a claimant successor to the defunct Catholicate of the West, dispenser of the Vilatte orders, and self-styled nobility. [20]

Upon the retirement of Kline as disputed prelate over the Order of Corporate Reunion in 2021, Dario Calderelli was appointed by him as successor; Kline would later retract his retirement. [6] In 2022, Kline retired again and Richard Cumming was appointed the leader of the branch incorporated in the United States by Brennan, Kline, Persson and Spataro; [16] [21] he would later be deposed by Kline. In 2023, this branch led by Richard Cumming reorganized itself as its predecessor—the Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christendom. [21] That same year, the branch associated with the John Kersey and the Apostolic Episcopal Church received a registered trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. [7] [8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Copyright of the Seal of the Order of Corporate Reunion". Order of Corporate Reunion. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Persson, Bertil (2000). "Order of Corporate Reunion". Pennsylvania State University. St. Ephrem’s Institute, The Vilatte Guild Extension Academy of The Peoples University of the Americas Inc.
  3. ↑ Chapman, Mark D. (2007). "The Fantasy of Reunion: The Rise and Fall of the Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christendom" . The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 58 (1): 49–74. doi:10.1017/S0022046905004331. ISSN   1469-7637. S2CID   161504856.
  4. 1 2 Brandreth, Henry R. T. (1951). Dr. Lee of Lambeth: A Chapter in Parenthesis in the History of the Oxford Movement. S. P. C. K.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "History of the OCR". Order of Corporate Reunion. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Clarification on the OCR (July 7, 2023)". Order of Corporate Reunion. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  7. 1 2 "US Federal Service Mark Grant". Order of Corporate Reunion. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  8. 1 2 "ORDER OF CORPORATE REUNION Trademark Application of ORDER OF CORPORATE REUNION CORP. - Serial Number 97277836 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  9. ↑ "Apostolicae Curae (1896)". New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  10. 1 2 Brandreth, Henry R. T. (1947). Episcopi vagantes and the Anglican Church. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 50, 65. ISBN   978-0-89370-558-9.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  11. 1 2 Kersey, John (2017). "Arnold Harris Mathew and the Old Catholic Movement in England: 1908-52" (PDF). Old Catholic Church of North America. p. 81. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  12. ↑ Holden, Colin (1997). Ritualist on a Tricycle: Frederick Goldsmith, Church, Nationalism and Society in Western Australia, 1880-1920. Staples South West Region publication series. Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press. p. 272. ISBN   187556098X. ISSN   1030-3359 . Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  13. 1 2 Edmonds, Stephen (2013) [2012]. "Mathew, Arnold Harris (1852–1919)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103378.(Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  14. ↑ O'Neill, D. J. Scannell (September 1912). Preuss, Arthur (ed.). "The Revised Order of Corporate Re-Union". The Fortnightly Review. 19 (18). Techny, IL: Arthur Preuss: 515–516. hdl:2027/nyp.33433068283641. LCCN   15001974 . Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  15. ↑ Damick, Fr Andrew Stephen (2009-07-18). "From Aftimios Ofiesh to The Satan Seller". Orthodox History. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  16. 1 2 "The Order of Corporate Reunion". Order of Corporate Reunion. 2023-03-29. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  17. ↑ "Bishop Peter P. Brennan". Old Catholic Confederation - Old Catholic Church in the United States. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  18. ↑ "California Secretary of State Lookup". California Secretary of State.
  19. ↑ "THE ORDER OF CORPORATE REUNION". Gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-08-23.
  20. ↑ "The Talented Mr. Kersey: The Tory Pressure Group, the Diploma Mill, and the Tesco Tax Manager". The Swamp. Retrieved 2025-03-18. JohnKersey.org was set up around 2008 by Mr. Kersey with the intention of promoting his many titles. He had begun his research of various religious organisations and being a doctor just wasn't enough for him. John Kersey decided that he should be a Bishop too and actually made claim to being the direct true heir to Saint Peter. Over the next few years he would revive dead orders of the church and say that he was now the head of them. John Kersey claims to be the adopted son and heir of Prince Kermit William Poling de Polanie-Patrikios of West Virginia, a descendant of the Byzantine Emperor Leo V Patrikios and of Rurik, ruler of Novgorod, and the head of the monarchist movement in exile of Belarus. He claims that in 2016 he was appointed a Pontifical Academician, becoming an Honorary Academician of the Pontificia Accademia Tiberina in Rome, and in 2017 was supposedly elected an Academician of Honor of the Norman Academy. John Kersey says on his website that he has earned numerous degrees from universities in Costa Rica and Panama.
  21. 1 2 "Notice". www.orderofcorporatereunion.com. Retrieved 2025-03-18. The existence of such division is certainly unfortunate as is the fact that many of the "competing" groups consist primarily of self-appointed clergy who possess no pastoral charge, who seem enamored by titles and honors instead of wishing to consecrate themselves to the service of the people of God, and who wish to include canonical bigamists, ladies, and homosexuals in their ranks. In recognition of this sad reality, we have made the reluctant decision to "rebrand." We will retain possession of our Missouri corporation and of our UK corporation. However, henceforth our public activity will be undertaken in the name of The Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christendom, the title of our predecessor organization. This will enable us to continue to undertake the work of the Order of Corporate Reunion without engaging in these petty acrimonious disputes with various vagantes clerics.
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