The Celtic Orthodox Church (COC; ), also called the Holy Celtic Church, is an

autocephalous Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

church founded in the 20th century in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Since 25 December 2007, the Celtic Orthodox Church has been in communion with the

French Orthodox Church The French Orthodox Church (FOC; french: Église orthodoxe française, EOF) is a self-governing Communion of the Western Orthodox Churches, Western Orthodox church formed in 1975. The church's current first hierarch is Bishop Martin (Laplaud), t ...

and the

Orthodox Church of the Gauls The Orthodox Church of the Gauls (OCG; french: Église Orthodoxe des Gaules, EOG) is a self-governing Christian church formed in 2006. The primate of the is Bishop Gregory (Mendez), the Bishop of Arles and the abbot of the Monastery of St Mich ...

, forming the

Communion of Western Orthodox Churches The Communion of Western Orthodox Churches (CWOC; french: Communion des Églises orthodoxes occidentales, CEOO) is a communion of Christian churches. Overview The communion currently comprises three member churches: * The Celtic Orthodox ...

(CWOC). The Celtic Orthodox Church claims to be part of the Jules Ferrette episcopal succession line.

History

Foundation

The Celtic Orthodox Church was founded in the 20th century by . He was ordained priest by the

Mariavite The Mariavite Church is today one of two independent Christianity, Christian Church body, churches collectively known as Mariavites who first emerged from the religious inspiration of Polish noblewoman and nun, Feliksa Kozłowska (1862-1921) in ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of France in 1951, after failing to obtain an ordination from any Russian, Romanian or Greek

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

bishop. However, he doubted the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches would recognize the validity of his ordination. Thus, he "received all the

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

again on 1 March 1953" from Metropolitan Lutgen of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

of the ''Église catholique du rite dominicain''. Lutgen had received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

from

Hugh George de Willmott Newman Hugh George de Willmott Newman (17 January 1905 – 28 February 1979) was an Independent Catholic or independent Old Catholic bishop. He was known religiously as Mar Georgius I and bore the titles, among others, of Patriarch of Glastonbury, ...

. After this, Danyel decided to work to restore the ancient Celtic Church of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

and took the name of one of the Christian founding saints of Brittany, Tugdual. Danyel founded the Abbaye de la Saint Présence at Bois-Juhel, Saint-Dolay, "where he lived as an hermit in emulation of the ancient Celtic monks". He "soon attracted disciples" and was elected as the first bishop of the restored Celtic Church. He was consecrated bishop in 1957 by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Irenaeus of Arles (Comte Charles-Borromée d'Eschevannes), primate of the ''Sainte Église catholique Gallicane autocéphale''. Danyel received the title of "Bishop of

Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of t ...

". On 19 December 1959, Danyel proclaimed himself metropolitan under the title Tugdual I, Archbishop of Dôl. Danyel "revived Druidic rites" and added to his title "Sa Blancheur l'Humble" ("His Whiteness the Humble") which he claimed was of Druidic origin. His full title was therefore: "His Whiteness the Humble Tugdual I, Archbishop of Dôl,

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Saint-Dolay, Kayermo and Keroussek, primate of the Holy Celtic Church, President of all the non-Roman Christian and Apostolic Churches". In 1963 or 1964, the organisation consisted of 10 bishops and two to three lay people. The church was called at the time the Sainte Église celtique en Bretagne (Holy Celtic Church in Brittany).

Death of the founder to today

On 11 August 1968, Danyel died. After his death, his hermitage was abandoned. In 1977, three monks who were from an abbaye in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

founded by a Celtic Orthodox priest, Paul-Edouard de Fournier de Brescia in 1973, came to the hermitage and built a church on the site. By 1979, the Celtic Orthodox Church was part of the

Orthodox Church of the British Isles The Catholicate of the West was a Christian denomination established in 1944 and which ceased to exist in 1994 to become the British Orthodox Church. The denomination was also known as the Catholic Apostolic Church, the Catholicate of the West ( ...

William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton (born 27 February 1948) is a British independent Oriental Orthodox bishop. He is the Patriarch of Glastonbury and head of the British Orthodox Church (BOC) with the title of British Patriarch and is known as Abba ...

. Paul-Edouard Fournier de Brescia was consecrated bishop under the name Mael in 1980 by the

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

of the Celtic Orthodox Church, bishop Seraphim (Norton-Newman). The

and the Celtic Orthodox Church split in 1994, when under Mar Seraphim (William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton) the Orthodox Church of the British Isles joined the Coptic Orthodox Church and changed its name to British Orthodox Church. The Celtic Orthodox Church and some other jurisdiction previously under the Orthodox Church of the British Isles remained independent. With the departure of Mar Seraphim, the Celtic Orthodox Church had no primate. Mael was elected primate of the Celtic Orthodox Church by its

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

in 1994 and remained as such until his death in 2014. The current primate is since 2014 Metropolitan Marc (Jean Claude Scheerens). In 1996, the Celtic Orthodox Church

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

Danyel, its founder.

Dioceses

The Celtic Orthodox Church has two

eparchies Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

, France and the United States. The currently has two bishops and nine

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es and is present in France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

References

External links