The Celtic Orthodox Church (COC; ), also called the Holy Celtic Church, is an autocephalous Christian church in the Western Rite and Oriental Orthodox traditions founded in the 20th century in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Since 25 December 2007, the Celtic Orthodox Church has been in communion with the French Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of the Gauls, forming the Communion of Western Orthodox Churches (CWOC). The Celtic Orthodox Church claims to be part of the Jules Ferrette episcopal succession line. It also claims historic continuity with ancient Celtic Christianity.

History

Foundation

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

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of France in 1951, after failing to obtain an ordination from any Russian, Romanian or Greek Orthodox bishop. However, he doubted the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches would recognize the validity of his ordination. Thus, he "received all the orders again on 1 March 1953" from Metropolitan Lutgen of

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of the ''Église catholique du rite dominicain''. Lutgen had received his episcopal consecration from Hugh George de Willmott Newman. After this, Danyel decided to work to restore the ancient Celtic Church of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

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". 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 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 abbey in Montpellier 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 of William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton. Paul-Edouard Fournier de Brescia was consecrated bishop under the name Mael in 1980 by the

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of the Celtic Orthodox Church, bishop Seraphim (Newman-Norton). The Orthodox Church of the British Isles 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 groups 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 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 Danyel, its founder.

Jurisdiction

The Celtic Orthodox Church has a presence in

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Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

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. Within the

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, it has 1 church and 2 chapels; in Europe, it has a monastery in

; 3 churches in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

; 1 church in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

; and 1 church in

References

External links