IN MEMORIAM
SAINT EDWIN CAUDILL
Apostolic Founder and Confessor
(HIS GRACE HOWARD EDWIN CAUDILL)

9 January 1932 - 25 October 1998

Feast Day: 25 October

   
  Released by St. George Seminary Press in 2023, Journey of Faith: The Apostolic See of Saints Stephen and Mark, by Rutherford I is a history of the present See and its people - those who went before us, laying the groundwork over the last decades and past centuries, and those who keep the faith today. 

Saint Edwin Caudill of perpetual memory was born in South Charleston, West Virginia, United States. A Bishop and educator, his educational accomplishments included the degrees of Bachelor of Science (California College), Licentiate of Theology (University of Saskatchewan), Doctor of Philosophy (St. Andrew's College), and Doctor of Sacred Theology from St. George Theological Seminary (now Pontifical Georgian College). His honours included the distinction of Knight Commander of the Order of St. Stanislaus. Ordained a priest on 22 April 1956, he was Rector of All Saints' Church in San Antonio, Texas before being consecrated a bishop in 1983. He served as second Bishop of the Southwest and later as the founder and first Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church, Inc. He was also the founder and first President of the St. George Theological Seminary, now Pontifcal Georgian College. He was also the principal bishop in establishing the episcopacy in Ecuador.In 1993, he entered his Anglican Rite See into the Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Faith through consecration by the Supreme Pontiff of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church. 


Testament given by the St. Chad's Anglican Church (former Cathedral
of the Anglican Diocese of the Southwest) to Saint Edwin Caudill
attesting to his service to the Church. Image held in the Stephenian Archives.

Saint Edwin was consecrated by Macario V. Ga, Supreme Pontiff (Bishop) of the Philippine Independent Church, and Bishops Frank Benning and John Hamers, 21 October 1993, Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church, Brooklyn, New York. This included Anglican succession from the Episcopal Church of the United States, and also from the Holy Fathers of the Apostolic See of Saints Stephen and Mark, Pope Saint Leo X and Saint Aftimios Ofiesh. This line also descends from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Coptic Papacy of Alexandria. (See Apostolic Succession below.) His See, the Diocese of the Southwest was originally part of the Anglican Catholic Church, but left and was part of the older American Episcopal Church (which pre-dated the continuing Anglican movement) and then the newly-established Anglican Church, Inc.


Damian I, Patriarch of Jerusalem
(Greek Orthodox)


Cyril VI, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria
(Coptic Orthodox)


Diploma for a Master of Arts degree in religion issued by St. George School of Theology/St. George Theological Seminary (now Pontifical Georgian College) jointly with Wolsey Hall at Oxford, signed by Saint Edwin Caudill, Bishop of the Southwest, and Bishop Francis Benning (American Episcopal Church).

The remnants of his See, the Diocese of the Southwest, after suffering a schism, became part of the Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches in 2008. This included the Very Rev. Dean John Mark Vornholt, who returned in 2009, recognizing it as the authentic continuation of the Diocese of the Southwest in which he had previously served under Bishop Caudill. The new Bishop of the Southwest was the Vicar-General of the Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches. He was subsequently succeeded by H.H. Bishop Rutherford I Johnson of Rome-Ruthenia (then Archbishop Johnson), at which point it became a Metropolitan See. Thereafter its territorial boundaries changed as it became the Patriarchal See of St. Stephan and Coadjutorship of Rome. The coat of arms of Bishop Caudill's See, the Diocese of the Southwest remained and later also became the coat of arms of the Most Holy Patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome as that See evolved over the years.


Art commissioned by the Apostolic See in the 30th anniversary year of the consecration of Saint Edwin Caudill in orthodox and catholic Apostolic Succession. It depicts the consecration of Saint Edwin (Bishop Howard Edwin Caudill, Bishop of the Southwest) by Macario V. Ga, Supreme Pontiff of the Philippine Independent Church, and Bishops Frank Benning and John Hamers. 21 October 1993, Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church, Brooklyn, New York. Bishop Caudill was Bishop of the Southwest. Some years after his repose, the remnants of his See went into the Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches in 2008 and ceased to be part of the "Continuing Anglican" movement. Later it was renamed the See of St. Stephen and Coadjutorship of Rome. Joined with the Anglo-Roman Metropolitan Archdiocese of Aquileia, it became the Apostolic See of Saints Stephen and Mark, the principal See  of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church.  (The historical archives of the Archdiocese of the Southwest as housed in the Stephenian Archives contain a photograph of the actual consecration.)


Very Rev. Dean John Mark Vornholt

SACRISTY PRAYER AFTER CELEBRATING THE HOLY MASS
Written by Rt. Rev. Edwin Caudill, Bishop of the Southwest

FINISHED and perfected, O Lord our Christ, so far as in us lieth, is the mystery of thy dispensation. We have kept the memorial of thy death; we have celebrated thy resurrection and glorious ascension. Fill us now with thine own unending life, through the grace of God, + Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Bishop Rutherford Johnson visiting the Cathedral of St. Chad in San Antonio, Texas, USA as a guest of church clergy and staff. The church of St. Chad houses the throne that is recognised as the historic First Chair of the United Roman-Ruthenian Church (see above). It is also the cathedral of his predecessor, Bishop Edwin Caudill, as Bishop of the Southwest, later renamed the See of St. Stephen and subsequently the Apostolic See of Sts. Stephen and Mark. The cathedral itself after the schism of the Diocese of the Southwest reportedly returned to the "continuing Anglican movement" and went into the Anglican Church of America and then was under Bishop Ebeneezer Manuagwu of the Nigerian Diocese of the Good Shepherd, and later under the Anglican Province of America. It is no longer affiliated with the Apostolic See or United Roman-Ruthenian Church. 


1984 press photo of Saint Edwin Caudill as Bishop of the Southwest
by Ted Farkas, Houston Chronicle; original print held by the Apostolic See
of Sts. Stephen and Mark in the Stephenian Archives and displayed
in the private chapel of his successor His Holiness Bishop Rutherford I.


"An Episcopal Primer," a book written by Saint Edwin Caudill while serving as a priest
with the Episcopal Church of the USA. The book covered basic catechism and was intended
for a wide audience. The copy of the book photographed above is held in the Stephenian Archives.

From the Stephenian Archives (the archives of the Apostolic See of the Imperial Roman Church) and the Pontifical Apostolic Library, several important documents pertaining to Bishop Caudill are shared below in the interest of preservation of history and legacy. 


Attestation of communion with the Anglican Communion
via the First Chair of the Catholicate.


Document of consecration from the Philippine Independent Catholic Church.


Letter acknowledging affiliation with the Episcopal Synod of America
on the Diocese of the Southwest (later the Diocese of Rome-Ruthenia in the United Roman-Ruthenian Church) under Bishop H. Edwin Caudill


Letter from Bishop H. Edwin Caudill to his clergy


Letter from the Very Reverend John Vornholt, here as Curate of
the Parish of the Nativity, later as Dean to Rutherford Johnson, Metropolitan
Archbishop of the Southwest (later H.H. Rutherford I)


Handwritten letter from Bishop H. Edwin Caudill to
one of his priests.


Document of Consecration of Richard Duc de Palatine, who consecrated Mar Gregorius (Forest Ernest G. Barber), who consecreated Marcario Ga, Supreme Pontiff of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church, who in turn consecrated Bishop Edwin Caudill.

The Stephenian Archives and Pontifical Apostolic Library maintain extensive records pertaining to the history of the former Anglican Diocese of the Southwest, the Philippine Independent Catholic Church, and the Independent Catholic Church International and their relationship to the modern United Roman-Ruthenian Church.

See also the Newsletter Archive
from the former Anglican Diocese of the Southwest.

See also the Pastoral Excerpts from the former Diocese of the Southwest.

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION OF SAINT EDWIN CAUDILL
FROM POPE ST. LEO X AND  SAINT ARCHBISHOP AFTIMIOS OFIESH

SAINT LEO X

1. Pope St. Leo X
2. Pope Paul III
3. Francesco Cardinal Pisani, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia
4. Alfonso Cardinal Gesualdo di Conza, Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia
5. Pope Clement VIII
6. Pietro Cardinal Aldobrandini, Archbishop of Ravenna
7. Laudivio Cardinal Zacchia, Bishop of Corneto e Montefiascone
8. Antonio Marcello Cardinal Barberini, Bishop of Senigallia
9. Marcantonio Cardinal Franciotti, Bishop of Lucca
10. Giambattista Cardinal Spada, Patriarch of Constanstinople
11. Carlo Cardinal Pio di Savoia, Bishop of Ferrara
12. Ercole Visconti, Titular Archbishop of Tamiathis
13. Wilhelm Egon Cardinal von Fürstenberg, Bishop of Strasbourg, Prince of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg
14. Armand-Gaston-Maximilien Cardinal de Rohan de Soubise, Bishop of Strasbourg
15. Louis-François du Plessis de Mornay, O.F.M. Cap., Bishop of Quebec
16. Dominique-Marie Varlet, Bishop of Baghdad
17. Peter John Meindaerts
18. John van Stiphout
19. Walter Michael van Nieuwenhuizen
20. Adrian Broekman
21. John James van Rhijn
22. Gilbert de Jong
23. Willibrod van Os
24. John Bon
25. John van Santen
26. Herman Heykamp
27. Gaspard John Rinkel
28. Gerard Gul
29. Arnold Harris Matthew
30. Rudolphe Francois Edouard de Gramant Hamilton de Brabant, Prince de Landas Berghes et de Rache and Duke de St. Winnock, Archbishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church
20. Carmel Henry Carfora
21. Richard Arthur Marchenna (Bishop of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church)
22. Joseph William Damian Hough (Bishop of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church)
23. Mar Alexander (Nils Bertil Alexander Persson, Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church)
24. Macario Ga, Supreme Pontiff of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church)
25. Saint Edwin Caudill, Bishop of the Southwest

SAINT AFTIMIOS
1. Saint Archbishop Aftimios Ofiesh (Russian Orthodox, Founder of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America)
2. Sophronios Bishara (Bishop of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America)
3. Mar Chrystostomos (John More-Moreno, Bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church in America)
4. Mar Nikolaus (Cederholm, Bishop of the Eastern Apostolic Episcopal Church and the
Apostolic Episcopal Church)
5. Mar Alexander (Nils Bertil Alexander Persson, Primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church)
6. Macario Ga, Supreme Pontiff of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church)
7. Saint Edwin Caudill, Bishop of the Southwest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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