Highlights of the Ordination of new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 3/7/2023.

Congratulations to our newly ordained auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Most Reverend Keith J. Chylinski, Most Reverend Christopher R. Cooke, and Most Reverend Efren V. Esmilla.

Fun Fact: While only the Pope is the successor of Apostle Peter, his brother bishops are successors of the other Apostles. I.e., each bishop can trace his predecessors back to one of the twelve apostles — each was ordained by a bishop who was ordained by a bishop (and the chain continues back to a bishop) ordained by one of the apostles.

That's one of the things we profess in the Nicene Creed, "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church ..." Not only is the faith handed down to us by the apostles, its custodians have unbroken chains of successors.

#auxtas #phillyvocations #EpiscopalOrdination