Is the Celtic Orthodox Christian Church canonical?
‘Canonical’ means: that a Church follows the Teachings of Jesus Christ and the Doctrinal statements of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Orthodox Church; that a Church is in Communion only with Churches which have remained faithful to those Teachings (i.e. are really Orthodox and not just in name); and the Bishops of the Church have a valid succession of laying on of hands back to the Apostles (Orthodox Apostolic Succession). This is the definition of canonical which came down to us through St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and was, until this century, the standard definition for all Orthodox churches. We are canonical under this definition of the Undivided Church. Our Succession is traceable through the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Gregory IV. Our fidelity to the Faith is easily demonstrated. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in the Second Century that only the combination of fidelity to the Christian Faith and the succession of Grace in the Apostolic succession of Bishops is sufficient f
