apostolic succession

American  

noun

Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Anglican Church.

1. the unbroken line of succession beginning with the apostles and perpetuated through bishops, considered essential for orders and sacraments to be valid.

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Apostolic succession British  

noun

1. the doctrine that the authority of Christian bishops derives from the Apostles through an unbroken line of consecration

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Etymology

Origin of apostolic succession

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

The Holy See insisted on the pope's right to name bishops to preserve the apostolic succession that dates to Jesus' original apostles.

From Fox News

The Holy See insisted on the pope’s right to name bishops to preserve the apostolic succession that dates to Jesus’ original apostles.

From Seattle Times

Pep Guardiola, the architect of Barcelona’s latest spell of dominance and now coach of German champions Bayern Munich, is not so much a Cruyff disciple, as a chain in his apostolic succession.

From Time

He had sought to join the “apostolic succession” of poets through Blunt, who, a generation or two earlier, had cunningly arranged his own ancestry, marrying the granddaughter of Lord Byron and becoming a Byronic coxcomb—dieting, coiffing his curls, and dressing himself in Turkish- and Albanian-inspired attire.

From The New Yorker

Because of this, and quite apart from the many sound theological arguments in favor of female bishops—among them, that there is nothing in the Gospels that precludes women from apostolic service; the concept of an all-male apostolic succession comes not from Jesus but from Paul, who converted years after the death of Christ—there is now a legal imperative to ordain female bishops.

From The New Yorker