The Archdiocese of New York - New England

The present Archdiocese of New York-New England was established by an act of the College of Bishops in 2016 that decreed an equally principal union of the Diocese of New York and the Diocese of New England. The Most Reverend Edward J. Ford, TOR of Springvale, Maine, as the senior prelate and the Ordinary of the Diocese of New England as well as the Primate of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church was designated to be the Ordinary of the newly erected Diocese of New York-New England. The new diocese comprises the states formerly comprising the Diocese of New York: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia as well as those of the Diocese of New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

The Diocese of New York had been established in 1946, and for the many years since 1958 had been the principal diocese of the church. In subsequent years it comprised the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The first ordinary of the Diocese of New York was The Most Reverend Hubert Augustus Rogers from its founding in 1946 until his retirement in 1972. The second Ordinary was The Most Reverend James Hubert Rogers from 1972 until his death in 1991. Upon the death of Archbishop James Rogers, the Diocese of New York entered into a dark period of her history. During the interregnum caused by the death of Archbishop Rogers, several unscrupulous clergy saw an opportunity for their own self-aggrandisement, and defying the authority and directives of the Primate, held an uncanonical synod which led to a schism within the Diocese. They sought and received support for their illegal actions from a bishop of the American Catholic Church, a former friend of our church, Bishop Joseph M Nevilloyd, OFM. As a result of these uncanonical actions and after ignoring the repeated admonitions of the Primate, the remaining faithful clergy of the Diocese of New York were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Diocese of New England and were constituted as the Vicariate of New York under the Diocese of New England, and the the former Diocese of New York was officially suppressed in 1992. Shortly after the death of Bp Nevilloyd in 1994, one of the schismatic clergy further divided the schismatic group by securing for himself  an illegal "consecration" as a "bishop" from outside of the church. Only he and one other cleric continued in the schismatic body, while the others sought the assistance of Bishop Vincent E Natoli, OFM and began the process of reconciliation with the NAORCC. Once the reconciliation was completed, the Vicariate of New York was reunited with the reconciled clergy and the Diocese of New York was re-established under the leadership of Bishop Natoli and continued until 2016 when the College of Bishops decided to unite the Diocese of New York and the Diocese of New England into the current Diocese of New York-New England. Bishop Natoli currently serves as the Vicar General of the newly erected Diocese of New York-New England, as Auxiliary to Archbishop Ford and as the Regional Bishop for the areas of the former Diocese of New York.

The Diocese of New England was canonically erected in January 1979. It comprised the six New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. There have been several other times in the history of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church when diocesan structures have been established in New England. The first was in the 1920's under Bishop Roman Slocinski of Manchester, New Hampshire, which at that time comprised the Polish Diocese of our church, and for a very short term on paper in the early 1970's under Bishop Edward C Payne of Wethersfield, CT, but which never really functioned within this church, as Bishop Payne separated himself from the jurisdiction of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church within 45 days of his episcopal consecration. The first Ordinary of the canonically erected Diocese was His Eminence, The Most Reverend Edward James Ford, TOR.