Apostolic Succession
The Unbroken Line
Apostolic succession is the belief that the authority Christ gave his apostles has been handed down in an unbroken line of ordained bishops, passed from generation to generation by the laying on of hands. On this view a validly ordained bishop stands in a chain of ordinations reaching back to the apostles, and through that chain the Church guards true teaching, worship, and the sacraments.
The doctrine is central to the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches, each of which claims to be the visible continuation of the church the apostles founded. Anglicans and some Lutherans keep a historic episcopate and value succession, though they frame its necessity differently.
Honestly assessed: the concept of an ordered episcopate is firmly attested from the 2nd century, when Irenaeus (c. 180) appealed to the succession of bishops. But the very earliest links — the first-bishop lists tying each see to a named apostle — are partly traditional, and are shown here as pious tradition, not documented fact.
Click any dot on the timeline to see the event, when, and the source.
Founding dates are round, traditional figures, not documented ordination years. The first-bishop attributions are pious tradition — the Andrew–Byzantium link is the weakest, and James at Jerusalem the best-grounded, since it rests on the New Testament itself.