Our Bishop
-
The Order of St. Columba is overseen by two Bishops, Rt. Rev. Alistair Bates who is the Primus of the HCCI. The Bishop plays a pivotal role of overseeing the missions and operations of the Order of St. Columba and the Abbot reports to both in regard to its mission operations, administration and activities. Here we introduce our Bishop, our connection to the Apostles themselves. Their apostolic lineages are from the Old Catholic Church and we continue that tradition today, maintaining the heritage that we have received. The Order's seminarians go through St. Gall's Seminary, overseen by the Primus in Europe, and are ordained at their home parish, the Order's Abbey, or a Priory of the Order.
-
Rt. Rev. Alistair Bates - Primus of the Holy Celtic Church Int.Bishop Alistair Bates, OSBA-CSR is a European Old Catholic Bishop. The Church is currently headquartered in the Celtic regions of Spain. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and spent 13 years living in the Scottish Highlands. He obtained his Master of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh. He runs St. Gall's Seminary for the training of Priests and Deacons for our jurisdiction and is currently living in the Celtic provinces of Spain where he does most of his ministry at his retreat center. All Priests and Bishops of our jurisdiction receive Holy Orders from Bishop Alistair as the Primus of the church, or from one of the bishops in communion with him.
