Anglican priest, unofficial Catholic bishop, and founder of the Order of Corporate Reunion. Trained in Cuddesdon Theological College, he was ordained to priesthood in 1856 by Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. Lee became vicar of All Saints' in Lambeth, London in 1867. There he founded the Order of Corporate Reunion, a clandestine organization dedicated to providing Anglican clerics with a legitimate apostolic succession, and eventually establishing a communion with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1877 Lee and two other men were secretly ordained as bishops in Venice, Italy by three Roman Catholic prelates. After this, he began to call himself "Bishop of Dorchester", ordain men to the priesthood, and work for the reunion of Canterbury and Rome -- a controversial idea in both Anglican and Roman Catholic circles. Lee also wrote over 30 books on subjects ranging from theology, to history, to poetry. Eventually he became disillusioned with his church work, and after All Saints' was condemned in 1899, he retired from the clergy. Shortly before his death Lee converted to Roman Catholicism.
Anglican priest, unofficial Catholic bishop, and founder of the Order of Corporate Reunion. Trained in Cuddesdon Theological College, he was ordained to priesthood in 1856 by Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. Lee became vicar of All Saints' in Lambeth, London in 1867. There he founded the Order of Corporate Reunion, a clandestine organization dedicated to providing Anglican clerics with a legitimate apostolic succession, and eventually establishing a communion with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1877 Lee and two other men were secretly ordained as bishops in Venice, Italy by three Roman Catholic prelates. After this, he began to call himself "Bishop of Dorchester", ordain men to the priesthood, and work for the reunion of Canterbury and Rome -- a controversial idea in both Anglican and Roman Catholic circles. Lee also wrote over 30 books on subjects ranging from theology, to history, to poetry. Eventually he became disillusioned with his church work, and after All Saints' was condemned in 1899, he retired from the clergy. Shortly before his death Lee converted to Roman Catholicism.
Gravesite Details
Lee is buried in his wife's grave. The tombstone only commemorates his wife, Elvira Lee.
Family Members
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