OLD CATHOLIC CONFEDERATION

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Craig J. N. de Paulo is Prelate of the Old Catholic Confederation. He is also Canon of St. Bartholomew Cathedral of Wusasa in the Province of Kaduna, Church of Nigeria of the Anglican Communion.

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Elected a Bishop by the the Synod of Bishops of the Old Catholic Church in the United States on July 14, 2013, he was consecrated to the Holy Episcopate by His Grace, The Most Rev. Peter Paul Brennan, assisted by The Rt. Rev. Rodney R. Michel (then Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania) and by The R. Rev. Dr. William J. Manseau, on September 14, 2013, the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, at the Episcopal Church of St John in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. He was ordained to the Diaconate on March 24, 2007 and to the holy Priesthood, at the Vigil of the Feast of St. John the Baptist on June23, 2007.

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From 2016 to 2023, he served as Prior of St. Willibrord Priory in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. From 2015 to 2020, Bishop de Paulo served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. He also served as Chair of the Commission on Ecumenism and Unity of the Council during his tenure on the Board. 

 

From 2013 to 2018, Bishop de Paulo held a Diplomatic appointment as Episcopal Commissary of the Church of the Province of West Africa to the Episcopal Church in the United States. First appointed in December 2013 by then His Grace, The Most Rev. Dr. S. Tilewa Johnson, the late Primate and Archbishop of West Africa, and Re-appointed in 2014 by His Grace, The Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Y. Sarfo, then Primate and Archbishop of West Africa. Bishop de Paulo's service resulted in humanitarian aid to West Africa during the Ebola crisis and the advancement of dialogue between the Church of West Africa and the Episcopal Church in the United States concerning areas of controversy and dissent. 

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A philosopher, theologian and scholar, Professor de Paulo holds the Ph.D. and Ph.L. degrees from the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome, a M.A. degree in philosophy and theology from Villanova University and a B.A. degree in philosophy from La Salle University. His wrote his doctoral dissertation on the historical and philosophical influence of St. Augustine on Martin Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit, having the renowned Anglican theologian John Macquarrie as a guest reader. He also conducted doctoral research at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, working under the mentorship of the Rev. Professor Tarsicius van Bavel, O.S.A. While an undergraduate, he completed studies in philosophy and literature at the Universitè de Fribourg in Switzerland. Having earned his doctorate at the age of twenty-seven, Professor de Paulo has held several professorial appointments, having lectured at the Gregorian University in Rome, Fordham University, Boston College and Temple University over the last twenty-four years. Presently, Professor de Paulo is Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Philosophy, Theology and Humanities at the Collegium Augustinianum, and he continues to lecture widely in Europe and in the United States in various visiting and adjunct appointments.

 

Professor de Paulo has published several scholarly articles and many books including, Being and Conversion, Ambiguity in the Western Mind, The Influence of Augustine on Heidegger: The Emergence of an Augustinian Phenomenology, Confessions of Love: The Ambiguities of Greek Eros and Latin Caritas, Augustinian Just War Theory and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: Confessions, Contentions and the Lust for Power. Most recently, Professor de Paulo published a four-volume translation of the sixth-century Byzantine writer, Ioannes Lydus, which he edited with the late eminent Greek Orthodox scholar, The Rev. Professor Anastasius C. Bandy, entitled, The Works of Ioannes Lydus.

 

In recognition of his scholarship and his dedication to the Church and the community, Professor de Paulo has received many honors and awards, including several decorations and Orders of Knighthood. He was also commissioned Honorary Colonel in the Kentucky State Guard and appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Governor's Staff in 2002 by then Governor Paul E. Patton.

 

Married for twenty-five years, Bishop and Mrs. de Paulo have one son and reside together with their cat.