Statement issued by the OCR Prelate and Rector Pro-Provincial of Canterbury

June 12, 2022

Readers interested in the background of the repeated online attacks against our organization and its members published by Michael James Kline are referred to the previously published notices on this website that detail the falsity of Kline’s assertions regarding our Order.

In Kline’s latest act of harassment, he has thrown various intemperate and false accusations at the OCR Prelate via his Facebook page. These accusations relate to the certificate of OCR membership issued by Kline to Dario Caldarelli of Italy in 2016. It should be recalled that Kline resigned his purported “Universal Primacy” to Caldarelli last year, only to then “unresign” after he and Caldarelli had subsequently fallen out. At that time, Kline made no adverse comment regarding Caldarelli’s bona fides so far as Caldarelli’s OCR membership was concerned.

Fortunately, the OCR Prelate is not in the habit of deleting email correspondence, and can with ease refer to the statements made by Kline over the years.

As proof that Kline authorized Caldarelli’s appointment to the OCR, we have but to cite his email of 12 September 2016, addressed to a circulation list of some thirty-three email addresses, in which he stated the following:

“I have appointed two new Order of Corporate Reunion Member Bishops in ITALY. ++Dario Caldarelli, OCR as the Order of Corporate Reunion Provincial of the Italian Provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Naples, and OCR Archbishop of the City of Lecce, Italy, and other churches nearby. His Apostolic Successon [sic] has a primary lineage from ++Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. His email is: orthodoxanglicanchurchstjohn@gmail.com”

Kline had previously circulated Caldarelli’s application and supporting documents to a number of members of the OCR.

On 29 September 2016, Kline circulated a further email to a similar circulation list in which he stated as follows:

“Dear ++Archbishop John Kersey, and OCR Provincials and Rectors,

I like the OCR membership document which was made for ++ Archbishop Linley. If you have no objections I would like to see this as a universal OCR member's certificate, but with Blessed Pope Pius IX image, in lieu of Pope Benedict. Would you please generate these as something which we may fill in the blanks, and subsequently email them to each OCR member? I think it would be a good plan to delegate to each OCR Provincial to investigate and admit new OCR members within their respective province, on behalf of the Universal Primate. Then every appointment would be added to a mutual shared database.”

The membership certificate in question was designed by the current OCR Prelate based on public domain historic documentation and imagery to which appropriate wording and the OCR seals had been added. Following Kline’s request, the blank certificate was emailed to him that same day for his use with Archbishop Kersey’s blessing,

“Dear +Mike,

Please find attached a certificate you can print out and use. The bishop admitting should print his name and title where provided and then sign below.”

To this, Kline replied on the same day,

“Thank you +John,

This membership document looks professional and wonderful. Thank you for your diligence and dedication.”

Now, let us turn to the certificate issued to Caldarelli and it will be obvious that it is based on this template.

On 7 November 2016, Caldarelli wrote to the OCR Prelate by Facebook Messenger saying the following,

“Understood. the Primate [Kline] has assured me that after the ceremony we will deliver the certificates of incardination. But I didn't ask for this, he is currently very busy from the celebrations and preparations. rightly so!”

From this, it was understood that Kline had undertaken to deliver the relevant certificates to Caldarelli and that Caldarelli was awaiting these. The certificate above was displayed by Caldarelli on his Facebook page at the time when Kline resigned as “Universal Primate” in his favour. No adverse comment was made by Kline at this point.

So far as the wording of the certificate is concerned, it is identical in substance to the appointments that were confirmed to Caldarelli by Kline’s email cited above. There are multiple misspellings, but such errors are evident in both Caldarelli’s and Kline’s writings (Caldarelli is not a native speaker of English). They are not errors that would appear in any document prepared or issued by the OCR Prelate, who is both a native speaker of English and has taught that language.

This then leaves the question of what appears in the bottom right corner of the certificate. The certificate is signed, illegibly, and the word “Archbishop” is appended beneath the signature. Detailed examination indicates that the signature, as far as can be ascertained from the examination of a photograph, is in ink and does not appear to be an autosignature or scan. A copy of Kline’s signature, obtained from the public record of the Secretary of State’s office in Missouri, has been examined and there are clear similarities in the handwriting of both documents. Our view is that, absent any substantial evidence to the contrary, it is most likely that Kline is the signatory to this certificate.

Two hand seals have been impressed at this place. One relates to the “Orthodox Anglican Church” and the other is Caldarelli’s personal archiepiscopal seal. It is not clear to us why a document issued by Kline should bear seals that only Caldarelli would have had access to and been able to affix, and moreover that apply to him and his jurisdiction rather than to Kline.

Kline has libeled the OCR Prelate by accusing him of affixing Kline’s name without his consent to this certificate and thereby of a criminal act. This is a vicious lie. The OCR Prelate did not have any part whatsoever in preparing this certificate issued to Caldarelli other than sending the template on which it was based to Kline. There are only two parties that could have been involved in any such document, and they are Kline himself and Caldarelli. The fact that they have since fallen out presumably accounts for Kline’s wish to deny the facts at hand.

Kline further lies by alleging that the OCR Prelate “uses multiple fake identities with emails and Facebook”, going on to list “Dorchester, Pius, Jay Payne, Frederick George Lee, multiple Popes”. These are false and libellous allegations. The OCR Prelate has only one Facebook account and has on no occasion used any of the identities or aliases listed on Facebook or via email, nor any other pseudonym whatsoever. Whether by email or on social media, the OCR Prelate participates as himself and nobody else.

Let us be mindful in concluding our statement on this matter of Proverbs 19:5, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.”

+JOHN

Prelate and Rector Pro-Provincial of Canterbury

The Order of Corporate Reunion

12 June 2022 a.d.