Episcopi vagantes

Episcopi vagantes (singular: episcopus vagans, Latin for wandering bishops or stray bishops) are those persons consecrated, in a "clandestine or irregular way," as Christian bishops outside the structures and canon law of the established churches; those regularly consecrated but later excommunicated, and not in communion with any generally recognized diocese; and those who have in communion with them small groups that appear to exist solely for the bishop's sake. David V. Barrett, in the Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements, specifies that now episcopi vagantes are "those independent bishops who collect several different lines of transmission of apostolic succession, and who will happily (and sometimes for a fee) consecrate anyone who requests it." Those described as wandering bishops often see the term as pejorative. The general term for "wandering" clerics, as were common in the Middle Ages, is clerici vagantes; the general term for those recognising no leader is acephali.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church mentions as the main lines of succession deriving from episcopi vagantes in the 20th century those founded by Arnold Mathew, Joseph René Vilatte, and Leon Chechemian. Others that could be added are those derived from Aftimios Ofiesh, Carlos Duarte Costa, Emmanuel Milingo, and Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục.

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