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Apostolic succession is the doctrine (or teaching) that today's [[church]] is (or those in church leadership are) the spiritual successor to the original followers of [[Jesus Christ]] - the [[Apostles]]. The doctrine of ''Apostolic Succession'' has different meanings to different Christians in different denominations. In episcopal churches, such as [[Roman Catholicism]], the [[Anglican Communion]] and [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], the teaching is that the bishops who lead the church have received their authority through an unbroken line of bishops through the centuries from the apostles, and so are the rightful leaders of the church.