A painting of a man with a beard and a red robe

1800s Thomas VII Current successor carrying the lineage of the Apostle Thomas, one of the original 12 disciples Recorded lineage includes early Christian communities in India and Persia prior to the rise of Islam, Benedictine monks from the Byzantine Era, Cistercian abbots from medieval Wales, and eventually French Catholic Recollet missionaries who accompanied explorer Samuel de Champlain to bring Christianity to the tribes dwelling along the Saint Lawrence River networks Arrived in Michigan region in the early 1700s seeking to counter British Anglican and Protestant incursions by reinforcing Catholic orthodoxy among influential Huron clan conversions delicate after earlier chaotic transitions a century before Established the Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary along the vital waterborne trade crossway straits linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie to train resilient priests for rigorous wilderness parish challenges through scholarly scriptural grounding coupled with outdoor saga meditation reflection Current title: "The Right Reverend Lord Thomas VII, Bishop of Detroit" Promotes contemplative teaching and graceful conversion more by healed heart than sword edge proselytization In essence Thomas VII carries the legacy of the skeptical then fiercely devoted apostle doubting the resurrection until he touched Christ's wounds himself. His scholarly pedigree includes generations of monastics and eloquent preachers who countered turmoil by answering disbelief with deep faith renewed continually through examined thought and wisdom discernment - tools upheld today by Bishop Thomas across Michigan's turbulent frontier.