Anglican
Catholic and Anglican
Anglicans retain much of the liturgical, episcopal, and sacramental structure inherited from pre-Reformation England, while affirming Reformation principles on Scripture and justification, occupying a distinct middle position often called the via media.
Catholic view
The Catholic Church regards Anglicanism warmly as retaining significant elements of apostolic faith and worship, while holding that the Anglican episcopate lacks valid apostolic succession since Pope Leo XIII's 1896 bull Apostolicae Curae, and that full communion requires unity under the See of Peter.
Their view
Anglicans, guided by the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, affirm justification by faith while retaining bishops, a rich sacramental liturgy, and reverence for tradition, understanding themselves as a reformed catholic church rather than strictly Protestant or Roman.
Key differences
Papal authority
- Catholic view
- The pope holds supreme and universal jurisdiction as successor of Peter.
- Their view
- The Archbishop of Canterbury holds a primacy of honor without universal jurisdiction; national churches are largely autonomous.
Apostolic succession
- Catholic view
- Holds Anglican orders to be invalid due to a defect in form and intention in the Edwardine ordinal.
- Their view
- Maintains an unbroken historic episcopate validly transmitting apostolic ministry.
Marian doctrine
- Catholic view
- Defines the Immaculate Conception and Assumption as dogmas of faith.
- Their view
- Honors Mary but does not require belief in these as binding dogmas.
Discipline on marriage and ministry
- Catholic view
- Requires clerical celibacy for priests in the Latin Church and reserves ordination to men.
- Their view
- Permits married clergy and, in many provinces, ordains women to the priesthood and episcopate.
Common ground
Both maintain episcopal government, liturgical worship, the historic creeds, infant baptism, and a high view of the Eucharist as a real participation in Christ.
Biblical foundation
Both traditions look to Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8 regarding the Church's mission and to 1 Timothy 3 for the qualifications of bishops, differing on how Matthew 16:18-19 establishes a perpetual Petrine office.
Historical evidence
The Church of England separated from Rome under Henry VIII in 1534 through the Act of Supremacy, later shaped doctrinally under Edward VI and Elizabeth I; Pope Leo XIII's 1896 examination of Anglican ordination rites concluded they were invalid, a judgment still debated by ecumenists today.
The Church Fathers
“He who does not hold this unity of the Church, does he think that he holds the faith?”