Anglican Church
The Anglican Church is a Christian denomination which originated in the sixteenth century when the English king Henry VIII broke with the Pope and Rome. This form of Christianity today is present mainly in countries that have been impregnated by the English culture, such as former British colonies in America and Africa.
Strictly speaking, one can not speak of the "Anglican Church" since the various churches in that denomination are grateful autocephalous. Most are gathered in the Anglican Communion , in which the Church of England and its primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury , have only a primacy of honor. These churches are in full communion (in doctrinal and sacramental ) with each other and together represent about 77 million followers.
Anglican churches have a structure Episcopal and they say they are both Catholic and Reformed , and Anglicanism has often been described as the via media between these two branches of Christianity. They present themselves as non-Roman Catholic churches, because they want continuity with the apostolic tradition (and the patristic is highly developed in the Anglican world) and say they have preserved the apostolic succession. However, the Catholic Church does not recognize that their quality: the encyclical Apostolicae Curae published by Pope Leo XIII in 1896 declared that "the ordinations conferred by the Anglican rite have been and are absolutely futile and wholly void."
Furthermore, the Anglican reformed because they say they have joined some new principles from the Protestant Reformation in matters of doctrine and liturgy. Originally Anglican doctrine is set out in the Thirty-nine Articles which have long been an imperative. The range between the doctrinal positions has widened and then gives rise to numerous classifications ( High Church , Low Church , Broad Church , Anglo-Catholicism , Evangelicalism ...).
While long coexistence between soothed such divergent positions was considered a specificity of Anglicanism, is the communion from the late twentieth century subjected to strong pulling on some issues: ordination of women , compared to the position homosexuality in particular.
Summary |
Foundation: the role of the British monarchy
Unlike what happened in continental Europe, the separation between the Church of England and the papacy did not come from theological disputes, but above all political. The king of England, Henry VIII , previously unwavering support of the papacy in 1509 had married Catherine of Aragon. Without a male heir, and also in love with his mistress Anne Boleyn , he sent the pope in 1527 for the annulment of her marriage. Having suffered in 1530 a final refusal of Clement VII , he proclaimed himself the following year when " Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England "and breaks diplomatic relations with Rome.
The "Royal Divorce" can then be pronounced: as soon as his marriage to Catherine of Aragon is invalidated by the new Archbishop of Canterbury , Thomas Cranmer , Henry VIII married his favorite May 23, 1533.
It was not until 1559, with the Elizabethan Regulations , that the religious situation begins to stabilize in England and Anglicanism really takes shape, including the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer. Sister churches are based in Scotland and Ireland at that time.
Emergence of diverse spiritual currents
From 1633 to 1640, the Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud will try to implement a policy of religious uniformity. It is rejected by the Mavericks , especially by the Puritans who wish to complete the Reformation in England. This is one reason for the First English Revolution. From the restoration of the monarchy , two groups face each other in Anglicanism: Movement High Church which forbids the reversal of a policy of standardization and latitudinal movement, "said Low Church , which wants a more open, especially towards non-conformist .
Formation of the Anglican Communion
Seventeenth century to the nineteenth century, Anglican churches are making a business missionary increasingly important. Communities built in the colonies gradually take their independence and set themselves up as independent churches. The British monarch occupies an official position in the Church of England (he has also, to a lesser extent, in the Church of Scotland , a Presbyterian church and non-Anglican) .
The structures of cooperation between the various Anglican churches in gradually: the first Lambeth Conference was held in 1867 at the instigation of the Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Thomas Longley. Twenty years later, the churches agree on four basic points that form a sort of definition of Anglican identity. These agreements, which remain as the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral , also form the base of the Anglican designs in the field of ecumenism.
Organization of churches and the Anglican Communion
Operation Synod
The various churches which constitute the Anglican communion are called ecclesiastical provinces , and each have their own operating rules. However, there are many common features.
The reference unit is the diocese , headed by a bishop. It includes various parishes organized into deaneries. Each parish is supported by a priest named vicar or rector, under the responsibility of the bishop.
An important difference with the Roman Catholic Church is that at every level from the deanery, the government of the church is entrusted to synods involving clergy and laity elected: deanery synod, diocesan synod, and finally, General Synod for the whole province. The latter is tricameral, with a House of Bishops, a House of clerics and lay a room. Depending on the nature of the issues, different types of majority is required, or the consent of the bishop leading the diocese .
Instruments of unity
For historical reasons, the Archbishop of Canterbury has a precedence of honor on the other Anglican bishops. It does so far no power over the churches sisters Anglican Communion. It is considered the spiritual head of Anglicanism and the guarantor of the unity of the Communion. Since 2003, Rowan Williams, who holds that office.
The Anglican Communion has no government body, as the churches that compose it are independent. But there are several instances that allow the meeting of members of the communion and some form of collaboration:
- the Lambeth Conference which is held on a ten-year since 1867. She is being held under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury invites all the bishops of the Communion;
- the Anglican Consultative Council meetings since 1968 ensures every two or three years between representatives of bishops, clergy and laity throughout the Communion;
- the conference of Anglican primates met at a similar rate since 1978.
With the Archbishop of Canterbury, these three bodies are known as instruments of unity or communion instruments , . They can pass resolutions, but they have no binding authority for church members.
The balance of power between the instruments of communion has evolved since their creation: the Anglican Consultative Council, whose shape is closest to the operation synod, took more and more important. This evolution is criticized by some primates who see a tool to promote a liberal agenda .
Doctrine
Status and Role of the Clergy
The Anglican Bishops have a structure: they have therefore retained much of the hierarchical Catholic (except the cardinal and the papacy ). An important distinction of Anglicanism from the Roman Catholicism is the right of the secular clergy ( priests and bishops ) to marry and have children, whether before or after their ordination. Sometimes, however, some clerics (especially among those likely Anglo-Catholic ) live their ministry with a commitment to celibacy .
In most Anglican churches, it is also possible for women to be ordained as priests and even Bishop in fifteen of Anglican churches - United States, Scotland, Canada or New Zealand in particular . The General Synod in York in July 2008 it voted to extend this capability to England . This decision, however, should not be operative before 2014 in England .
The Sacraments
According to the classical doctrine of Thirty-nine Articles , the Anglican churches celebrate two sacraments : the baptism and the Eucharist , along with five other "little rites" or sacramental rites: the confirmation of the marriage , the anointing of the sick , the confession and the priestly ordination. Only the former are indeed deemed to have been established by Christ himself, and necessary to salvation. Since the nineteenth century, the range of doctrinal positions on the sacraments widened. Many Anglo-Catholics believe in particular that there are seven sacraments true. In contrast, parts of the Anglican Communion develop a theology of inspiration very close to Calvinism , which influences their conception of the sacraments and ministries.
Regarding the Eucharist, a wide variety of doctrinal positions coexist. Some Anglicans believe the Eucharist (which they prefer to be called Lord's Supper) as a simple memorial, but most belong to a more or less strong real presence of Christ in the bread and wine.
Although the Thirty-Nine Articles explicitly reject the doctrine of transubstantiation , many Anglo-Catholics or members of the Movement High Church adhere, making them very similar to Roman Catholic doctrine on this point. Instead, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney considers possible the celebration of the Eucharist by those who were not ordained priests, but this provision has been criticized .
Sunday (and weekdays), we celebrate the Eucharist , the same structure as in other traditional churches. According to the tradition of the Church primitive, the faithful receive Communion under both species Liturgy The Anglican Communion has no uniform liturgy, however, the Book of Common Prayer is a common reference. Since its first edition in 1549 (an early version of 1544 was less marked by the Reformation), chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer , it has undergone numerous revisions (including 1559 and 1662), translations and local adaptations by sister churches. Revisions of the Book of Common Prayer can have a significant impact on liturgy, but also of doctrine. Thus the 1976 revision was a cause of continued movement Anglican , schism within the Episcopal Church USA. Under the influence of the liturgical movement , the Church of England in 1980 introduced a competitor to the book of common prayer, the Alternative Service Book , whose use has spread rapidly in the parishes before him even replaced from 2000 by a series of books entitled Common Worship. Meanwhile, some parishes Anglo-Catholics use translations of the Roman Missal suitably adapted: these are the English Missal and the Anglican Missal. Some Anglo-Catholic liturgies are very close to the Roman rite , or his old form ( Tridentine rite ), or the rite of Sarum prior to the Reformation. The Anglican Communion is engaged in the ecumenism which is a major player since the beginning of the twentieth century. Its doctrinal positions in fact enable it to claim the role of "bridge" between Catholics and Protestants. Anglican churches in particular are part of the World Council of Churches. After conversations Mechelen 1920's that were not next day, the dialogue has resumed since 1967 with the Roman Catholic Church as part of the International Commission on Anglican-Roman Catholic. With some churches, the agreements went up to the stage of full communion and sacramental doctrine. This is true of the Church of England and the Old Catholic Church since the Bonn Agreements of 1931, agreements which have gradually been extended to the entire Anglican Communion. The Malankara Mar Thoma Church , the Syriac tradition, is also in full communion with the Anglican Communion. More recently, in 1992, formed the Porvoo Communion together twelve churches Anglican and Lutheran churches in Europe . Despite the depth of the bond of intercommunion, and the opportunity that was given to them to attend and vote at the Lambeth Conference, the churches involved in these agreements are separate entities from the Anglican Communion . Recent developments within the churches of the Anglican Communion had a negative impact on ecumenical relations. Thus the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic commission has had an interruption following the introduction of the ordination of women by the Church of England in 1993 and the election of a gay bishop at the head of Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003 . In September 2010, the Russian Orthodox Church, who had previously lost contact with the Anglican churches of the United States and Sweden, has threatened to end the dialogue with the Anglican Communion, denouncing the "liberalism and relativism prevailing in some churches, and the introduction of the ordination of women If the bishops of Anglican world meet regularly at conferences in Lambeth and is still readily recognize as being from the same stock, the differences between liturgical and theological currents of Anglicanism are such that now arises the question of meaning the Anglican Communion and its future. Indeed, the twentieth century and the twenty-first century , some churches of the Anglican Communion have made decisions liberal compared to other Christian denominations: ordination of women priests , acceptance of a bishop living in homosexual couples, for example. In these circumstances, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams , is trying his best to play a role in healing and thus maintain the unity of his Church. Contemporary breaks linked to the rise to power of the liberal movement, broke the first time on the day the question of ordination of women : the first ordinations took place in 1974 in some provinces. Groups of followers then founded their own churches dissident who withdrew from the Anglican Communion. This phenomenon, called Anglican movement continued as these churches see themselves as the faithful will continue in the Anglican tradition, saw the gradual disintegration of the churches involved, then attempted meeting, including the federation of most of them in the Traditional Anglican Communion in 1991. In the Church of England , an original solution was found with the opportunity for parishes rejecting the ordination of women to depend on a flying bishop (bishop driving), forming a sort of parallel hierarchy. With the official opening of the appointment of women bishops from the Lambeth Conference in July 2008 , the extinction of this emergency rule is proposed for the General Synod of 2010 . A new cause of division is that of accepting the blessing of homosexual couples or the ordination of homosexuals. On this point, the crisis has been open since the ordination of a pastor openly living a stable homosexual relationship, Gene Robinson , as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 by the Episcopal Church USA. It led to a number of changes of obedience by parishes and dioceses which, while wishing to remain in the Anglican Communion, were placed under the jurisdiction of more conservative provinces. This movement of realignment peaks from 2008, where semi-breakaway structures emerge within the Communion. Indeed, in response to the moral decay denounced by conservative Anglicans (and their bishops coming mostly from Africa, Oceania and South America), about 150 out of 800 bishops chose to boycott the conference Lambeth 2008. A cons Synod held in Jerusalem , the conference GAFCON , brings together 300 bishops. The motion moved in time with the formation of the Brotherhood of professing Anglicans (Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans), which has its own board of Primates. In the nineteenth century, doctrinal proximity between some of the followers of the Anglican Oxford Movement and the Roman Catholic Church has caused a number of conversions in the image of John Henry Newman and Henry Edward Manning. Controversies on the validity of Anglican orders have stopped this movement. References Ecumenism and inter-communion agreements
Diversity and risk of rupture
Fractures of the Anglican Communion
The attraction of Catholicism
Bibliography
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