ROMAN CATHOLIC -ANGLICAN
UNION TALKS

The Anglican church split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 CE. The main cause was a dispute between King Henry VIII of England and the pope over the king's need to annul his marriage. The Anglican Church became the state church of England. It now consists of many affiliated provinces (national churches) across the world, such as the Episcopal Church, USA and the Anglican Church of Canada. During the past two centuries, there have been efforts made to reunify the two churches:

	The Roman Catholic Church's historical position was that reunion with Protestants would take the form of individual members converting to Catholicism.
	In the 18th century, William Wake (the Archbishop of Canterbury) tried to promote a reunion of two churches. He was unsuccessful.
	In 1870, the First Vatican Council declared the primacy and infallibility of the pope. This increased significantly the division between the two churches. Other points of conflict were: The developing Protestant world-wide missionary movement The increasing role of Mary in the Roman Catholic church, as evidenced by dogmas that she was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven at the time of her death, and that she was conceived without sin.
	In 1908, the Roman Catholic Church started an annual practice of setting aside a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity each year to pray for unity through "the return of heretics and schismatics to the Church of Rome."
	At their Lambeth conference of 1920, Anglicans called for unity between the two churches.
	In 1928, Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical "Mortalium animos" (On fostering true religious unity). It dealt a crushing blow to the emerging ecumenical movement. It stated that the Roman Catholic Church cannot become involved in the movement towards unity. It "also contained a clear warning that Catholic support of interfaith assemblies and moves by non-Catholics to bring about Christian unity would be considered subversive." 6 As always, non-Catholics would be welcome if they individually left their church of origin and returned to "the one true Church of Christ."
	In 1948, Pope Pius XII did not accept the invitation from the World Council of Churches for the Roman Catholic Church to become a member.
	In 1950, the Holy Office recognized for the first time that the ecumenical movement is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Individual Roman Catholics were given permission to attend ecumenical meetings as long as church dogma is not discussed. For the first time in centuries, Anglicans and Roman Catholics were able to recite the Lord's Prayer together.
	Christian theologians and pastors from Protestant denominations were given active observer status at the four official sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). 2
	Circa 1965, Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI met in Rome to initiate an earnest search for unity. They agree to set up the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).
	The 1968 Malta Report of the ARCIC recognized that one of the "urgent and important tasks" would be to examine the question of authority within the churches. 3
	The Final Report of the ARCIC was published in 1981. "Half of it was devoted to the dialogue about authority in the Church, with two agreed statements and an elucidation." 3
	In 1994, American Roman Catholic and Episcopal bishops made a joint ecumenical pilgrimage to the Vatican at Rome, and to Canterbury in England.
	In 1996, the "Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, and Pope John Paul II stated very frankly the need for this work on authority...: 'Without agreement in this area we shall not reach the full, visible unity to which we are both committed'."
	In 1999, the ARCIC issued a further statement and commentary on union.
	In 2000, bishops from the two churches met in Mississauga, ON, Canada, near Toronto.

The two churches have gradually drifted apart on theological grounds. During the 20^th century, the churches have also adopted different policies on various matters -- particularly tose related to human sexuality. Some points of conflict between the two churches are:

	The Roman Catholic Church refuses to recognize that Anglican priests have been legitimately ordained and that their bishops have been legally consecrated. This means, for example, Roman Catholics and Anglicans cannot receive the communion elements together.
	Catholics believe in the existence of Purgatory as a place and state after death. Anglicans do not.
	Catholics believe that the wine and wafer become the actual blood and body of Christ during the Eucharist. Anglicans do not.
	Catholics believe that the pope has authority over all of Christianity. Anglican Archbishop George Cary says that he has no problem with the idea of a "universal" primate. It is the nature, jurisdiction and authority of that primacy that must be settled.
	The Catholic church, alone, believes that certain of the the pope's pronouncements, when he speaks ex cathedra (officially) on matters of faith and morals, are infallible.
	The pope is the ultimate authority in the Roman Catholic Church. Decisions in the Anglican churches require separate affirmative votes by the laity, clergy and bishops.
	Anglicans do not believe in the Immaculate Conception (the dogma that Mary was without sin when she was conceived circa 20 BCE.) They do not believe that she was transferred bodily to heaven at her death. There is a growing belief in the Catholic Church that Mary has the status, with Jesus, of co-redemptrix. That concept is quite foreign to Protestant and Anglican denominations.
	Very few Catholic priests and bishops are allowed to marry.
	Catholic women are not eligible for ordination to the priesthood. The pope considers the matter a closed subject and has forbidden discussion on it. In 1971, two Anglican women in Hong Kong became the first female regularly ordained women in the Anglican Communion. This was followed by female ordination in many other Anglican churches and finally --in 1992 -- in the Church of England.
	Women have been consecrated as bishops in some Anglican jurisdictions.
	Catholics do not allow Divorce and remarriage; Anglicans do.
	Birth control is forbidden for Catholics, although most North Americans use it routinely. To Anglicans, it is a private, not a religious, issue.
	Roman Catholic women are forbidden to have an an abortion. The Anglican church takes a more liberal view.
	Roman Catholic couples who are infertile are forbidden to start pregnancies through in vitro fertilization. To Anglicans, it is not a religious issue.
	In 2001, the New Westminster, British Columbia diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada voted in favor of blessing gay and lesbian unions. In 2003-JAN, Rowan Williams was installed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. He brings with him a strong desire to promote equality of persons of all sexual orientations within the Anglican Communion. During the 2003 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, USA, the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire was confirmed. He was divorced and is now in a long term, committed relationship with another man. Any movement towards the ordination of homosexual priests who are in committed relationships, and/or the blessing of gay and lesbian unions will increase the divisions between the Anglican Communion and Roman Catholic Church.

Of these, the most serious point of dispute appears to be the authority of the Pope and the Vatican. On a positive note, the two churches have retained similar internal organizational structures; that might simplify an eventual reunion.

	All of the discussions to date have not produced any practical changes.
	The "few issues outstanding -- the ordination of women priests and especially the consecration of women bishops by some Anglican dioceses, plus the nature of the authority of a Pope in a reunited church are huge."

Web ReligiousTolerance.org

Page Translator: This page translator works on Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari browsers only After translating, click on the "show original" button at the top of this page to restore page to English.