Anglican church meaning (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Anglican Church:

The Anglican Church is a Christian confession officially established in England since the 16th century. It currently brings together the so-called "Anglican Communion", the group of Anglican churches scattered around the world, which respond to the spiritual leadership of the Archbishopric of Canterbury.

The Anglican word literally means 'from England'. For this reason, this institution is also called the Church of England.

Symbol of the Anglican Church.

The expansion of the Anglican charism beyond its borders has also allowed us to speak of Anglicanism. Anglicanism would refer to those religious communities that base their form of worship and experience of the faith on the style or charism of the Church of England. For these communities the primacy of the Anglican Church represents only a moral and spiritual leadership.

Due to its historical process, the Anglican Church has many elements in common with the Catholic Church, since its separation was due to political rather than theological causes.

Origin of the Anglican Church

The Anglican Church had its birth in a political decision of King Henry VIII (1491-1547), second monarch of the Tudor house.

Two aspects will be key. On the one hand, the dissatisfaction with authoritarianism and the interference of the primacy of Rome in the political affairs of the English State, whose antecedents dated back to the 13th and 14th centuries. On the other, the pressure that Henry VIII had on himself to give a man child to the crown.

At that time, it was believed that the masculine or feminine gender was granted by women, so that Catalina de Aragón, legitimate wife of Enrique VIII, was attributed the inability to give a healthy male child to the crown.

Enrique VIII had fallen in love with his wife's companion, Ana Bolena, who, to consummate the relationship, imposed on the monarch the condition of being taken by wife and queen. Seeing in it the opportunity to obtain a legitimate heir, the king asked the Vatican to annul the ecclesiastical marriage with Catherine of Aragon.

The denial of the papacy, based on doctrinal arguments, was received as a new attempt at political interference. Consequently, by means of the promulgation of the Act of Supremacy in 1534, Henry VIII decided to declare himself as the highest authority of the Church in England, which allowed him to annul his marriage and marry Bolena.

The separation of the Anglican Church occurred parallel to the Protestant Reformation. However, Henry VIII never approached this doctrine and, in fact, fought it. This confirms the eminently political character of the monarch's decision.

Henry VIII never managed to obtain a male child from his formal unions. Upon his death, power will pass to his daughters. Queen María Tudor (1517-1558), daughter of Catalina de Aragón, restored Catholicism within the kingdom. When his half sister Elizabeth I (1533-1603), daughter of Ana Bolena, took power, the Anglican Church came into force, this time definitively.

See also:

• Schism, Catholic Church, Protestant reform.

Characteristics of the Anglican Church

Some of the doctrinal characteristics of the Anglican Church are the following:

• Foundation in Sacred Scripture (Old and New Testament) as a way of salvation.Assessment of the apostolic tradition: acceptance of the Nicene creed and the creed of the apostles.Practice of the 7 sacraments: baptism, penance (general, not private), Eucharist, confirmation, marriage, religious order and anointing of the sick. Episcopate adapted to the reality of each country where it has representation.

Part of these elements are shared with the Catholic faith, with which Anglicanism also has in common respect for the Virgin Mary as mother of God, the calendar of the saints, the religious orders for men and women and most of the liturgy and its symbols (clothing and objects).

Some sectors of the Anglican Church have allowed themselves an approach to Protestantism. This is visible in the adoption of the charismatic preaching models of Pentecostal Protestantism in some communities. Others, however, maintain the traditional liturgy.

See also: Christianity.

Difference between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church

The greatest difference between the Church of England and the Catholic results from the Anglican objection to the vertical and centralized model of the Roman papacy, which contrasts with the decentralization of the Anglican Church.

Anglicanism, more inclined to the active participation of the laity, has incorporated some significant transformations that have further separated it from Catholicism.

At the same time, by the very nature of its structure, these transformations have not been accepted by all of their communities, and are still subject to much internal opposition.

The most significant changes are:

• Elimination of the obligation of priestly celibacy (accepted in all Anglicanism); Admission of the female priesthood (only accepted in the most liberal dioceses); Admission of same-sex marriage (only accepted in the most liberal dioceses).