ARE YOU ANGLICANS?Anglican Rite Catholics have no
connection with any Churches of the Anglican Communion (except through common heritage).
THEN WHY DO YOU CALL YOURSELVES 'ANGLICAN'? Because we use the Book of Common Prayer. The particular version we use
for the Mass (or Holy Eucharist) is called the Anglican Missal. We use this
because it teaches us clearly both the Real Presence and the Eucharistic
Sacrifice in the sense that the holy Fathers of the early Church understood
them.
ARE YOU ROMAN CATHOLICS? We have no
connection with the Roman Catholic Church.
SO WHY DO YOU CALL YOURSELVES 'CATHOLIC'? Because we do not agree that the Roman Catholic Church has a monopoly on
the word Catholic. When we say in the Creed "and I believe One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church" we believe that we are members of the
Catholic Church just as much as Roman Catholics.
WE'VE GOT SO MANY CHURCHES NOW, WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER ONE?
CANNOT MEMBERS OF THE Anglican Rite Church SIMPLY BELONG TO ONE OF THE CHURCHES ALREADY IN
EXISTENCE? To answer that question we need to introduce
a technical term: ecclesiology. The word ecclesiology means the way a Church
defines itself. For example: Roman Catholic ecclesiology claims that the Pope is
'Vicar of Christ' in a unique sense and that the Pope has universal jurisdiction
over all Christians. In other words, that the Pope is a bishop placed
over the Church rather than a bishop within the Church. The Anglican Rite Catholics
do not accept the claims which Roman Catholics make for the Pope. They are
innovations and do not accord with the Holy Tradition of the Undivided Catholic
Church; that is to say, the one Catholic Church as it existed before the split
between Rome and Orthodoxy in the eleventh century. In fact, the papal claims
were the primary cause of that split - the false Roman ecclesiology was the
major cause of division.
POINT TAKEN! BUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH ANGLICAN
ECCLESIOLOGY? First, there's no such thing a single
worldwide Anglican Church. The Anglican Communion is a loose federation of local
churches, each empowered to do almost anything it wishes - so long as remain
loyal to the way in which Anglicans operate. Both the Roman Catholic and
Anglican Churches have this in common: their ecclesiology is based chiefly on
maintaining the Church as an institution. The institution is seen as
guaranteeing the validity of the Sacraments and the acceptability of Doctrine.
The Roman Church is a centralised institution, Anglicanism is a federation of
institutions.
SO WHAT IS THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF THE ANGLICAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH? The same as the ecclesiology of the Eastern
Orthodox Church. The Anglican Rite Catholics see the Church as the extension of Christ's presence
and ministry - through the gift of Holy Spirit whom Christ promised "I will send
in my name". The Holy Spirit brings the risen Life of Christ to us through the
seven Sacraments (especially the Mass), and through the faithful proclamation of
the Gospel. Whereas other Churches believe that the Church is an institution
possessing Sacraments, our church believes that the institution is created by the
Sacraments and, especially, by Christ's sacramental presence in the Mass. This
was well expressed by St. Ignatius of Antioch who in 107AD wrote: "LET THAT BE A
VALID EUCHARIST OVER WHICH THE BISHOP PRESIDES, OR THE ONE TO WHOM HE COMMITS
IT. WHERE THE BISHOP APPEARS, THERE LET THE PEOPLE BE, JUST AS WHERESOEVER
CHRIST JESUS IS (in the Holy Eucharist) THERE IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH". (this
is the first ever use made of the word 'Catholic' as applied to the true Church,
and the Anglican Rite Catholic Church uses it in exactly the same way. Remember that St. Ignatius was born
in Apostolic times; so he knew what was what.)
WHO CAN BE THE KIND OF BISHOP ST. IGNATIUS SPOKE ABOUT? The bishop must be in the Apostolic Succession. This means that each bishop must have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders from other bishops in unbroken chain right back to the Apostles. He must uphold and proclaim the same doctrine as the Apostles. He must be in communion with other bishops who also uphold right belief. The Church is built upon Jesus Christ, present, through the Holy Spirit, in his people as they are united with their bishop in the Faith and Sacraments (especially the Mass) received from the Holy Apostles. This, the ecclesiolgy of the undivided Catholic Church, is known as Eucharistic Ecclesiology.
IS THE A.R.C.C. THE ONLY CHURCH THAT HAS A EUCHARISTIC
ECCLESIOLOGY? The Eastern Orthodox Church and the
ancient Oriental Orthodox Churches have the same belief about what the Church
is. The same pattern also lies underneath the papalism of the Roman Church.
The Anglican Rite Catholic Church has a different tradition of liturgical worship from the Orthodox Churches
but differences in expressing the Faith are secondary. The Catholic Church has
always lived with wide cultural differences which do not matter so long as the
Sacraments are the same and the same Apostolic Doctrine (known as the Holy
Tradition) is taught.
WHERE DO ANGLICAN RITE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD TO BE
FOUND? IT IS FOUND IN THE HOLY TRADITION OF THE
UNDIVIDED CATHOLIC CHURCH - that is to say, that which the whole Catholic Church
believed and practised before the eleventh century break between Rome and
Orthodoxy. The Bible as 'God's Word' is the inspired and indispensible witness
to the Holy Tradition, its earliest permanent record.
The Holy Tradition consists of: 1. The Holy Scriptures, 2. The teachings of the Fathers, such as St. Ignatius of Antioch, and especially those Fathers guided into all truth in the seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undvided Church, 3. The example and teaching of the great Saints from New Testament times to the present. Since all parts of the Holy Tradition come from the Holy Spirit in fulfilment of Christ's promise (see St. John 16:13), it follows that no part of Holy Tradition can contradict any other part of Holy Tradition. Christ is one, and therefore the Faith must also be one.