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Summary
- The Episcopal Church is not Roman Catholic. Its constitution names it “a constituent member of the Anglican Communion,” it calls itself both Protestant and catholic, and it is not in communion with Rome.
- Both have bishops, a Mass and a claim to apostolic succession. Rome does not accept that the Episcopal orders are valid, and that refusal explains most of the rest.
- Apostolicae Curae (1896) declared Anglican ordinations “absolutely null and utterly void”; the Archbishops of Canterbury and York rejected the reasoning the next year. Since 2009 Anglicans can enter the Catholic Church as groups through the personal ordinariates of Anglicanorum coetibus.
- The Episcopal Church is the American province of the Anglican Communion, organised separately after independence because colonial clergy could no longer swear allegiance to the crown.
- Authority runs differently: Scripture, tradition and reason, with no living office that settles a question definitively — the tradition’s strength and its weakness at once.
- Most visible differences now: women’s ordination as priests authorised in 1976 and the first woman bishop in 1989, and same-sex marriage rites authorised in 2015. Both hold the Nicene Creed without amendment and recognise each other’s baptism.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Episcopal Church. Constitution and Canons (2022), Preamble. https://www.episcopalarchives.org/files/publications/2022_CandC.pdf
- The Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer (1979), An Outline of the Faith, commonly called the Catechism. https://www.bcponline.org/Misc/catechism.html
- Church of England. The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, Articles VI and XXV. https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- Leo XIII. Apostolicae Curae (1896), English translation. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/leo13/l13curae.htm; Latin text at the Vatican: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/la/apost_letters/documents/litterae-apostolicae-apostolicae-curae-13-septembris-1896.html
- Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Saepius Officio (1897). Project Canterbury. https://anglicanhistory.org/orders/saepius.pdf
- Benedict XVI. Anglicanorum coetibus (2009). https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apc_20091104_anglicanorum-coetibus.html
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Pope establishes U.S. ordinariate, names former Episcopal Bishop as leader” (2 January 2012). https://www.usccb.org/news/2012/pope-establishes-us-ordinariate-names-former-episcopal-bishop-leader
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), paragraph 85 and the full text. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PM.HTM; https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
- The Episcopal Church, Glossary: Anglican Communion; Presiding Bishop; Via Media; Catholic. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/anglican-communion/; https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/presiding-bishop/; https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/via-media/; https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/catholic/
- The Episcopal Church, Glossary: Philadelphia Eleven (women’s ordination authorised by the 1976 General Convention); Harris, Barbara Clementine (first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion, 1989). https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/philadelphia-eleven/; https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/harris-barbara-clementine/
- Episcopal News Service. “Diocesan bishops who blocked same-sex marriages take reluctant first steps toward allowing ceremonies” (17 July 2018), on the 2015 trial rites and Resolution B012. https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2018/07/17/diocesan-bishops-who-blocked-same-sex-marriages-take-reluctant-first-steps-toward-allowing-ceremonies/
- Church of the Heavenly Rest, Abilene (Episcopal). “All May, None Must, Some Should.” https://www.heavenlyrestabilene.org/post/all-may-none-must-some-should
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Christian Initiation of Adults” (reception into full communion). https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/christian-initiation-of-adults
- Anglican Church in North America. About. https://anglicanchurch.net/about/
- Gafcon. “The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).” https://gafcon.org/prayer-updates/the-anglican-church-in-north-america-acna/
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