Compare
Catholic ChurchandAnglican Communion
At a glance
- Common groundIn full: Common ground
- The historic creeds, liturgical worship and a ministry of bishops, priests and deacons.
2 sources
- Articles of Religion (1571)Source verified
- Anglican Orders: A Report on the Evolving Context for their Evaluation in the Roman Catholic ChurchSource verified
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
- The historic creeds, liturgical worship and a ministry of bishops, priests and deacons.
- Key differencesIn full: Key differences
- Orders and authority: Rome declared Anglican orders invalid in 1896; the papacy remains unresolved.
- How their histories connectIn full: How their histories connect
- The Church of England separated from Rome in the 16th-century English Reformation (1534–1559).
Source
- The Reformation (Living Heritage)Source verified
- Reform · 1534–1559 · A gradual processThe English ReformationRead the account in Anglican Communion
- The Church of England separated from Rome in the 16th-century English Reformation (1534–1559).
- Connected today?In full: their relationship today
Separate, in formal dialogueas of October 2026
Not in communion; in formal dialogue through ARCIC since 1970.
A summary of the researched comparison below; each point links to its evidence.
Researched comparison. Written for this pair from sourced research; each statement links to its evidence.
2 sources
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
- Articles of Religion (1571), Art. VIIISource verified
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
Where they differ
- Orders and authority. In 1896 Leo XIII declared Anglican orders 'absolutely null and utterly void'; Anglicans regard their bishops as standing in the historic episcopate. ARCIC reported 'substantial agreement' on Eucharist and ministry, but agreement on authority and the papacy remained incomplete.
Creeds and councils
Councils received
- Catholic Church
- The first three ecumenical councils (325, 381, 431); The fourth to seventh councils (451 to 787); Later general councils of the Western Church, including Trent and the Vatican councils
- Anglican Communion
- Councils can err and are tested by Scripture
Scripture and authority
Sources of authority
- Catholic Church
- Scripture and Tradition, interpreted by the bishops in communion with the pope
- Anglican Communion
- Scripture as the supreme authority for faith and life
Sacraments and ordinances
How the rites are understood and counted
- Catholic Church
- Seven sacraments (holy mysteries)
- Anglican Communion
- Two sacraments ordained by Christ: Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Where teaching varies within a tradition (2)
Sacraments and ordinances
Christ's presence in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper
- Catholic Church
- Christ's body and blood are truly present
- Anglican Communion
- Article XXVIII speaks of receiving Christ 'after an heavenly and spiritual manner'; Anglo-Catholic and evangelical Anglicans interpret Christ's presence very differently.
Mary and the saints
Asking the saints to pray
- Catholic Church
- The saints, above all Mary, are venerated and asked for their prayers
- Anglican Communion
- Practice ranges from evangelical rejection to Anglo-Catholic invocation of the saints.
Not yet comparable (7)
No sourced position is recorded for one side, so the Atlas does not say whether they agree:
- Christ (christ's divinity): not recorded for Anglican Communion
- Christ (how christ's divinity and humanity are expressed): not recorded for Anglican Communion
- Creeds and councils (the filioque): not recorded for Anglican Communion
- Salvation and grace (characteristic emphasis): not recorded for Anglican Communion
- Sacraments and ordinances (how christ's presence is explained): not recorded for Anglican Communion
- Mary and the saints (how mary is named): not recorded for Anglican Communion
- Day of worship (weekly day of worship): not recorded for Anglican Communion
How their histories relate
2 sources
- The Reformation (Living Heritage)Source verified
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
Reform · 1534–1559A gradual process
A movement to reform the Western church that, in the 16th century, produced churches independent of Rome.
The Act of Supremacy (1534) made Henry VIII supreme head of the Church in England. The first Book of Common Prayer (1549) and the Elizabethan Settlement (1559) gave the Church of England a reformed liturgy and doctrine while keeping bishops; the worldwide Anglican Communion formed much later.Read in Anglican Communion history4 sources
- The Reformation (Living Heritage)Source verified
- Chicago–Lambeth Quadrilateral, art. 4Source verified
- Articles of Religion (1571)Source verified
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
Their relationship today
Separate, in formal dialogueas of October 2026
2 sources
- Anglican Orders: A Report on the Evolving Context for their Evaluation in the Roman Catholic ChurchSource verified
- Anglicanorum coetibusSource verified
Based on The English Reformation
Developments towards reconciliation
1981
Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission: Final Report
Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC I)
ARCIC I reported 'substantial agreement' on the Eucharist and on ministry and ordination; the 1988 Lambeth Conference recognised these statements as consistent with Anglican faith.Still open: Agreement on authority remained incomplete. Leo XIII's bull Apostolicae Curae (1896) had declared Anglican orders 'absolutely null and utterly void'; Anglican–Catholic scholars have argued for its re-evaluation.
Reports of an international commission, received with different degrees of approval by the two churches.Source
- Anglican Orders: A Report on the Evolving Context for their Evaluation in the Roman Catholic ChurchSource verified
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
31 October 1999Several communions
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
Lutheran World Federation and Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, signed at Augsburg; later joined by the World Methodist Council (2006), the Anglican Consultative Council (2016) and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (2017)
The signatories state 'a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification'; the remaining differences of language, theological elaboration and emphasis are said to be acceptable.Source
- Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, §40Source verified
Still open: The declaration lists open questions, including the relationship between the Word of God and church doctrine, ecclesiology, authority, church unity, ministry, the sacraments and social ethics.
Signed in 1999 and confirmed by an Official Common Statement; the Methodist, Anglican and Reformed world communions later associated themselves with it. The Atlas has not checked reception by each member church.3 sources
- Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ)Source verified
- Letter of Cardinal Kasper and Dr Noko on the fifth anniversary of the Joint DeclarationSource verified
- Official Common Statement and Annex to the Joint DeclarationIdentified, not independently read
Explore further
Catholic Church
All citations link to the Atlas’s single source register.