Report of the Representative of the Bulgarian Church, Metropolitan Nikodim of Sliven: "The Reality of the Anglican Ordination"

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ANGLICAN

Christian Church in England until the middle of the XVI century. was an integral part of the Western Church; from the 12th century it more and more fell under the influence of the Roman Church, which gradually increased its influence and authority not only as the first church, but also as the church leading and ruling over other churches in Western Europe.

At the beginning of the XVI century. reformation began in Europe. In England, King Henry VIII first fought against Lutheranism, but then, for personal reasons, opposed papal authority. The pope did not allow the king to divorce Catherine of Aragon, but Archbishop Cranmer allowed him to divorce and he married Anne Boleyn. In 1534, a law was passed that recognized the king as the head of the church in England. Cranmer leaned towards Protestantism. Under his influence, the king issued "10 terms", which set out the teaching of the church on certain controversial issues in a semi-Protestant sense. But Henry VIII did not favor Protestantism until the end of his reign.

However, under his son, King Edward VI (1547-1553), Cranmer managed to influence the king and under him the modern Anglican Church was born. Archbishop Cranmer wooed the young king's guardian and began to act, at first cautiously, then to fully introduce Protestantism. Icons and holy relics were rejected, as well as some liturgical rites; .introduced was the reading of the Bible in the common language, the performance of liturgical hymns (for example, Credo) in English. Forcibly began to introduce the sacrament under two types.

Caesaropapism was further strengthened by the decree of parliament, by virtue of which the king could 1) use all church lands and 2) appoint bishops.

Archbishop Cranmer translated Luther's Wittenberg catechism, published by him in 1539, and began to teach on the Eucharist in the spirit of Calvin. He declared himself a follower of Calvin in 1548 in Parliament, in a dispute about the Eucharist. Formally, the isolation of the reformed church in England was expressed in the publication in English of the first book of the Book of Common Prayer, a book of public prayers, or Missal, which was legalized by Parliament. In this book, the celebration of the Eucharist according to ritual was brought closer to the celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman liturgy, although significant changes were made; thus, the idea of ​​a bloodless sacrifice was eliminated from the prayer for the consecration of the Holy Gifts. The new liturgy was forcibly introduced throughout the kingdom by the law of 1549, accompanied by terror and many victims. Archbishop Cranmer leaned more and more towards Calvinism; thus, in the Eucharist, he acknowledged the real presence of Christ. In 1552 he republished the Book of Common Prayer with new Protestant changes; there was no longer any mention of the altar; the prayer for the consecration of gifts, prayers for the living were withdrawn (the prayer for the remembrance of the dead was withdrawn as early as 1549) and a new Eucharistic formula was introduced: “Take and eat this in remembrance of the fact that Christ died for you; feast on Him in your heart with faith and the action of grace.” The idea of ​​a special outpouring of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit was obscured in the rite of confirmation. Secret confession became optional.

On June 19, 1553, a "Confession of Faith" was published, consisting of 42 members, compiled by Cranmer in the Calvinist spirit. It has become a creed of the Anglican Church. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the membership was reduced to 39. In its doctrine, the Church of England fell under the influence of Calvinism, but in worship and organization it has more in common with the Catholic Church than with Lutheranism and Calvinism. She retained a three-degree hierarchy.

Under Edward VI, who died very early, the formation of the Anglican Church did not have time to finish. His successor, Maria the Catholic (1553-1558), daughter of Catherine of Aragon, was a devout Catholic. She restored Catholicism and fiercely persecuted the reformers. 210 church reformers were executed, including Archbishop Cranmer. But her successor Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII by Anne Boleyn (1558-1603), finally approved (sanctioned) the Anglican Church, officially restoring the Protestantism of the time of Edward VI, i.e., the Cranmer reform, by two parliamentary laws. By one act the "Book of Common Prayer" of 1552 was reintroduced, with
some changes, and another law - the supremacy (supremacy) of the king in the church. Queen Elizabeth severely persecuted Catholics and Puritans. Crosses, statues and other objects of worship that were placed in churches under Queen Mary were broken and burned.

Bishops (except one) did not recognize the law of royal headship in the church. Therefore, some of them were put to death, while others were deposed. It was necessary to create a new hierarchy. In 1559 Queen Elizabeth appointed Matthew Parker Archbishop of Canterbury, who was ordained in the Anglican rite. Parker is the founder of the present Anglican hierarchy. If his ordination is recognized as correct, then this means recognizing the continuity of the apostolic succession of the Anglican hierarchy. New bishops were appointed, according to Protestants, clerics who did not accept the reforms were replaced by Protestants. Within one week, Parker appointed over 120 clerics. The same purge was carried out by other bishops.

In 1562, Cranmer's 42-member Confession of Faith was revised by Parker and reduced to 39 members. In 1563 it was signed by the bishops, after it had been approved by the assembly of the clergy. Parliament proclaimed him the Creed of the Anglican Church. This "Confession" had to be signed by every cleric before being ordained to the diaconate.

"Confessions" was a mixture of Catholic and Protestant views, which was done with a deliberate purpose: the government wanted to reconcile different religious groups. According to this "Confession", 1) the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son; 2) the only source of religion is the Holy Scripture (the Holy Tradition and the dogmatic resolutions of the Ecumenical Councils are rejected); 3) the Apostolic Symbol, the Nicene Symbol and the Symbol of St. Athanasius the Great; 4) the veneration of icons and St. relics; 5) prayers to the saints; 6) the doctrine of purgatory and indulgences; 7) celibacy of the clergy; 8) only two sacraments are recognized as true signs of grace, baptism and communion; the other five sacraments are pious rites; 9) the Eucharist denies transubstantiation, Christ's body is given and received and used only spiritually, by faith, and the unworthy, even if they partake, do not accept Christ; the Eucharist does not have the character of a sacrifice; "victims of masses" - blasphemous fables; 10) the doctrine of salvation has a Protestant character: justification according to the merits of Christ only by faith; 11) the doctrine of predestination is expressed in the Calvinistic sense.
The New English Confession did not reconcile differences, but, on the contrary, became a bone of contention among the members of the Anglican Church themselves. At first, Queen Elizabeth herself was not satisfied with the publication of this Confession, because she still believed in the real presence of Jesus Christ in communion, but she retreated before the opinion of the bishops. The disagreement among the members of the Anglican Church themselves arose over the Book of Common Prayer. Most of the bishops were infected with Calvinism and had many adherents in the clergy. The Lambeth Assembly of Bishops and Theologians expressed the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination in 9 members, adopted by the Canterbury and York Archbishops. This party wanted to discard the rites and ceremonies from the Book of Common Prayer, as Catholic remnants, which affirmed the belief in the real presence of Christ and in the bloodless sacrifice performed at the liturgy. For her, it was idolatry.

The members of the Anglican Church were divided into conformists and non-conformists, that is, those who take the Prayer-Book literally and reject the rites defined by this liturgical book. In 1567, the non-conformists, or dissidents, the Dissenters, separated from the state Church of England and formed a "pure" (pure) church, which is both in doctrine and in the structure of the Calvinist. Therefore they were called Puritans, and also Presbyterians, since they rejected episcopal government and recognized only the council of presbyters as the bearer of ecclesiastical authority. Therefore, many of the bishops, although they had a Calvinist conviction, in order to maintain their position, outwardly declared themselves conformists.

The Queen persecuted Catholics and Presbyterians. De jure, all Catholics were condemned to death, but in reality they were punished only by the seizure of parishes and imprisonment. However, when Pius V anathematized Queen Elizabeth and declared her dethroned (1570), many Catholics were executed. The persecution raised against the Puritans strengthened Puritanism even more. In 1580, an extreme sect appeared, which also rejected the conciliar Presbyterian government, demanded independence and independence for each religious community in resolving all church issues. They were called the Independents.
Under Queen Elizabeth, the royal supremacy over the church was further strengthened. To receive from the king a fief, royal service, a parish or a university position, an oath was required to recognize the royal supremacy. Now members of the lower house, teachers, court assessors and all those suspected of adherence to Catholicism had to take such an oath.

The English king James (1603-1625), although he was the son of a zealous Catholic Mary Stuart, was a zealous adherent of the Anglican Church, and with the same cruelty as Queen Elizabeth persecuted Catholics and Presbyterians. The persecution of Catholics intensified even more after the so-called "gunpowder plot" of Catholics in 1605, when they wanted to blow up Parliament.

Officially, the Anglican Church, one might say, was Calvinist, but, under the influence of Arminianism, coming from Holland, a reaction was created against Calvinism among the Anglican higher clergy.

The Royal Chaplain, later Bishop of Chichester, denied that Calvin's doctrine of free will and faith belonged to the teaching of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church. He was supported by others, the bishops, although many of them were Calvinists. The reaction against Calvinism by 1618 resulted in a real party within the Anglican Church itself and was called the "High Church" (High Church), headed by Bishop Laud'oM, whose name was also called the "School of Laud". The party opposed to it in the Anglican Church with a Calvinist worldview was called the "Low Church".

The "High Church" was especially strengthened in 1633 when Bishop Laud became Archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Calvinists were very unhappy with King Charles I for supporting Laud, who was accused of Arminianism and papism.

The Puritans greatly hated King Charles I, because he was married to a French Catholic woman and patronized Archbishop Laud'y and accused him of his hatred of Presbyterianism and his inclination to Catholicism. That is why they opened a religious struggle against the king under the slogan "No Popery /" (No papacy!). In 1640 they raised an uprising, the king was arrested (1647) and executed (1649). England became a republic under the chairmanship of Cromwell, leader of the Independents. Archbishop Laud was beheaded (1645) and the Anglican, i.e., Episcopal, Church was formally destroyed. Presbyterianism was declared the state religion, and all Protestant confessions were allowed, but papism (Catholicism) and prelatism (Anglicanism) were prohibited. This continued until the restoration of the monarchy (1660).

King Charles II (1660-1685), upon accession to the throne, promised freedom of conscience and restored the Episcopal (Anglican) Church. Both Puritans and Anglicans demanded a revision of the Book of Common Prayer, some to make it more Protestant and others to bring it closer to Catholicism.

Some changes have been made with the trend to make it less Protestant. This book, modified, was forcibly distributed throughout the country by the act of uniformity (1662), by which the Episcopal Church was recognized as the only legal and equally binding state church for all. 2,000 members of the Presbyterian clergy were deposed and expelled.

Charles II issued two other laws, all with the same goal of establishing the Episcopal Church as a state church:

1) Certificate of Identification (Test-act 1673), by virtue of which every official had to take an oath that he would faithfully serve the king and recognize him as the head of the church, that he did not believe in predestination and would partake in the High Church (Episcopal);

2) a law in 1678 deprived Catholics of the right to sit in parliament.

It should be noted that as early as the reign of King Charles II, a theological trend appeared in the Anglican Church, according to which doctrine and discipline are subject to constant progress and therefore are superfluous, and symbolic books should be destroyed. Supporters of this direction even wanted to vote a law allowing the existence of sects within the Anglican Church, but the House of Commons in 1688 rejected this law. This doctrine, for its broad religious tolerance, is called latitudinarianism, and the party that shares it is called the Broad Church.

Thus, three directions were formed in the Anglican Church: High, Low and Broad Church. The first supported the denomination of the 39-member faith and the Prayer-Book (Missal), emphasizing the Prayer-Book. The Low Church sought to bring the Anglican Church even closer to Protestantism, and for them the Anglican symbol of 39 members was the most important. The broad Church does not attach any importance to dogmatic and liturgical differences in Protestantism and seeks to unite all Protestant denominations on the basis of common indisputable beliefs.

Charles II, on his deathbed, declared himself a Catholic, and his brother, his successor, James II (1685-1689), long ago converted to Catholicism. With his act of tolerance, issued in 1687, he sought to restore Catholicism, but for this attempt he was deposed from the throne. The Anglicans summoned his son-in-law, William of Orange, a convinced Calvinist, from the Netherlands. He promised to preserve the Episcopal Church as a state church, and by his act of tolerance in 1689 gave freedom to other Protestant denominations; but Socinianism, like Catholicism, was outlawed. Only in 1779 did the Catholics receive the right of tolerance, and the Socienians receive it in 1813.

Under William of Orange, most of the bishops stood for religious tolerance (with regard to varieties of Protestantism) and entered into union with some Protestant denominations and proposed a project to reform the Prayer-Book so that it would be convenient for all Protestant denominations (according to the concepts of lati-Tudinarists). Parliament agreed, but the Canterbury Church Convocation protested the changes to the Book of Common Prayer.

Under Queen Anne, the principles of the High Church triumphed. Most of the Parliament, convened in 1710, consisted of people of this ecclesiastical party. Changes were made to the worship as a reaction against the ideas of Calvin: communion was taken on the knees and prone, kissing the ground and hitting one's chest; images appeared near the altar. Under King George I (of the Hanoverian dynasty), the head of the Anglican Church was a Lutheran. This caused embarrassment and discontent in the Anglican Church. Many of the clerics refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new (Hanoverian) dynasty. They supported the principles of the High Church, but without the ecclesiastical headship of the king. They were called "non-sworn-shims" (Non-jurors).

Latitudinarianism now began to spread more and more. There were clerics and many bishops who adhered to this movement. Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor, publicly rejected the need to belong to a visible church and advocated the destruction of creed formulas. He considered the Eucharist only in a commemorative way, with no real meaning. There were dignitaries who considered it possible to accept the dogma of the incarnation in the Arian sense and not to consider the basic principles of Christianity binding at all.

During the XVIII century. in the Anglican Church, religious societies - Methodists and Evangelicals - came out of the party of the Broad Church - to combat licentiousness. The Methodists separated from the Anglican Church, while the Evangelicals remained in it, but were ready to enter into communion with all those who, like them, accepted Calvinist principles (Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists). They founded missionary societies, the Bible Society (1804), fought against slavery.

By 1836 the adherents of the High Church had founded the "Friends of the Church" society, which had the goal of maintaining unchanged the doctrine, liturgy and discipline of the High Church. Out of this society emerged a movement known as the Oxford Movement, or the Ritual School, and also the Anglo-Catholic School. According to this movement, as expressed in the Tracts for the Times series from 1934, there are certain creeds that are essential to the church. The Eucharist is a sacrifice, grace is given in the sacraments, not in the sermon. The Oxford movement was opposed by evangelicals and latitudinarians, who united together to fight against this movement, which they called idolatrous.

2. MODERN ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNANCE OF THE CHURCH OF ANGLICAN

The present organization and administration of the Anglican Church bears that two-sided character which distinguishes the life of this Church and in other areas of her life, and which is the result of the historical conditions under which her development proceeded.

On the one hand, the Church has what she took over from her pre-Reformation past: bishops, episcopal councils (at cathedral churches), archdeacons and deans, parish priests, and for the whole church - metropolitans (archbishops), together with diocesan cathedrals (convocations) and in general ecclesiastical councils, consisting of bishops (upper house) and priests (lower house). These are the organs of the church organization of the Anglican Church, the hereditary property of all hierarchical churches, adopted from the ancient church structure of the undivided Church.

Currently, the Anglican Church has in England itself (Church of England) two metropolias, each headed by an Archbishop: Canterbury (with 30 diocesan bishops and one Archbishop, who is also the rector of the church) and York (with 13 bishops). In addition, there is an Anglican Archdiocese at Wallis (with 6 diocesan bishops). Many of the diocesan bishops have vicar bishops (suffragans) and, in addition, the church has a large number (over a hundred) of colonial and missionary bishops. The Episcopal (Anglican) Church exists in Ireland, Canada, Australia and the United States of America.

In the depths of the Oxford-Catholic (high-church) movement, male and female monastic brotherhoods and the institute of deaconess have recently been renewed.
The church in England is the state church. Churches in Wallis, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and the North American United States are independent and self-governing.

There is no formal and complete canonical (organizational) unity between these Anglican churches. But in order to maintain moral and spiritual unity between them, periodically (every 10 years, but less frequently due to wars) the so-called Lambeth Conferences are convened, that is, a meeting of Anglican bishops from all over the world in the London chamber of the Canterbury Archbishop, called the Lambeth . These meetings do not have legislative power, but are only meetings of bishops on general church issues and have only moral authority, but do not have the corresponding actual influence in the church.

On the other hand, in connection with the reformation and the perception of royal primacy in the church (and even in the life of the church in general), organizational and administrative principles were created in it, which are shy and unsafe for itself, as they interfere with the desire to unite with other Christian Churches.

These principles should be based, firstly, on the supremacy of the crown (in general, state power) in the spiritual life and administration of the church (§ 1 of the Suprematist act of Queen Elizabeth); and, secondly, the swearing of an oath by all ecclesiastical and temporal ministers to the king recognizing the legitimized royal primacy of the church.

Although this doctrine of headship has actually lost its sharpness in many years of struggle and in its modern form is not painfully felt in the church, it still causes concern.

Most of the diocesan bishops (even if the relevant cathedral council took part in their determination) are elected by royal decree and appointed by the king; and the bishops of dioceses opened at a later time are appointed directly by the king. In recent times, thanks to the parliamentary government in England, the king also exercises his royal functions in ecclesiastical affairs at the suggestion of the relevant ministers of state. The same is true for the appointment of bishops: a bishop nominated by the Prime Minister is appointed. And if we take into account that the Prime Minister is not always from the members of the Anglican Church and that in his choice he is not always and not predominantly guided by the ecclesiastical point of view, then it becomes clear to what extent the principles of such an appointment of bishops in the Anglican Church are fraught with danger for the life of the church.

The second important factor in the life of the Anglican Church is the convocations: the upper episcopal chamber, the lower priestly chamber, and the third lay chamber created in 1885, which together form the "National Church Assembly".

But convocations can be assembled only with the permission of the king. And what is even more important is that the decisions of the convocation are subject to the approval (permission) of the king, i.e., first of all, the parliament. What consequences this leads to is clear. For example, the following case of recent times should be recalled: the most important symbolic book of the Anglican Church (Prayer-Book), which was corrected in the Anglo-Catholic spirit and accepted in this form by convocations, had to be submitted twice for approval by the English Parliament and was twice rejected by it. (mainly by non-Anglican Protestant MPs, predominantly from Presbyterian Scotland).

As a consequence, a significant proportion of influential Anglicans are in favor of reforming the relationship between the state and the Anglican Church in England that still exists. But knowing the traditionally conservative nature of the English in general and of the Anglican Church itself, it is difficult to expect any quick and fundamental reforms in this area. It should also be noted that the supremacist nature of royal state rights in the Anglican Church in England is currently not considered in any of the legalizations of this church as something doctrinal, but only as a historical stratification that has the value of relative expediency.

And the fact that there are completely free (separate) from the state and internally self-governing Anglican churches, such as those in the North American United States or in Scotland, best proves this idea.

The wide spread and deepening of the so-called Anglo-Catholic movement (to which the vast majority of bishops and a significant part of theologians and priests belong), increased spiritual ties and more frequent meetings with the Orthodox Churches, the general conservative-traditional spirit of the English in general and the Anglican Church in particular, strengthen the orthodox-ecclesiastical and sacramental-hierarchical spirit of Anglicanism and brings it closer and closer to the principles, spirit and traditions of the Orthodox Church, from which Anglicanism also draws strength for its new, modern orientation.

Therefore, everywhere at large inter-church conferences and meetings, Anglicans, obviously, are looking for communication and friendly relations with representatives of the Orthodox Church, and on many important issues, even of a doctrinal nature (often in spite of the ambiguity or ambiguity of their “39 members”) occupy the same position (or “ front") with the Orthodox.

In the free Anglican churches of Scotland and the North American United States, the "39 members" are no longer considered a mandatory doctrinal symbolic book, but only a historical document. Hence, already before the wars, in the ecclesiastical (theological and episcopal) circles of the Anglican Church in the North American United States, a more positive ancient Christian, close to Orthodox, concept of the dogmas of faith was noticed, whose representatives are, for example, their theologians: Hol (Hol), Percival (Percival), D. Stone (D. Stone) and others.

The same trends, we note, are becoming stronger and stronger in modern Anglican theology in England, in which, despite its former unscrupulousness, and modern contradictions and contrasts, significant shifts towards Pra-. Orthodoxy, such as, for example, the restoration of the ancient patristic tradition, which generally strengthens the principle of tradition and, in particular, the Holy Tradition of the Church; intensive occupation of the mystery of the "Incarnation" (Hodgeson, Thornton) and, along with this, the mystery of the holy Eucharist (Bishop Hicks of Gibraltar) and the sacraments or sacramentalism in general in the church (Canon and, in general, all the theological and ecclesiastical activities of Bishop Charles Gore and his school, and to some extent also Bishop Gedlam of Gloucester); the efforts of the Anglican Church not only to gain recognition of its hierarchy (the legitimacy of ordination), but also to enter into a closer spiritual connection and even possible ecclesiastical cooperation with the Orthodox Churches, etc.

3. ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANGLICANS AND THE ORTHODOX

As early as the beginning of the 17th century. some Anglican clerics showed a desire to unite with the Orthodox Churches. For this purpose, an exchange of opinions took place between Patriarch Kirill Loukaris of Tsaregrad and Archbishop George Abot of Canterbury. The result of this was that Mitrofan Krytopoulos, later Patriarch of Alexandria, was later sent to England for higher education. Likewise, Abot's successor, Archbishop Laud, was a friend of the Orthodox Church and supported it zealously in his debates with the Jesuit Fischer. Metropolitan Joseph Georgitin of Milia, who arrived in London in 1677, was warmly received by the clergy, high society and the people. At his request, sent to Archbishop William Sancroft of Canterbury, young Greeks were admitted to Oxford University. The English upper circle also favorably treated the hierarchs of the Ohrid diocese, who traveled to England for alms. The Tivaid Metropolitan Arseniy arrived in London in 1714 to collect alms for the Church of Alexandria and was received by Queen Anne, who presented him with 200 pounds sterling. Bishop of London Henry Compton, a great Hellenophile, who gave a place for the construction of an Orthodox Greek church in London, led the reunions with him. Six bishops from the group of non-jurors broke away from the state church and tried to unite with the Orthodox Church. They converted in 1716 and 1722. to the Eastern Patriarchs, as well as to the Russian Holy Synod. Archbishop of Canterbury Wilhelm Wake himself wrote to Patriarch Chrysanthus of Jerusalem, asking Greek Orthodox hierarchs to commemorate him in their prayers and during the Eucharistic sacrifice. The Council of Constantinople in 1718 decided that the two churches could unite only when the Anglican Church accepted the teaching of the Orthodox Church in the form as defined by the Church Fathers and the Ecumenical Councils. In 1723, the Eastern Patriarchs sent to the Anglican Church the creed of the Jerusalem Council of 1672, which was presided over by Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem, presenting it as an exposition of the faith of the Orthodox Church. At the request of Peter the Great, a dispute between two theologians, Orthodox and Anglican, was supposed to take place in St. Petersburg. The Anglicans agreed, but the dispute did not take place, since Peter the Great died. His successors were not interested in this issue. Unsuccessful were the negotiations of the Anglican Palmer in 40 years. 19th century In Petersburg. The unification movement intensified under the influence of the 1865 writings of the Anglican theologian Pusey under the title "Eirenicon". In this work, the ideas of the Oxford movement are best expressed and it was called "Puseism" after the author's name. In 1863, a society was founded from representatives of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches (Anglican and Eastern Churches Association). All this helped to strengthen relations between the two churches. In some Orthodox Churches, acts of religious communion were also allowed. Patriarch Gregory VI of Constantinople, at the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury Tate, issued in 1869 a District Epistle allowing Orthodox priests to bury Anglicans who died in places where there were no Anglican priests. In 1870, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece ordered the same, notifying the Archbishop of Canterbury Tate. Sometimes in Jerusalem, Anglican clerics were allowed to serve in the Orthodox Churches; even the Greek clergy celebrated with the Anglican clergy. During the World War, Nikolai Velimirovich, Bishop of Zhichky, while in England, preached in various Anglican churches, even communed in an Anglican church. Serb students at Oxford University did the same. Serbian Patriarch Demetrius used to commune the Anglicans at Easter.

The Anglicans made great efforts to involve the Russian Church in the idea of ​​unification. On the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the Russian Church in 1888, an exchange of cordial letters took place between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Metropolitan Platon of Kyiv. In 1896, the Bishop of London arrived in St. Petersburg as a representative of the Anglican Church during the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and brought a message from the Archbishop of Canterbury to Metropolitan Pallady of St. Petersburg. After that, the Archbishop of York visited Russia, and in 1897 Metropolitan Anthony visited London as a representative of the Russian Church, on the occasion of the anniversary of Queen Victoria.

In 1903, the Anglican Church made an offer to the Patriarch of Tsaregrad about mutual communion (intercommunia), so that an Anglican could receive communion from an Orthodox priest and, conversely, an Orthodox one from an Anglican clergyman. The Patriarch of Constantinople rejected this proposal, referring to John of Damascus, according to whom such communion should presuppose the unity of faith.
The question of union with the Orthodox Church was considered by the Anglican bishops at the first Lambeth Conference (1867), as well as at subsequent Lambeth Conferences (1888, 1910, 1917, 1930).

4. THE REALITY OF THE ANGLICAN HIERARCHY

The first issue that Orthodox Anglicans want resolved is the issue of recognizing Anglican ordination as canonical.

Roman Catholics since the Reformation consider the Anglican Church Protestant, heretical. But both during the time of Queen Mary in the 16th century, and later, in isolated cases of transition from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, they did not raise the question of the validity of Anglican ordination and received clerics in the same rank in which they were in the Anglican Church. It is true that at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the theological controversy arose, some individual Roman Catholic writers denied the validity and correctness of the Anglican ordination, especially dwelling on the ordination of Archbishop Parker, and tried to show that hierarchical succession had been broken during the Reformation. But only at the end of the XIX century. Pope Leo XIII declared the ordination of Anglican clergy null and void in the bull Apostolicae Curae, issued in 1896. It is clear that with this bull the Roman Catholic Church tried to influence mainly those Anglicans who reject the Protestant elements in the Anglican Church, introduce Catholic worship and are generally inclined to emphasize the significance of the cult and the idea of ​​the church as it was understood before the Reformation. But almost no results came from this papal statement. The Orthodox Churches refrained from speaking out on this issue. When the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Blake demanded that the Patriarch of Jerusalem recognize the Anglican ordination, the Patriarch replied that this issue could only be resolved by the entire Orthodox Church. But the papal bull gave occasion to the Anglicans to turn to the Orthodox Church with a request to speak out on the question of the validity of their hierarchy, and the mutual acquaintance that arose on this occasion gradually increased in some the desire for the union of these two Churches.

At the beginning of this century, the Most Holy Synod of the Russian Church appointed a commission to decide whether the Orthodox Church could recognize the validity of the Anglican priesthood.

Prof. Bulgakov wrote in 1898 on the issue of Anglican ordination in connection with the papal bull and found that it was not historically justified.

Prof. V. A. Sokolov at the same time, in his work on the hierarchy of the Anglican Church, came to the conclusion that from a historical point of view it must be recognized that there was no termination of apostolic succession, but he found that the teaching of the Anglican Church on the sacrament of the priesthood was not clear.

In 1904 Professor H. Androutsos published a pamphlet in Greek on the reality of the Anglican hierarchy. This pamphlet was translated into English and published in 1909.
In 1920 the Patriarchate of Constantinople sent a special delegation to the Lambeth Conference in London. This delegation took part in the discussion of the question of the unification of the churches.

In September 1921 prof. P. Komninos, a member of the same delegation, published a book in which he proved the validity of the Anglican hierarchy and recommended that the Orthodox Church recognize it.

In the summer of 1922, Patriarch Meletios Metaxas of Constantinople, with his Synod, on the basis of the opinion expressed by a special theological commission under the Constantinopolitan Patriarchate, informed in a letter dated July 22, 2 to Archbishop of Canterbury Randal Davidson that “the ordination of bishops, presbyters and deacons of the Anglican episcopal confession has the same reality (power) that the ordination of the Roman, Old Catholic and Armenian Churches has, since they contain all the essential elements that, from the Orthodox point of view, are considered unconditional for the recognition of the priesthood arising from the apostolic succession.

On August 8 of the same year, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Synod communicated this decision to other Orthodox Churches by a circular message. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem answered this message in the affirmative in March 1923 and the Cypriot Church in May of the same year.
After long negotiations, the Romanian Church appointed a commission, which, together with the Anglican delegation, considered this issue from June 1 to 8, 1935. The Commission was of the opinion that it recognized the validity of the Anglican consecration. The Holy Synod did not make a final decision, although the Anglicans informed him that in 1936 and 1937 the convocations of Canterbury and York accepted and confirmed the report of the commission, in which Orthodox opinions were expressed on the issues raised: 1) about “39 members; 2) about the holy Eucharist; 3) about Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition; 4) about the holy sacraments; and 5) about justification.

In May 1940, a delegation of Anglican clergy and theologians arrived in Bulgaria, who, together with a commission of representatives of the Bulgarian Church, conferred on the question of the legitimacy of the Anglican hierarchy. The Holy Synod, having heard the report of the mixed commission, at its meeting on June 20 of the same year, decided to postpone the final decision on the report until the opinion of the Russian Church on this issue was known.

In general, Orthodox theologians who have dealt with the validity of Anglican ordination have been of the opinion 1) that historically the apostolic succession was not interrupted during the Reformation in England; 2) that in order to recognize these ordinations as valid, it is necessary to clarify to what extent the Church of England recognizes the priesthood as a sacrament, and 3) that this question is connected with the more general question of the dogmatic teaching of the Church of England on all theological issues, for example, about authority Ecumenical Councils, on the meaning of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition and the sacraments in general, on justification, etc.

Our opinion is this: 1) the Anglican Church used to be dominated by Protestant notions on all these issues; 2) in the XVII century. Puritans, Presbyterians and other Independents and various sects, and in the 18th century. the Methodists are separating from the Anglican Church, and in this way it is greatly cleansed of extremely Protestant elements; 3) at the present time, after a hundred years of life and development of the so-called Anglo-Catholic movement, the majority of clerics have left wholly, or in part, Protestant views; 4) since the time when the Anglican Church became more closely acquainted with the Orthodox, the influence of the latter greatly helped the gradual assimilation of Orthodox understanding on the issues under consideration. So at the present time, as can be seen from the decisions of the convocations of 1936 and 1937, and earlier from the discussion of the issue at the Lambeth Conference of 1930 on the priesthood, the view of the Anglican Church, on the whole, can be considered so close to the Orthodox that if this question could be considered separately, there would be no obstacles to the recognition of the validity of the Anglican ordination.

But in 1930 the Lambeth Conference took the initiative to convene an Orthodox-Anglican conference to ascertain several general questions - on which of them there was agreement, and on which - the difference between the two churches, with a view to a future rapprochement between them. The following questions were considered: about Revelation, about Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, about the Creed, about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, about differences in the customs and rituals of the Church, certain questions in connection with the holy sacraments, about communion in the sacraments in exceptional cases on the basis of principles Economy.

5. APPROACH VIEWS

In order that the question of intercommunion and full unity can ever be brought up for consideration, both Churches (and not just individual theologians) must become closer to each other than is at present. The Anglicans (not only Anglo-Catholics, but also Anglican bishops and conferences) believe that the necessary step towards unity is the recognition of their priesthood. If we discard the idea that this persistence of theirs was the fruit of a dispute that has recently flared up accidentally between Anglicans and Catholics on the same issue, nevertheless, Anglicans will not be able to sufficiently understand that, from the Orthodox point of view, this possible recognition does not and cannot have such the significance they attach to it and what it would mean for them, for example, to have the validity of their priesthood recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. The Orthodox Church recognizes the priesthood of both Catholics, Armenians and others, but this question, from our point of view, does not need to be connected with the question of intercommunion and is not a step towards it. Another thing that Anglicans also fail to understand is that the Orthodox Church is not (and never has been) a federation of local Orthodox Churches to approach them separately with a proposal to recognize the validity of the Anglican priesthood. But for them, even the idea of ​​Ecumenical Councils is a parliamentary idea that has nothing in common with the spirit of the Orthodox Church.

The progress achieved so far in recognizing the validity of Anglican ordinations is neither disturbed nor delighted by the Anglican Church, which means that the Anglicans themselves are aware of how little has been accomplished through these recognitions. The Anglicans are ready to discuss all the difficulties that would appear on the path of rapprochement, which they stand up for, but they express the desire that more interest would be shown on the part of Orthodox theologians (what has been done so far seems small to them).

Anglo-Catholics will and will continue to fight against the evangelical movement opposed to them for interconfessional relations. These are those Anglicans who feel first of all English and wish to attract Methodists and all non-conformists to the Anglican Church, understandably by making appropriate concessions to them in the Protestant spirit. At the moment, the Anglo-Catholics are at the zenith of their success (but in their hearts they sympathize with the Protestant ideal); how long this will continue is also unknown. Only when the Anglo-Catholics have had time to gain the upper hand in the Anglican Church, and this, under favorable circumstances, cannot happen earlier than in two generations, only then can the question of rapprochement and possible unity of the Anglicans with the Orthodox be seriously discussed. But, on the other hand, it is necessary to keep in mind the official rapprochement of the Anglican Church with the Scandinavian Protestant Church. The outstretched hand of the Anglicans at the present time must meet the friendly outstretched hand of the Orthodox. Friendly relations with closer acquaintance will help the Anglicans to join the Orthodox worship, and the Orthodox will get acquainted with their religion, tested in practice. Even if only this is achieved, then this is enough. In my opinion, "dogmatic differences," i.e., presuppositions in the worldviews of Orthodox and Anglican theologians, will hardly ever be overcome. But in the future this question can be posed in a different light, in a broader historical horizon.

When considering the question of possible ecclesiastical ties between the Orthodox and Anglican churches, the following consideration is also important: in the current internal situation of the Anglican Church (and, in a certain sense, of the Orthodox Churches themselves), there can be no hope for a “union” and full (sacramental) communion of these two churches. But, on the other hand, a certain turn towards Orthodoxy, which the Anglican Church has been making noticeably in the most recent times, and the sacred missionary duty of the Orthodox Church (in the name of her catholicity) throughout the world, and no less in the non-Orthodox, obliges every Orthodox Church to seek an opportunity to be witness and companion of the ancient church (catholic) truth, the heir and bearer of which she is, and especially to do this in places where the situation itself clearly favors this, and in places important in the general Christian world, such as the Anglican churches are on the globe.
This can be done, at least, in those forms in which it has taken place up to now with obvious benefit for Orthodoxy, as, for example, on the part of the majority of Orthodox Churches it has been expressed in friendly meetings, ecclesiastical-theological conversations, mutual acquaintances, etc. etc., directly with representatives from the Anglican Church (bishops, theologians, etc.).

May God help the rapprochement of all those who profess Christ with the Incarnate Word, so that they find the strength in themselves to become “one,” according to the High Priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Metropolitan Nicholas: On behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, a proposal is made: to postpone the unheard two reports on the Anglican hierarchy until tomorrow, and tomorrow, on Saturday, to start work earlier - at 10:30.

The offer is accepted.

His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Kallistrat: I declare today's meeting closed.

The meeting is adjourned.

The text was prepared within the framework of the project “Dynamics of the Religious Situation and Confessional Identity in the Moscow Region”. The project uses state support funds allocated as a grant in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 68-rp dated 05.04.2016 and on the basis of a competition held by the National Charitable Foundation.

Anglican Church (eng. Anglican Church; from lat. Ecclesia Anglicana) is the common name for the Church of England, “the Church of England as by Law established”), a Christian church in England, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, headed by the British monarch ( since 1952 - Queen Elizabeth II), and the primate is the Archbishop of Canterbury ( since 2013 His Eminence The Right Honorable Justin Welby), bearing the title of Primate of All England.

In Russia, the "Anglican Church" usually means the Church of England, since the Anglican communities (religious organizations and groups) that exist on the territory of the Russian Federation (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok) are under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Archdeaconry (Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe - forty second diocese of the Church of England However, parishioners of Anglican communities, including Russian ones, can be not only believers of the Church of England, but also believers from other Anglican Churches.

Anglican Church in Russia

Anglicanism appeared on the territory of Russia in the second half of the 16th century, when, under Ivan IV the Terrible, the active establishment of trade and political relations between the Muscovite state and the English crown began. In particular, the tsar allowed English subjects - merchants, sailors and employees of the Muscovy Company (English Muscovy Company, also Muscovy Trading Company) - to perform Anglican rites in Russia, but only on the territory of their own homes. In Moscow, such houses were the so-called "Old" English Court, granted by the Tsar to the British and located not far from the Kremlin, and the "New" English Court in the White City near the Ilyinsky Gate.

The year 1649 became fatal for the Moscow Anglicans: the "Old" and "New" English courts were confiscated due to problems in the diplomatic relations of the Moscow State with England, and the Council Code of 1649 was adopted, according to which "German kerks" should not have been more within the city. In 1652, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the Anglicans, like other non-Orthodox foreigners, moved outside of Moscow - to the New German Quarter on the right bank of the Yauza River.

At the beginning of the XVIII century. Anglicans also appear in the new capital. In the middle of the century, English merchants and manufacturers buy out the mansion of the Sheremetevs, which later became the Anglican Church of Jesus Christ.

Despite the fact that the beginning of the 19th century was marked by the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, which were sad for Moscow, they were partly the impetus for the development of the life of the Moscow community. In a Moscow fire, the Reformed Church in the German Sloboda burned down, and the Anglicans filed a petition to rarefy the construction of a new building. In 1828, the stone house of Ensign P.A. Naumov on, as it was then called, Bolshoy Chernyshevsky Lane, which was converted into a chapel. In 1878, the community decided to build a full-fledged church on this site. The construction was carried out according to the project of the English architect R.N. Freeman under the guidance of the Russian architect B.V. Freidenberg from 1882 to 1884. The first divine service in the new church was held on September 2, 1884, and on January 13, 1885 it was solemnly consecrated in honor of St. Apostle Andrew. The church became the center of the religious, cultural and secular life of the community - in its building there was a room for the parish meeting, a library, an archive, a repository for the valuables of the parishioners was equipped in the bell tower, and in 1885 an organ was installed in the church. In 1894, a two-story house for the rector was built in the churchyard.

Events at the beginning of the 20th century did not visit the church of St. Andrew's side - during the First World War, the Anglican community organized a hospital and a field kitchen in it; and during the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks used the bell tower as a machine-gun tower. In 1920, the administration of services and ceremonies in the church was stopped (the last entry in the church book is the wedding on April 11, 1920), and the building was confiscated by the Soviet government. Chaplain (rector) Frank North, who was first arrested, but then expelled from the country, went to Finland, where he continued his ministry - the Helsinki chaplaincy began to bear the name "Helsinki and Moscow". Subsequently, Father North and his successors regularly made attempts to come to Moscow, and, when they succeeded, to perform divine services at the British Embassy. During the Soviet years, the Church of St. Andrey was used first as a room for the needs of the Finnish Embassy, ​​then as a warehouse and a hostel, and in the 1960s it housed the recording studio of the all-Union record company of the USSR Ministry of Culture "Melody".

In 1991, the Helsinki and Moscow chaplain, Reverend Tyler Strand, persuaded Melodiya Studios to allow the church to be used for Sunday worship, which began to be held approximately once every two weeks. In 1992, the Moscow Anglican community received state registration, and in 1993, the Church of St. Andrew was appointed her first permanent post-Soviet chaplain, Reverend Chad Coussmaker. On October 19, 1994, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visited St. Andrew during his official visit to Russia, and in 1995 the church building was handed over to believers for permanent use. In 1999 Father Coussmaker was succeeded by the Rev. Canon Simon Stevens, who had led the parish for fifteen years. Under him, active cultural and social activities unfolded, a partial restoration of the church building was carried out, and in 2003 the community received its current registration and official name - "The Anglican Church in Moscow." Also, under Father Stevens, the chaplain of the church of St. Andrey became Apocrysarium (special representative) of the Archbishop of Canterbury before the Russian Orthodox Church, and also received the post of honorary chaplain of the British Ambassador to the Russian Federation. From 2015 to 2017 the chaplain was the Reverend Clive Fairclough. Since February 2017, the community has not had a pastor, a new chaplain is expected in August 2017.

population

According to the data of the Church of England for 2015, the number of members of the Church (excluding the Diocese in Europe) is about 32.5 million people. Weekly services are attended by up to 961.4 thousand, 10.3 thousand of which are parishioners of the churches of the Diocese in Europe.

Analysis of records of church books of St. Andrew for 2012-2017 gave the following results: in 2017, on average, about fifty-six believers attend services weekly. There is a tendency to reduce the number: in 2012 - 72 people, in 2013 - 66, in 2014 - 56, in 2015 - 53, in 2016 - 58. The national composition of the community is British, Canadians and Americans, Australians and New Zealanders, immigrants from Africa (for example, from the Republic of Kenya) and India, several Russians.

Faith and religious practices

It is important to note that there is no single authoritative source of doctrine in the Church of England. According to the Canons of the Church of England, its dogmatic teaching is based on Holy Scripture and the doctrine of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church, corresponding to the words of Scripture. It is spread across a number of sources:

- The Book of Common Prayer (1662);

- 39 Articles of the Anglican Confession (1571);

- Ordinal (1550/1662).

These documents have no equal authority with Scripture and Tradition.

The Thirty-nine Articles, approved by the clergy and Parliament of England in 1571 under Queen Elizabeth I, was one of the many collections of "doctrinal statements" that were produced in the Church of England with the beginning of the Reformation in the 16th century. Being a product of the political will of the queen, who strove for the establishment of religious uniformity, rather than an actual statement of the foundations of the dogma, the "Thirty-nine Articles" turned out to be more of a political document. At the same time, the “Thirty-nine Articles” reflect the peculiarities of the doctrinal position of the Church of England, which combines both provisions common to Christian churches of the “Latin tradition” (for example, the belief in the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father with the Son (lat. Filioque), and which are examples of the English reformed theological thought and bearing a bright anti-Roman character (for example, the rejection of the Roman teaching about the sacrificial nature of the Holy Mass).

The Book of Common Prayer, the liturgical book of the Anglican Church, in its first edition was compiled in the 16th century, subsequently revised several times, and in its modern form is the edition of 1662, adopted after the Restoration of the monarchy. It is based to a large extent on the so-called Sarum custom, a local rite of worship that took shape in the Middle Ages in Salisbury Cathedral, and the Benedictine monastic liturgy of the hours. However, it has a number of characteristic differences from the indicated liturgical texts: a changed sequence of parts of the service and the addition of a number of prayers borrowed from the liturgy of John Chrysostom. The “Book” contains the rites of the morning and evening services, the Eucharistic Liturgy, various rites ( for example, litanies (prayer), litany (prayer petition), baptisms and confirmations (both adults and children), marriages, visits and communion of the sick, burials, etc.), as well as a number of liturgical and theological texts - the creed, the Psalter, "Thirty-nine Articles", Catechism, calendar tables ( the liturgical year for Anglicans, like Catholics, begins with the first Sunday of Advent - the period preceding Christmas (counted as four Sundays before Christmas) and some others. In the Church of England, services were conducted mainly according to the rules prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer, until the second half of the 20th century. However, since 2000, the Church of England has been using the Book of Public Worship, which has become a full-fledged alternative to the Book of Common Prayer.

Ordinal, also compiled in the 16th century. on the model of the Catholic Pontifical, and contains the orders of ordination to deacons, priests and bishops. In 1985, the Church of England decided to allow the consecration of a woman at the level of deaconess, in 1992 - at the level of priesthood, in 2014 - at the level of bishop, which complicated the conduct of the ecumenical dialogue of the Anglican Communion with a number of other Christian Churches. The first female bishop, Libby Lane, was ordained in January 2015.

We also note that neither the "Book of Common Prayer", nor even the "Thirty-nine Articles" were and, today, are not liturgical or doctrinal standards for the Anglican Communion. The Scottish Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church in the United States have used their own "books of common prayer" since the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. Most modern Anglican churches also use their own prayer books. A similar situation is observed with the "Thirty-nine Articles".

Social activity

All buildings of the architectural ensemble of the Church of St. Andrew, located at Voznesensky lane, 8, pp. 1-4, are regional architectural monuments and have the protected status of "object of cultural heritage".

The parish has an active Sunday school, work is underway to organize family holidays (Winter Bazaar, fairs, picnics, etc.), and in the bell tower there is an extensive library that exists as part of the joint educational activities of the Church of St. Andrew with the Biblical Theological Institute of St. Apostle Andrew (BBI).

The Moscow Anglican Community takes an active social position: it cooperates with the STEP UP Center for Equal Opportunities for Orphans, allocates premises for the meeting of the English-speaking group of anonymous alcoholics, participates in charitable and social events of the English-speaking Protestant community Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy ”, which also allocates time for worship in the church of St. Andrey.

As part of cultural activities, thematic musical evenings, most often of classical music, are regularly held in the church building. In matters of organizing concerts, the community cooperates with the Heavenly Bridge Cultural Charitable Foundation. The Moscow International Choir also rehearses and performs in the church building.

Church of St. Andrey - Moscow, Voznesensky per., d. 8.

— official website (Eng. St Andrews Anglican Church and Center in Moscow): www.moscowanglican.org

- Facebook page: www.facebook.com/moscowanglican

Literature

1.​ Erokhin V.N. Formation of the Anglican Church in the XVI - the first decades of the XVII centuries. in the light of modern British historiography. Nizhnevartovsk: Nizhnevart Publishing House. humanit. un-ta, 2009.

2.​ Fadeev I.A. Church of England: the problem of confessional self-identification in a historical perspective. M.: OOO IPTs "Maska", 2015.

M. Kiselev, I. Fadeev

1) Also, the Anglican Church can be understood asto refer to churches that are members of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion) is an international association of local (national or regional) Churches historically associated with the Church of England, generally sharing its theological doctrine and being in Eucharistic communion with the See of Canterbury.The Archbishop of Canterbury is only the spiritual leader of the Community, since all the Churches included in it are independent and autonomous, each of them has its own primacy and its own governance structures. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury has the right to convene the Lambeth Conference - a meeting of the bishops of the Churches, members of the Community, held every ten years (the first - 1867, the fourteenth - 2008), the decisions of which are optional, but recommendatory in nature.There are currently forty-four Churches in the Anglican Communion: thirty-eight local Churches, the so-called Provinces, including the Church of England, and six Extra Provincials, five of which are under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and one is the Metropolitan Council.

2) The building has been preserved. The current address is st. Varvarka, 4. Now there is the Old English Court Museum, a branch of the museum association Museum of Moscow (official website: www.mosmuseum.ru).

3) In 1649 in England, during the English civil wars (1642-1646; 1648-1649; 1649-1651), King Charles I was executed, which caused a temporary break in diplomatic relations between the Moscow state and England, which were again restored after the restoration of the monarchy in England (1660/1) and the Glorious Revolution (1688/9).

4) Facts and Statistics section of the official website of the Church of England (data published in October 2016). URL : https://www.churchofengland.org/media/3331683/2015statisticsformission.pdf

The Church of England considers itself both catholic and reformed:

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The British Church was missionary, represented by such figures as St. Illtud, St. Ninian and St. Patrick, who preached the gospel and evangelized the populations of Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but the invasion of the pagan tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the 5th century seemed to destroy the church organization in most of today's England, although the names of places in Lancashire and in several other counties, such as Eccleston and Bisham, let us suppose that the ancient British Church was never completely exterminated.

english church

These three strands merged as a result of increased multilateral contacts and the holding of a number of local councils, of which The Synod of Whitby in 664 has traditionally been regarded as the most important. The result was the Church of England, led by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, which was part of the Christian Church of the West. This meant that she was influenced by the development of the Western Christian tradition in such matters as theology, liturgy, church architecture, and the development of monasticism. It was also influenced by the tradition of the Church of Normandy after the conquest of England by the Normans in 1066, which, in particular, was reflected in the Sarum rite. Before the Reformation in the 16th century, the Church of England recognized the authority of the Pope.

Reformed Church

The Pope's refusal to annul the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon caused the Reformation in England. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 solemnly declared that the earthly power over the English Church had always belonged to the English monarchs. During Henry's reign, the theology and practice of the Church of England remained quite Catholic, but under his son, Edward VI, the Church of England began to move in a more Protestant direction.

The architect of further reform was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, who secretly cohabited with his mistress, contrary to the canons of the Catholic Church. The driving force was the prevailing opinion that the theology developed by theologians belonging to the mainstream of the Protestant Reformation was more in line with the teachings of the Bible and the early church than the teachings of those who continued to support the Pope, which was in the hands of the king and aristocrats, who had long been buried in the lands of monasteries. .

The 1689 settlement has since become the basis for the constitutional position of the Church of England, a position in which the Church of England remained a state church with a number of special legal privileges and duties, but with ever-expanding civil and religious rights granted to Christians of other denominations, to those who belong to other faiths or do not profess any faith.

In 1701, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was founded by the Anglican Church.

Church of England in the early 2000s

In the early 2000s, the Church of England enjoyed great influence in society: twenty-six bishops were members of the House of Lords, 27,000 priests who had the right to pastoral activities performed their functions in temples; 1,100 chaplains served in schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, prisons and military units. The Church of England supported more than 4,700 schools: every fourth primary and every sixteenth secondary were under her care (about 1 million children studied in these schools).

Organizational structure

The highest body is the General Council ( General Synod), consisting of the House of Bishops ( House of Bishops), Chambers of Clear ( House of Clergy) and the Chamber of the Laity ( House of Laity), the highest bodies of the dioceses - diocesan cathedrals ( Diocesan Synod), each of which also consists of a chamber of bishops, a chamber of clergy and a chamber of laity, with bishops at the head of the dioceses ( bishops), the highest bodies of deaneries - deanery cathedrals ( deanery synod), headed by the deans ( dean), parishes - parish church councils ( parochial church council), elected by believers, parishes are headed by abbots ( priest). [39 Articles (the Reformed Second Helvetic Confession) 1566.

Canon C15 ("Of the Declaration of Assent") contains the declaration that clerics and certain blessed lay officers of the Church of England utter when they begin their ministry or accept a new appointment.

This Canon begins with the following Preface:

“The Church of England is part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church serving the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She professes a faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and established in the catholic creeds. This faith the Church is called to proclaim new in each generation (to proclaim afresh in each generation). Guided by the Holy Spirit, she bears witness to Christian truth through her historical documents, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. By this declaration that You are about to make, do You affirm Your commitment to this inheritance of faith as Your inspiration and guidance under God to bring the grace and truth of Christ to this generation and to make Him known to those who are entrusted? You?"

In response to this Preface, the man who delivers the Declaration replies:

“I, A.B., do so affirm, and accordingly declare my belief in the faith which is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds and to which the historic formularies of the Church of England bear witness; and in public prayer and administration of the sacraments, I will use only the forms of service which are authorized or allowed by Canon.”

Taking these two Canons together, we learn four things from them:

1. There is a threefold hierarchy of doctrinal authority:

• The Holy Scriptures (or Bible) in which the Christian faith is "uniquely revealed" has primacy in doctrinal authority;
• The teachings of the early Fathers of the Church and the decrees of the first four Ecumenical Councils, together with the "catholic creeds" ("catholic creeds"), follow the Holy Scriptures in doctrinal authority, since they must not contradict the latter;
• Historical documents ("historic formularies");

1. Although historical documents occupy the third position in doctrinal authority, they are nonetheless important. They are the means by which the Church of England, guided by the Holy Spirit, bears witness to the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and reflected in the teaching of the early Church, summarized in the Articles of Faith;
2. Historical documents are not regarded simply as historical expressions of doctrine. On the contrary, they are viewed dynamically, in the sense that they are channels of "inspiration and guidance" to "bring the grace and truth of Christ" to the modern world;
3. The Church is called to proclaim this faith new in every generation. Here it is worth noting that the content of the proclaimed faith remains unchanged in each generation. Only the path and methods change. The truth must remain the same, but the ways of proclamation must change in order to create new bonds between each successive generation.

Anglican Church

one of the Protestant churches: its cult and organizational principles are closer to the Catholic Church than other Protestant churches. A. c. is the state church in England. It arose during the Reformation (See Reformation) of the 16th century. (the break of the English king Henry VIII with the papacy, the secularization of monasteries, etc.) as a state national church headed by the king (“Act of Supremacy”, 1534); its doctrine and organizational forms remained fundamentally Catholic. Under Edward VI, T. Cranmer compiled the Common Prayer Book (1549), which combined Protestant and Catholic elements in dogmatics and cult. Under Elizabeth Tudor, in the 39 Articles (1571), the doctrine was somewhat closer to Calvinism. The A.C., which had become an important pillar of absolutism, was abolished by the English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century; after the restoration of the Stuarts (1660) restored.

Head of A. c. is the king; in fact, he appoints bishops. Primas A. c. - Archbishop of Canterbury, followed by him in the hierarchy of A. c. followed by the Archbishop of York. A significant proportion of bishops are members of the House of Lords. All fundamental church statutes are subject to parliamentary approval. The cost of maintaining the church is largely borne by the state. The highest hierarchy of A. c. closely associated with the financial oligarchy and with the landed aristocracy of England.

In A. c. there are 3 directions: high church (High Church), the closest to Catholicism; low church (Law Church), close to Puritanism and Pietism in ; the broad church (Broad Church) seeks to unite all Christian currents (the dominant trend in A. ts.).

In addition to A. c. England, there are independent A. c. in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and some other countries. The total number of Anglicans is about 30 million. Formally, separate A. c. do not depend on one another, but since 1867, once every 10 years, Anglican bishops have been gathering at a conference in London (the so-called Lambeth Conferences, after the name of Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury), forming the Anglican Union of Churches. A. c. participates in the ecumenical movement (See Ecumenical movement).

Lit.: Robertson A., Religion and atheism in modern England, in the book: Yearbook of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, vol. 4, M.-L., 1962; A history of the English church, ed. by W. R. W. Stephens and W. Hunt, v. 1-9, L., 1899 - 1910.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what the "Anglican Church" is in other dictionaries:

- (from sob. im.). The state church in Great Britain and Ireland constitutes a branch of the Reformed Church, from which it differs in that it retains the dignity of a bishop, who manages the affairs of the church and has his own rights. Dictionary of foreign words, ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Anglican Church- (Anglican Church), the Church of England. Founded in the 16th century. during the protest. Reformation. Although already Henry VIII broke with the Catholic. church, and Edward VI took the first steps towards the approval of the protest, doctrines and practices of worship, the design of Anglican ... ... The World History

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Protestant church that arose in the 16th century; in the UK is public. The dogma of the Anglican Church combines the provisions of Protestantism about salvation by personal faith and Catholicism about the saving power of the Church. According to the cult and organizational principles ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Anglican Church- ANGLICAN CHURCH, one of the Protestant churches; state church in England. It arose during the Reformation in the 16th century. According to the cult and organizational principles, it is close to the Catholic one. The church hierarchy is headed by a king. … Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Protestantism Reformation Doctrines of Protestantism Pre-reformation movements Waldensians Lollards Hussite Reform churches Anglicanism Anabaptism ... Wikipedia

ANGLICAN CHURCH- [English] Anglican Church, lat. Ecclesia Anglicana]: 1) the common name of the Church of England (The Church of England), official. Protestant. Churches of Great Britain; 2) in a broad sense, the definition applied to all Churches, historically ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Protestant church that arose in the 16th century; in the UK is public. The dogma of the Anglican Church combines the provisions of Protestantism about salvation by personal faith and Catholicism about the saving power of the Church. According to the cult and organizational ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Anglican Church- Anglican / Nskoy church, only unit, the State Church in England, one of the Protestant churches that arose in the 16th century. during the period of the Reformation. Encyclopedic commentary: In terms of cult and organizational principles, the Anglican Church is closer to ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

Church of England (Church of England) the dominant Church of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and North. Ireland; established in 1662 during the reign of King Charles II. Formation of A.C. connected with the penetration of the ideas of the Reformation into England (in connection with this ... ... Catholic Encyclopedia

- (Reformed Church of England, Established Church, Anglican Church), Episcopal Church, state. a church in England, one of the Protestant churches; its cult and organizational principles closer to the Catholic. churches than other Protestant churches. ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

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Protestantism

Anglicanism

Main Features of Anglicanism

The final triumph of Anglicanism came under Queen Elizabeth, who in 1563 proclaimed the "39 Articles" of the Anglican Church as the Anglican creed by an act of Parliament. These articles are infused with a Protestant spirit, but they deliberately evade issues that divided 16th-century Protestants. and continued to separate in the 17th century - questions about communion and predestination.

The articles were compiled under the influence and with the participation of Protestant continental theologians, the main manual was the Augsburg Confession. These articles should distinguish between:

1) dogmas that have a general Christian character, such as: the doctrine of the triune God, the creator and provider of the world, the son of God, his incarnation, the union in him of two natures - divine and human, his resurrection, ascension and second coming, etc. ;

2) Protestant denial of purgatory and indulgences, prescription of preaching and worship in the vernacular, abolition of compulsory celibacy of the clergy, denial of papal authority, the doctrine that the Holy Scripture contains everything necessary for salvation, the doctrine of justification by faith alone, the denial of the veneration of icons and relics, the denial of transubstantiation ;

3) the assertion of the ecclesiastical supremacy of the crown, i.e. the supreme ruler of the Church of England is the king, who exercises his power through the obedient clergy.

The royal authority in England has the right to appoint bishops to vacant sees, to convene convocations, i.e. councils of all the bishops of the province and elected representatives of the lower clergy, is the highest court of appeal for ecclesiastical matters. Over time, the royal ecclesiastical headship turned into the headship of the parliamentary church. Appointment to episcopal sees depends on the prime minister, the role of the highest appellate instance is performed by a special Protestant council, whose members may not be Anglicans and, as a rule, they are not.

The most characteristic feature of the Anglican Church is that it retained an ecclesiastical hierarchy. According to the teaching of the Anglican Church, only the clergy possess all the grace-filled gifts of the true hierarchy, the clergy differ from the laity, who are removed from all leadership of church life. Anglicanism eclectically combined the Catholic dogma of the saving power of the church with the dogma of justification by faith.

The Anglican Church is episcopal in structure. The clergy are divided into three groups: bishops, presbyters and deacons, who are all elevated to their rank through episcopal ordination. The believers grouped around their temple make up the church community. The faithful at their parish meetings determine the tax in favor of the church and elect from among themselves a trustee, or headman, to manage the affairs of the parish. Parish priests are appointed by local patrons. The ecclesiastical courts are preserved, the bishop holds court in his episcopal court. Bishops hold the position of Lords by virtue of their rank, and many of them are members of the upper house of Parliament.

The worship of the Anglican Church is set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, which is a slightly modified translation into English of the Roman Catholic liturgical book used in England before the Reformation. In Anglicanism, a magnificent cult is preserved, sacred vestments are used.